A costume designer has revealed that George Costanza wore the same pair of glasses in the Seinfeld pilot that were used in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X biopic.
Ruth E. Carter, who won Oscars for both Black Panther films, said that she used the same spectacles that Denzel Washington sported in the film when they came to film The Seinfeld Chronicles, the pilot episode of the classic sitcom, in 1989.
Speaking to the Nessa OFF Air podcast, she recalled a conversation she had with Jason Alexander, who played Costanza, in which he suggested that the character needed to wear glasses.
“The only glasses that I have are those wired-rimmeds that I brought in that came from Malcolm X,” Carter said. “He put them on and was like, ‘Yeah, I like this shape.’ I was like, ‘Bingo, done!’ We got him fit for glasses, and that’s where it started.”
Remembering the portion of the film in which they were featured in Malcolm X, Carter added: “He has a scene in prison where he puts these wired-rimmed glasses on, and those were the ones I had,” she confirmed.
Even though Malcolm X was not released until 1992, it was filmed in early 1989, shortly before the Seinfeld pilot. The release was held up due to production delays.
Back in November, Alexander said that he did not know anything about the rumoured Seinfeld reboot.
The rumour mill got in motion in October when Jerry Seinfeld, lead star and co-creator of the hit series, hinted that a reunion could be on the cards 25 years after the show’s end.
The comedian teased during a stand-up show at the Wang Theatre in Boston on October 7 the possibility of a reworked version of the show’s finale.
Asked whether he liked the sitcom’s divisive final episode, Seinfeld replied: “Well, I have a little secret for you about the ending. But I can’t really tell it because it is secret.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you, OK, but you can’t tell anybody. Something is going to happen that has to do with that ending. Hasn’t happened yet.
“And just what you are thinking about, [co-creator] Larry [David] and I have also been thinking about it. So you’ll see, we’ll see.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has also denied having any knowledge of a potential Seinfeld reunion.
Seinfeld ran for nine seasons and starred Seinfeld as a fictional version of himself, alongside friends George (Alexander), Elaine (Louis-Dreyfus) and his neighbour Kramer (Michael Richards).
The two-part finale saw the characters arrested and locked up in prison. Since the episode aired in May 1998, Seinfeld has expressed regret over its execution.