Summary
Larry David’s hit semiautobiographical comedy series,Curb Your Enthusiasm, came to an end in 2024 after 12 hilarious seasons, and Tracey Ullman’s Irma Kostroski was a brilliant late addition. The HBO show finds David playing a fictionalized version of himself in Los Angeles, where he confronts everyday life’s mundane pitfalls and social conventions, often to disastrous results. Most seasons feature an overarching storyline, such asLarry working on aSeinfeldreunionor starring in a Broadway musical. And season 11’s A-story finds Larry in Irma Kostroski’s crosshairs.
In the season premiere, “The Five-Foot Fence”, Larry wakes up to discover a man has drowned in his pool, and that he violated a city ordinance by not having a fence around it. Larry is then extorted by the deceased’s brother, who blackmails him into casting his daughter, Maria Sofia (Keyla Monterroso Mejia), in his new show.Maria Sofia happens to be the worst actress alive, so Larry strikes up a sexual relationship with city councilwoman Irma Kostroski in the hopes of having the ordinance repealed. The only problem is, he finds Irma repulsive, a trait Ullman plays to perfection.
Every Guest Star & Cameo In Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 is here, and as usual, Larry David has assembled an impressive line-up of cameos and celebrity guest stars.
Larry David Asked Tracey Ullman To Join The Curb Your Enthusiasm Cast During The COVID-19 Lockdown
Ullman Proved Her Capability To Play Irma Kostroski Years Earlier At A Party With David
Larry truly thinks Los Angeles is all the worse for having Norma reside there.
When Larry meets Irma inCurb Your Enthusiasmseason 11, episode 7, “Irma Kostroski”, he can’t stand her. He finds her as loud and obnoxious as her dyed red hair, big glasses, and even bigger jewelry. She’s a stubborn misanthrope — ironically, a funhouse mirror of Larry himself — and Larry truly thinks Los Angeles is all the worse for having Norma reside there. Larry’s less-than-favorable opinion of Irma is exactly how he pitched the character to Ullman. The actress toldThe Wrapabout getting the phone call from David and executive producer Jeff Schaffer during the COVID-19 pandemic:
They said, ‘Can you play the worst person in Los Angeles?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, it’s intriguing’ and I know the show and I used to live in that part of town for such a long time. So I kind of know the world and it was a challenge. I love that she never conforms or starts kissing the ass of the show business people.
While it’s not exactly difficult for people to push Larry’s buttons, Irma gets under his skin like nobody else, and it turns out that Ullman proved to have that same ability with the real-life Larry David. Speaking toTelevision Academy, Ullman relayed a story in which she was at a party having a conversation with David Mamet and Woody Allen when David stormed up to her, irate about her having offended his (ex-)wife.
As Cheryl can attest, Larry isn’t famous for standing up for his current or former spouses, so whatever Ullman said must have really ticked him off — enough for him to cast her as Irma Kostroski.
Ullman Loved Making David Miserable As Irma, But Has Nothing But Love For The Curb Creator
Her Favorite Curb Moments Were Couples' Therapy & The Bedroom Scenes
Though he may find her an odious adversary, that’s nothing compared to whenIrma becomes Larry’s love interest. In order to get on the councilwoman’s good side, Larry pretends to be a concerned citizen, and this later leads to a physically intimate relationship. To Larry’s sheer horror, he awakens a voracious sexual appetite in Irma, which he has to continue feeding if he wants her to repeal the pool fence bylaw.
For her part, Ullman was beyond up to the task of makingCurbLarry as uncomfortable as possible. She toldThe Wrap, “I remember the couples therapy stuff got really crazy,” and that she particularly enjoyed shooting their bedroom scenes:
Doing those scenes in bed with him last year was really making us both laugh when I had that sleep apnea mask on and he was in horror about it. We were just both laughing at that because it just was ridiculous.
Larry and Irma may have been at odds inCurb Your Enthusiasm— she ultimately doesn’t vote in the bylaw repeal and it doesn’t go through — but Ullman had nothing but praise for the man himself:
What I love about Larry is that he’ll never let it get out of hand. He’ll never push it too hard. And I’ve seen him and I’ve been in things where he’s just said, ‘No’ and you think ‘Oh it went so well,’ and he goes, ‘Do it again and everybody just shut up a bit or just calm down,’ and he’s right. It’s being brave enough to do that that stops the show from getting too silly or too excited about ourselves. But you never know where it’s gonna go and I never say what I’m going to say at the beginning of the scene — that’s lethal, just do it and it works. But it’s the best time, I just adored it.
On David, Ullman also added,
He’s very dignified and very kind to everybody, the whole crew. And it makes a huge difference when someone at the head is as nice as him.
Clearly, David has forgivenTracey Ullmanfor her party gaffe years before if he cast her inCurb Your Enthusiasm. If anything, Ullman should upset more celebrities at parties — it obviously leads to comedy gold.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Cast
Curb Your Enthusiasm is a Comedy television show created by Larry David, the same creative mind behind the wildly popular sitcom, Seinfeld. Starring Larry David himself, along with Cheryl Hines, and Jeff Garlin, the show acts as a semi-fictionalized look at Larry’s every day life and the people he would come in contact with.
