Why Patrick Warburton Avoided Jerry Seinfeld On The Seinfeld Set
Viewers of "Seinfeld" are very familiar with the character actor Patrick Warburton, who played Elaine Benes' (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) inexplicably irresistible dullard on-again off-again on-again boyfriend, David Puddy. On-screen, Puddy and Jerry Seinfeld (himself) had very little in common, save for an association with Elaine.
As it turns out, Warburton made it a practice to avoid Seinfeld in between takes on the show as well. Was it because of a similar personality clash like the one seen between their fictional counterparts on "Seinfeld"? Was Warburton put off by the real-life Seinfeld's own aversion to his penchant for the high-five? Or was it for some other reason altogether?
The topic once came up during an interview Warburton gave about his time on the show, and fans of the classic sitcom will be interested to learn the precise reason Warburton gave for why he didn't spend any unnecessary time with Seinfeld on the set.
Warburton was worried about alienating Jerry Seinfeld
The "Seinfeld" gang might not have been the friendliest bunch to outsiders (or to each other) on screen. But in a 2016 interview with News.com.au, Patrick Warburton made it clear that the cast was very down-to-earth behind the scenes. "I'm still friends with Jason Alexander to this day," the actor said. "I got to know Jerry better when I did 'Bee Movie' because I didn't work with him that much on [the 'Seinfeld'] set."
But, Warburton admitted that he did try to "avoid" Jerry Seinfeld during the shooting of the sitcom. "The reason being I just didn't want to stick my foot in mouth or say something stupid," Warburton revealed. "I wanted to hit my marks, I wanted to get the laughs and I wanted him to say, 'I like that Puddy character, let's bring him back.'" The actor also added that while he considers Seinfeld to be a generous and kind individual, he felt that he was the type of person who didn't like to be bothered on set. "I just wanted to stay out of his way," he continued. "I haven't seen him in years but I miss him."
Whether or not his avoidance of the star was actually necessary, whatever Warburton did on set must have worked, since after two appearances in the show's Season 6, he came back for eight episodes in Season 9, and remains one of the most memorable and hilarious of all the recurring characters in the "Seinfeld" universe.