'You can't be gentle in comedy': Jerry Seinfeld on 'Unfrosted,' his Netflix Pop-Tart movie

There are no sex scenes in Jerry Seinfeld’s directorial debut. There is, however – given the comedian’s predilections – some rather sensual enjoyment of breakfast cereal. 

The new Netflix comedy “Unfrosted” (streaming now) is a semi-true, all-madcap origin story of Pop-Tarts, another Seinfeld food favorite (especially the brown sugar cinnamon ones) and famously the subject of a joke in his stand-up act. One scene takes place in a cafeteria with a retrofuturistic cereal machine where Seinfeld noshes on corn flakes, big spoon in hand, as Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" plays in the background.

“If you're doing an eating scene in movies, you'd never want to eat the food, because you're going to do a lot of takes and you're going to get full and you're going to get sick. But I ate that cereal the whole day,” says Seinfeld, 70, who also co-writes and stars in “Unfrosted.” “I did love it. But by the end, it was a lot.”

Set in 1963, “Unfrosted” takes place in the cereal capital of America – Battle Creek, Michigan – and centers on Kellogg’s and rival Post trying desperately to get a toaster pastry to market before the other one. Kellogg’s employee Bob Cabana (Seinfeld) convinces former co-worker Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy) to leave her NASA science gig and help launch a delicious prototype before the competition in a narrative that features a milk mafia, activist cereal mascots and tons of nostalgia.

Jason Alexander’s George Costanza once joked in an episode of “Seinfeld” that Jerry’s existence revolved around Superman and cereal. It's not far off the real Seinfeld. “Are you a Superman guy?” he asks, a Man of Steel poster hanging in his background, as he kicks off a video chat with USA TODAY about “Unfrosted,” breakfast matters and what’s important for his comedy.

Question: The movie parallels the Post-Kellogg's rivalry with the space race. Did you make that connection early on? 

Jerry Seinfeld: It was in our first meeting that (co-writer) Andy Robin said, “Why don't we tell the story like ‘The Right Stuff’?” That's what carried me through the movie, because I was an insane NASA guy and Mercury program guy. I love that stuff. I love cereal, obviously. So that combination of cereal and NASA, I'm in.

The only reason I did it was Pop-Tarts and NASA and the ‘60s. Because when I was a kid, I wanted to be an adult in that world.

The opening features a young boy who meets Bob with a bindle containing a Woody Woodpecker comic book, a baseball card, a G.I. Joe figure and Bazooka gum. Were those your most beloved possessions in ’63?

The only thing that would've been different would've been the comic. Obviously, it would be a Superman or a Batman comic. But we didn't have time for the clearance, so we just put through that one in there. But otherwise, that would be what I would run away from home with.

Were you a Kellogg's kid or a Post kid? 

I was Kellogg's I would say 70% of the time. But there's no cereal I wouldn't try, and still wouldn't try. (Laughs) I love them all.

What's your favorite now at age 70?

Oh, gosh. It kind of depends on what you're trying to do. I envy people that could turn to alcohol when they have problems, but it never worked for me. Cereal works much better for me if I'm upset about something, or if I want to celebrate something. I go either way with it. Frosted Flakes is just consistently exciting.

“Unfrosted” is quite family-friendly. Was the goal always to make a Pop-Tarts movie that had this broad universal appeal?

I have three kids. If you have kids, kids love cereal, they're going to want to watch this and what a bummer it would be if you put your kid in front of this and there's something in it that makes you uncomfortable as a parent. It would just take all the fun out of it. So, no, I would never do that.

What’s been your secret sauce for staying relevant as a comedian for five decades? 

I would recommend not changing your friends too much as you age. Even more important than that, don't change your neighborhood too much. I live in the same neighborhood (in New York) where I started at 21 years old. So I feel the same, and all the comedians I started with are still my friends.

Have you heard from the Kellogg's folks yet about "Unfrosted"? Or is that a call you don't want to take?

I have not spoken directly with them. We did finally show them the movie and they offered to support us. I think they're going to put our faces on some Pop-Tart boxes in supermarkets. So I guess they had a sense of humor about it. No word from the Post company, who had kind of a rough go there. I don't know if you noticed, but we had birds nesting in the “O” of Post on their sign in front of the building, and I think one of the light bulbs might have been out. You can't be gentle in comedy. You have to do what you have to do.