Kevin McDonald, a member of Kids in the Hall, had a memorable guest appearance in Season Nine of Seinfeld. He played a character in a denim vest who unsuccessfully hits on Elaine. She brushes him off by giving him a fake phone number, only to later need his help in the episode. The situation becomes awkward when he returns wearing even more denim — it’s denim on denim on denim, a comedic “denim epidemic.”
However, McDonald’s troubles on set weren’t limited to his character’s fashion choices. In a 2010 interview with The A.V. Club (via SlashFilm), he shared how he unintentionally annoyed the show’s star, Jerry Seinfeld.
The trouble started during the filming of the second scene with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. McDonald, who described Louis-Dreyfus as “super-nice,” recalled that Seinfeld wasn’t happy with the scene’s punchline. Seinfeld gathered two of the show’s writers to brainstorm new ideas. Without thinking, McDonald offered a suggestion, recalling it felt like the set of Kids in the Hall, where everyone contributed ideas.
But his suggestion was met with silence, and McDonald recalled the moment feeling like a scene from a Western movie when a stranger enters a saloon. Seinfeld looked at him and simply said, “Noooo.”
McDonald later realized he had crossed an unwritten line by offering a script suggestion, something guest actors usually don’t do. “I had just gotten caught up in the comedy river,” he said, reflecting on his overstep.
To make matters worse, Seinfeld seemed to hold a grudge over the years. During the episode’s DVD commentary, Jerry sighed when McDonald’s character appeared on screen, saying, “Oh, that guy.”
McDonald suspects Seinfeld’s dislike may have been the reason Seinfeld kept calling him “Dave,” instead of his actual name. McDonald explained, “I guess he thought I was a jerk. But I didn’t mean to be!”
Despite the tension, McDonald didn’t blame Seinfeld. “I understand his position,” he said. “I didn’t mean any offense, I swear.”
In the end, McDonald took away an important lesson from his Seinfeld experience. Reflecting on his character’s outfit, he admitted, “I used to wear jean jackets and jean pants, and that’s when I learned that you shouldn’t do that, that women think you’re a loser.”
