Larry David clearly hates doing press.
When Jimmy Kimmel asked him why he decided to bring back Curb Your Enthusiasm after a six-year break, David replied, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” The Today show’s Matt Lauer got a similar response when he asked David to give some “spoilers” for the new season. “Are you out of your mind?” the creator asked him.
On Thursday morning, David experienced what may have been his most uncomfortable media appearance yet when he sat down for not one, but two segments on The View.
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“I have three words for you, curb your enthusiasm,” he told the screaming crowd after he emerged from backstage. When his old friend Joy Behar asked him if they “forced” him to watch the first part of the show from the green room, David said, “Yes, but the TV was turned off for some time and I didn't know how to put it back on.”
David was mildly game to chat about public displays of affection and the passing of Hugh Hefner, but when the questions turned to his own life and work, he seemed to lose interest.
Whoopi Goldberg asked David what the “secret” to playing Bernie Sanders on Saturday Night Live was. “Really? Is that a question?” he asked in response. “Gee, you know, there really is no secret,” he added. “All you do is open your mouth and talk. Hope for the best.”
David didn’t seem any more interested in talking about why he took such a long break from Curb. “I just didn't feel like doing it,” he said. “And then I did feel like it.” Later, when Behar told the audience David would be sticking around for another segment, he said, “Oh, no,” before finally agreeing.
While David perked up a bit when the hosts asked him about his two daughters, one of whom is getting into the family business, but he did not seem thrilled when Behar brought up his recent 70th birthday. “How are you coping with that?” she asked him.
“The same way I coped when I was younger,” David said. “What do you do? Nothing you can do. There's no thought that you have that's going to erase it, there's no dream that's going to erase it.” He then added, “Anyway, thanks for bringing up the subject, because it's so much fun.”
And while Behar, who turns 75 next week, said she’s “having a better time” now than she did in her 20s or 30s, David couldn’t agree. “Eh,” he said, giving a shrug. “I think I can handle things a little better than I did when I was younger.”
But that doesn’t mean he wants to.
