Key Takeaways
- JB Smoove praised how the show handled Michael Richards' return on 'Curb your Enthusiasm'.
- Larry David appreciated Richards' professionalism on set, despite personal struggles.
- Smoove forgave Richards for his racist rant, crediting him for taking accountability.
Michael Richards' career was never the same following his time on Seinfeld and his racist rant on-stage. Luckily for him, his salary ensures he's more than okay thanks to backend profits from Seinfeld.
In the following, we're going to take a closer look back at his time on Curb Your Enthusiasm. JB Smoove acted alongside Richards. We'll take a closer look at Smoove's thoughts on working with the actor, and what it was like behind the scenes.
We'll also reveal Larry David's thoughts on Michael Richards returning, and how different the actor was behind the camera compared to his Seinfeld days.
Let's take a closer look.
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JB Smoove Felt Like Michael Richards Handled His Cameo On Curb Your Enthusiasm "In A Great Way"
Since his work on Seinfeld for 172 episodes, Michael Richards' work in Hollywood has been very limited. From 2000 until 2009, the actor only appeared in two projects, and one of them was reuniting with Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm for three episodes.
Given the controversy surrounding Michael Richards at the time, JB Smoove was asked about working with the actor during his interview with Rolling Stone. Smoove took the high road, and praised the show for how they handled Richards' return.
"I thought we handled it in a great way. I had to play it professionally, because I was in a scene. He was playing Michael Richards in the goddamn scene, I was playing Leon in the scene. So I had to play it how Leon would play the sh**, I couldn’t play it how JB would play the sh**."
Smoove added that playing the scene with Richards as Leon did make matters a little more complicated.
"I had to set JB Smoove aside, I said, “Okay, JB, Leon will have to handle this s*** how Leon would handle it, since Leon don’t know what’s going on in the world.” Since Leon’s in his own little world sometimes, Leon never even saw Seinfeld. Leon don’t know what the f*** Seinfeld is. So I had to play this sh** how Leon would play it, no matter how the JB felt about it."
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It was an entertaining moment for fans. Larry David also chimed in on Michael Richards' cameo, and how it went behind the scenes.
Larry David Applauded Michael Richards' Cameo, But Felt Like He Was Still Hurting
Larry David discussed his thoughts on working with Michael Richards on 'Curb'. Similar to JB Smooves comments, David appreciated Richards' professionalism on-set.
"I've kept in touch with all of them to varying degrees. Michael went through a very traumatic experience, really. He's been quite chastened by it. What he did on 'Curb' it didn't affect him at all since he was very funny on the show."
However, Larry David admitted that the actor was still struggling on a personal level.
"But I know it's deeply affected him personally."
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Richards didn't do much else after his appearance on the show. The actor appeared in a short film, while his longest appearance came on the show Kirstie back in 2013, appearing in 12 episodes. His final credit came back in 2019 during Faith, Hope & Love. There are no upcoming projects in the works.
JB Smoove Was Able To Forgive Michael Richards For His Racist Rant
Another big question was if JB Smoove forgave Michael Richards for what had taken place during his racist rant. Smoove credited Richards for the way he handled the situation, and actually took accountability for his actions. Smoove claims things could've easily gone the other way, with Richards refusing to be held accountable for his actions.
Smoove tells THR, "JB forgives him because you know, the man fell back. People go to jail for the words “f*** it”. Cause they get in situations where they’re like, “Sh** should I do that? God damn, if I do that then I could get caught. F*** it.” Now if he reacted with the “f*** it” attitude to everything, it would have been nice. But he fell back, he didn’t go into that mode where he just said, “F*** it. I said it. I was in the moment; I did what I had to do. If you don’t get the joke, f*** y’all too.”
Credit to Smoove as well for the way he reacted to Michael Richards' cameo on the show.
