Actor and Boston University alumnus Jason Alexander mentioned the famous “masturbation contest” episode of “Seinfeld” within the first three minutes of his question-and-answer discussion at the Hillel House Wednesday night.
Alexander, known for his role as George Costanza on “Seinfeld,” has also acted in several other roles in various movies and Broadway productions.
Sitting beside Rabbi Joseph Polak, Alexander spoke to a student audience of over 300.
“It felt like Jason came home and that he belonged here,” Polak said. “Because it was at BU, it was very personal.”
Alexander has a professional history with BU, which is one of the reasons why he came to speak, he said after the event.
“I have a longstanding relationship with the College of Fine Arts,” he said. “I’ve come up several times to talk initially about the realities of the business, which is something they don’t generally talk about.”
Alexander said the BU community has not changed very much since his college years on campus.
“It actually looks very nice to have it all look almost essentially the same,” he said. “It’s very familiar and I love Boston.”
Hillel House Program Assistant Seth Kroll said hosting Alexander was important to the university.
“The situation stood that Jason attended Boston University,” he said. “He wanted to come to Hillel to speak with students and see how Jewish life on campus is going.”
Kroll said BU Hillel booked Alexander last week and that he said he would be more comfortable talking to just a few people in a more informal format, but that it was impossible with all of the student interest in Alexander’s life.
“He didn’t want it to be a huge event,” he said. “But we talked with him and said, ‘There’s a lot of people here who really want to hear you talk.'”
College of Communication freshman Chrissy Kelleher said Alexander’s Jewish upbringing shaped him.
“He really cares what his family thinks of him,” she said. “He’s not a Hollywood hotshot – he’s a humble guy.”
Upon request from a student, Alexander sang a cappella an excerpt from ‘Put on a Happy Face’ from the musical Bye Bye Birdie.
Alexander talked about One Voice, a program he is a part of that aims to help find a peaceful, nonviolent method of solving the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
COM sophomore Sarah Brennan said this part of Alexander’s life was one of the most significant aspects of the discussion.
“I was really interested in what he’s doing in Israel,” she said. “I think the program he’s involved with is really important.”
Although Alexander is part of the program, he said he does not feel it is the right of celebrities to promote issues simply because of their status.
“I do not believe that celebrities, just because they have a microphone in their face, should be speaking about things that they don’t fully understand,” he said. “Everybody has an opinion.”
College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education senior Jeremy Yanofsky said he appreciated Alexander’s advice to students interested in the entertainment industry.
“‘Don’t go to the marketing people – wait for them to come to you,'” he said, recalling Alexander’s words. “I thought that was really important.”
Alexander said he wanted to be remembered by the few people’s lives he has touched and as a good father by his children.
“I’d love it to say on my tombstone, ‘We loved our dad,'” he said.
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