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“Seinfeld” had plenty of guest stars during its nine-season run. While many of them managed to antagonize the main characters in-universe, a select few actually got on the real-life Jerry Seinfeld’s nerves. Arguably the most famous example is Seinfeld’s feud with the real-life “Soup Nazi,” but that was about the character’s inspiration — noted soup chef Ali Yeganeh of Soup Kitchen International — being affronted by Seinfeld’s version instead of anything Larry Thomas (who played the fictional Yev “Soup Nazi” Kassem) did. However, one particular star’s cameo managed to get right up in Seinfeld’s face … literally.
In the “Seinfeld” season 5 two-parter “The Raincoats,” Judge Reinhold memorably plays Aaron, Elaine’s latest boyfriend who has an unfortunate penchant for standing really close to people when he’s talking. During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Reinhold revealed that when they rehearsed the scene, he couldn’t happen but notice that people seemed to be having a suspiciously fun time when he was interacting with Seinfeld. This is because they, unlike Reinhold at the time, knew that the scene genuinely creeped the star out. Here’s how Reinhold explained the situation:
“When I get to Jerry, I’m the closest, and then the crew was laughing in a way that it seemed like something was going on. And so we broke for lunch or whatever and I said: ‘Why are you guys laughing so hard when I get to Jerry?” And they said because he’s such a germaphobe, he’s terrified of what you’re doing.”
Reinhold embraced the awkwardness as Aaron the close talker
As anyone who’s seen the episode knows all too well, the information that Jerry Seinfeld was genuinely unnerved by his character’s close-talking tic didn’t deter Judge Reinhold in any way. In fact, as he was quick to mention in the interview, he somehow found a way to get even closer to the show’s star when they actually shot the scene, ensuring that Seinfeld’s mortified expression didn’t require acting:
“So, of course, by the time it got to camera, I was almost touching his nose. I mean, our nose hairs were almost touching. I know he was so uncomfortable. If you see it again, you’ll see he’s just crawling in his skin.”
Many “Seinfeld” cameos have interesting stories behind them. Philip Baker Hall said his life changed after playing Lt. Joe Bookman, the library cop in the “Seinfeld” season 3 standout, “The Library.” At the other end of the spectrum, Bob Odenkirk had never even seen “Seinfeld” when he agreed to play Elaine’s hapless med student boyfriend Ben in the season 8 episode “The Abstinence.” However, Reinhold alone can say that he spent a considerable portion of his appearance on the legendary sitcom in Jerry Seinfeld’s personal space.
