An In Living Color Star Auditioned For Seinfeld's George, But Thought The Show Would Bomb

Though the character has become synonymous with the actor who ultimately portrayed him, "Seinfeld" icon George Costanza could have been played by a number of other actors. Before Jason Alexander went on to embody the legendary role, comedian David Alan Grier auditioned for the part — but he didn't actually think the series was going to go anywhere.

The actor, who starred in one of Fox's most iconic shows of the 1990s, "In Living Color," told the "Today" show in 2026, "I auditioned for George Costanza, and I read with Jerry [Seinfeld], and he was like, 'George, tell me about your day.' And I'm like, 'Well, this man, he can't act, this is not funny. This'll never be a hit.'" Grier certainly now sees in the series what he didn't see at the time. "Well, wrong again. The bag was fumbled, and off I went," he explained.

Grier has a history of being vocal about his audition for "Seinfeld" and has even gone as far as to talk about how the overwhelming success of the sitcom made him feel after the fact. "I was like, 'S***, I should've been better. Why the f*** did I blow off that audition?'" he revealed during an appearance on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2019. "I didn't blow it off, but it was like, 'So what?' Right over my head."

During that interview, Howard Stern remarked that David Alan Grier would have been "great" for the character despite Jason Alexander's excellent performance in some of the best episodes of "Seinfeld," and we have to agree. Grier, as a comedic actor, has this sense of energized neurosis that fits Costanza's anxiety-ridden worldview perfectly.

Grier also noted that the pseudo-legend behind him and the audition for the "Seinfeld" character "morphed" over the years to the point where fans have begun to believe he was actually offered the role, but he confirmed during the "Stern" interview that he only auditioned.

Aside from Grier, several other now-major actors auditioned to play Costanza. According to Alexander — who revealed the insider info on his podcast "Really? No, Really?" in 2026 — the likes of Chris Rock, Larry Miller, Paul Shaffer, and Danny DeVito were up for the "Seinfeld" part. But interestingly enough, NBC also considered a potential female turn for the role. Alexander also revealed Rosie O'Donnell was in the running to play George. Between Grier, Alexander, and the other five awesome actors, that's some truly steep competition for a legendary role.