Larry David’s Rolling Stone interview confirms something that I’ve have long suspected: that his Curb character isn’t so much a heightened version of Larry, but is in fact the aggravating personal ideal he aspires to be. According to David, TV Larry is “my version of Superman. The character really is me, but I just couldn’t possibly behave like that. If I had my druthers, that would be me all the time, but you can’t do that. We’re always doing things we don’t want to do, we never say what we really feel, and so this is an idealized version of how I want to be. As crazy as this person is, I could step into those shoes right now, but I would be arrested or I’d be hit or whatever.â€
The issue also features interviews with cast members Cheryl Hines, JB Smoove, Susie Essman and Richard Lewis, as well as Larry’s ex-wife Laurie, which, oh boy. As for David’s personal life post-divorce, fictional and otherwise, he is pretty much hoping the whole fame thing pays off. “Why else would somebody approach me?,†he insists. “Who’s going up to a bald guy, an old bald guy? Nobody! If I wasn’t on television, who’s coming up to me? People would run from me, are you kidding? If I tried to flirt with a woman and she didn’t know who I was, she would run away. And who’s not shallow, by the way?â€