Jerry Seinfeld's commitment to the bit

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Seinfeld has been responsible for more movies than you think.

Yes, he co-wrote and lent his voice to 2007's “Bee Movie." But before that, “Seinfeld” — where going to the movies, with or without the aid of Moviefone, was nearly as regular a destination as the coffee shop — gave birth to dozens of (fake) films. “Rochelle, Rochelle." “Prognosis Negative.” “Sack Lunch."

But nearly three decades after Seinfeld was, in one episode, cajoled into bootlegging “Death Blow," he has finally made his first film. Seinfeld directed, co-wrote and stars in “Unfrosted,” a star-studded comedy about the invention of the Pop-Tart premiering May 3 on Netflix.

The film, which co-stars Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant and others, is an outlandish, “Mad Men”-inspired ‘60s-set satire in which Kellogg’s and Post Cereal are engaged in a cutthroat race to “upend America’s breakfast table.”

“When you see any scene of it you go, ‘What is that?’ And I was very happy about that,” Seinfeld said in a recent interview. “I like that you look at it and go, ‘I don’t know what this is.’”

For Seinfeld, who has resolutely stuck to stand-up since “Seinfeld" ended in 1998, it's a rare post-sitcom project, joining a short and sporadic list including the short-lived reality series “The Marriage Ref” and the popular streaming show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”

“Unfrosted," though, returns Seinfeld to one of his abiding passions. Remember all those cereal boxes in his apartment on “Seinfeld"? The Pop-Tart is a particular fascination, though. In his 2020 comedy special “23 Hours to Kill,” it formed an extended bit beginning with the childhood memory: “When they invented the Pop-Tart, the back of my head blew right off."

For Seinfeld, the Pop-Tart has an almost mythical quality. A movie about Oreos or Milk Duds or even Junior Mints wouldn't work, he says. But the Pop-Tart is different.

“A lot of it is the word. It’s a funny word," says Seinfeld. “I heard Mattel is trying to do a Hot Wheels movie. That could work. Certain things really got us when we were kids, you know?”

In a wide-ranging interview, Seinfeld discussed subjects large and small.

SEINFELD: The idea occurred right in that moment. I said, “Hey, let’s talk about the finale right now.” We had been talking about it all day because it was their finale. We were just talking about series finales all day. And I was saying that “Mad Men” was my favorite and I thought “The Sopranos” one was great, and obviously ours was what it was.

SEINFELD: Well, I think what we said in that scene. We thought, “Yeah, that would have been better.” (Laughs) It’s very hard to remember. The emotional state I was in after nine years was a little ragged. Maybe we weren’t thinking quite clearly. The idea of doing that on his show — the math of it is really amazing. To do that, two people have to have two successful long-running sitcoms and they have to be playing themselves, with a 25-year separation. When I was driving home that night on the 10 in LA, my head was exploding because of the math of what just happened — to set something up in ’98 and pay it off in ’23. For a joke person like me, I felt like I landed on the moon.

SEINFELD: It was all (“Seinfeld" writer) Spike Feresten’s idea. I did not want to do it. I did not think it would work. What’s a movie about inventing the Pop-Tart? That’s not funny. And (“Seinfeld” writer) Andy Robin came up with the idea that it’s “The Right Stuff.” And I went, “Oh, that’s funny.”

SEINFELD: Yes, “Oppenheimer.” I think it’s a fun game if anyone wants to play — how many movies we stole from. Obviously, “The Godfather,” obviously “The Right Stuff.” At one point, I was going to say, “I’ll bury you under the ground, Eli,” from “There Will Be Blood.” And we weren’t even going to explain it. The character’s name wasn’t Eli.

SEINFELD: I probably just said that to make that point. But I do love Pop-Tarts. I had one yesterday. We were doing a social media piece with Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor. I took a bite and I went, “This is fantastic.” What I like about it is the man-made quality of it. I love great objects that fit in your hand in a nice way. A pack of cigarettes is one of the greatest things you can put in your hand. It just feels great. Dice feel great. I like a nice spoon. I like things. (Laughs)

SEINFELD: Yeah, but we were started long before that. I was a little disappointed that I suddenly became part of a trend but there was nothing we could do about it.

SEINFELD: For me, I love men in suits talking about something stupid, like cereal and puffs and sprinkles.

SEINFELD: I started a bit the other night about your kitchen sponge on the sink looking up at you going: “I don’t know how much more you think I have. I was done two months ago.” Now it’s just growing and growing into a monologue of your kitchen sponge telling you, “Let me go! Let me die a rectangle, not in pieces.” When I lock on to something like that, I just want to see how far I can go with it, how long will they let me talk about this.

SEINFELD: No.

SEINFELD: Very much. This is my “Fabelmans.” Because I’m not interested in my life. I’m interested in eating.

SEINFELD: I don’t have the fluency. Your comedic thing, whatever it is, it only works on certain things. My thing only works on these dumb things.

SEINFELD: I’ve discussed this at length with my friend Joel Hodgson (“Mystery Science 3000”) and he’s incredibly articulate on this subject, which is: The throw-away culture of our childhood was not throw-away to us. We deeply love these things and they were meaningful in their meaninglessness.

SEINFELD: My attitude, I think, was more talking to comedians. I think comedians, if they want to survive throughout their life doing this, they have to pay close attention to the laughs. No less value in what he’s doing, but I would worry about how long would this last for in your life. But, yeah, that’s a good point. We were both right, just different.

SEINFELD: To the end. To the very end.

SEINFELD: Yeah. The only hard part of my life is the other things. People do ask me about slowing down and I go, “The work part of my life is not stand-up. It’s all the other things.” Stand-up is an incredible, pure experience. Surfing is the great regret of my life that I never really got good at that. I did it for two weeks one time many years ago. But if you were a surfer, you would never stop doing it. That’s what stand-up is for me. Feeling that energy, that natural life-force energy under you and around you, I never get tired of that.

SEINFELD: No, I’m not. I’m not sure of it as a comedy form for me right now. I would love to think of something else, if I even wanted to do it — which I don’t right now. Like, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” the subtext of that is: I’m really sick of talk shows on TV. That’s why I did that. And let me show you why. We don’t want to see them sitting on a couch anymore. The people who are doing it aren’t having any fun doing it. That was my anti-talk show. So I would want to do an anti-stand-up special if I did one. I envy, sometimes, these little Italian artisans who don’t really care if anybody knows who they are or what they do. And stand-up can be like that. Any writing work is very lonely work. Stand-up, in a way, is kind of a private, lonely world. I’m going to Dayton, Ohio, on Friday. No one’s going to know what happened there. I’m very attracted to that. I’m more attracted to that than, “Hey everyone, I made a movie.” My way, if I had my choice, is that I would like to do this work very quietly and privately.

SEINFELD: That’s possible. But it never felt like me. Larry and I, when we first started to do the show thought: This will be a really fun, little boutique thing that will just get our people that like this kind of quirky, off-beat thing, and that would be cool. What it became was never on our radar. Then, suddenly, you’re a big wave surfer. I think it was tougher on Larry than for me. Because you feel the pressure. I never minded the pressure.

SEINFELD: That age around 10 to 12, they seem to find it. They have no idea what it is at first. (Laughs) I think the credit all really goes to Jason (Alexander), Michael (Richards) and Julia (Louis-Dreyfus) — what they did with those characters, the color that they found in all of those characters. Larry and I, we were just doing these silly conversations, but they made it so accessible. They deserve the credit for the success of the show.

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

This image released by Netflix shows Amy Schumer, facing camera from left, Max Greenfield, Melissa McCarthy and Jerry Seinfeld in a scene from "Unfrosted." (John P. Johnson/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Christian Slater, left, and Jerry Seinfeld in a scene from "Unfrosted." (John P. Johnson/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Melissa McCarthy, from left, Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan in a scene from "Unfrosted." (Netflix via AP)

Jerry Seinfeld poses for a portrait to promote the film "Unfrosted" on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Jim Gaffigan, from left, Jerry Seinfeld, Fred Armisen, seated, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from "Unfrosted." (John P. Johnson/Netflix via AP)

Jerry Seinfeld poses for a portrait to promote the film "Unfrosted" on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

Jerry Seinfeld poses for a portrait to promote the film "Unfrosted" on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Jerry Seinfeld, from left, Adrian Martinez, Jack McBrayer, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan and James Marsden in a scene from "Unfrosted." (John P. Johnson/Netflix via AP)

Jerry Seinfeld poses for a portrait to promote the film "Unfrosted" on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

CAIRO (AP) — Israeli troops seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday in what the White House described as a limited operation, as fears mount of a full-scale invasion of the southern city as talks with Hamas over a cease-fire and hostage release remain on a knife's edge.

The U.N. warned of a potential collapse of the flow of aid to Palestinians from the closure of Rafah and the other main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, at a time when officials say northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine.”

The Israeli foray overnight came after hours of whiplash in the now 7-month-old Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group saying Monday it accepted a cease-fire proposal that Israel insisted fell short of its own core demands.

The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — if only barely — for a deal to bring at least a pause in the war, which has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has devastated the Gaza Strip.

By capturing the Rafah crossing, Israel gained full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, though it has long maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the capture of the crossing an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas' military and governing capabilities, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would “deepen” the Rafah operation if the talks on the hostage deal failed.

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official based in Beirut, said the militant group would not respond to military pressure or threats and would not accept any “occupying force” at the Rafah crossing.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the operation along the Gaza-Egypt border in eastern Rafah was not a full-on invasion of the city that President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned against on humanitarian grounds. He said Israel had described it as “an operation of limited scale and duration” aimed at cutting off Hamas arms smuggling.

Kirby also expressed optimism about the negotiations, saying Israel and Hamas “should be able to close the remaining gaps” to complete an agreement, without offering a timetable. He said CIA chief William Burns will attend further talks in Cairo with representatives from Israel, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas also sent a delegation to Cairo, which will meet separately with the Arab mediators.

“Everybody is coming to the table,” Kirby said.

Fighting forced the evacuation of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, one of the main medical centers receiving people wounded in airstrikes on Rafah in recent weeks. It was not immediately clear how many patients had been moved to other facilities.

The looming operation threatens to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States, which says it is concerned over the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of whom fled fighting elsewhere.

Biden warned Netanyahu again Monday against launching an invasion of the city after Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from parts of Rafah. But Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in cease-fire talks.

Palestinians' cheers of joy over Hamas' acceptance of the cease-fire deal turned to fear Tuesday. Families fled Rafah's eastern neighborhoods on foot or in vehicles and donkey carts piled with mattresses and supplies. Children watched as parents disassembled tents in the sprawling camps that have filled Rafah for months to move to their next destination — which for many remained uncertain.

“Netanyahu only cares about coming out on top. He doesn't care about children. I don't think he'll agree” to a deal, said Najwa al-Saksuk as her family packed up while Israeli strikes rang out amid plumes of black smoke.

Families of the hostages also saw their hope turn to despair. Rotem Cooper, whose 85-year-old father, Amiram, was among scores abducted during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, slammed what he said was the government’s inaction on a deal.

“We see all sorts of explanations — this isn’t the deal that we gave them, Hamas changed it without saying something,” Cooper said at a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. He questioned whether military pressure was an effective bargaining tactic.

Israel's 401st Brigade took “operational control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday, the military said. Military footage showed Israeli flags flying from tanks in the area. It also said troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.

The military claimed it had intelligence the crossing was “being used for terrorist purposes,” though it did not immediately provide evidence. It said Hamas fighters near the crossing launched a mortar attack that killed four Israeli troops near Kerem Shalom on Sunday and that more mortars and rockets were fired from the area Tuesday.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel are critical entry points for food, medicine and other supplies for Gaza’s 2.3 million people. They have been closed for at least the past two days, though the smaller Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza continues to operate.

Israeli authorities denied the U.N. humanitarian affairs office access to the Rafah crossing Tuesday, said its spokesman, Jens Laerke, warning the disruption could break the fragile aid operation. All fuel for aid trucks and generators comes through Rafah, and Laerke said there was a “very, very short buffer of about one day of fuel."

Israeli strikes and bombardment across Rafah overnight killed at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women and five children, according to hospital records.

Mohamed Abu Amra said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were killed when a strike flattened their home as they slept. “We did nothing. ... We don’t have Hamas,” he said.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure of the crossing, calling it “a dangerous escalation.”

It has previously warned that any seizure of Rafah — which is supposed to be part of a demilitarized border zone — or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace treaty with Israel that’s been a linchpin for regional security.

Netanyahu has said an offensive to take Rafah — which Israel says is Hamas' last major stronghold in Gaza — is crucial to destroying Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war. Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to broker an agreement on a cease-fire and the release of the estimated 100 hostages and remains of 30 others still held by Hamas, which insists it will not release them unless Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza.

Netanyahu and other top officials have publicly rejected those demands, saying they plan to resume the offensive after any hostage release and continue it until Hamas is destroyed. For now, the hostages serve as Hamas' strongest bargaining chip and potential human shields for its leaders.

An Egyptian official and a Western diplomat said the draft Hamas accepted had only minor changes in wording from a version the U.S. had earlier pushed for with Israeli approval. The changes were made in consultation with the CIA chief, who embraced the draft before sending it to Hamas, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

According to a copy released by Hamas, the proposal outlines a phased release of the hostages alongside gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire enclave and ending with a “sustainable calm,” defined as a “permanent cessation of military and hostile operations.”

Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Aamer Madhani in Washington, Ashraf Sweilam in el-Arish, Egypt, and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

A Palestinian wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is brought to a hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

This photo provided by the Israel Defense Forces shows a tank with an Israel flag on it entering the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramez Habboub)