Jerry Seinfeld Names Newman As His Favorite Side Character From The Show

Despite being the star of, well, "Seinfeld," Jerry Seinfeld really was a stand-up comedian, so he didn't have as much acting experience as the rest of the show's cast. His most notable performance was in a recurring part on the sitcom "Benson" years before — in other words, he was a side character before he became the focal point of his own prime-time sitcom.

Nevertheless, the comic serves as an acerbic, funny main character on "Seinfeld," partly because he was playing a fictionalized version of himself. But "Jerry Seinfeld" was also very different from other sitcom protagonists up to that point in time. Not only is Jerry the straight man in the quartet of friends, but he also isn't a caring or sweet-natured character. A running gag is that Jerry will casually say, "That's a shame," when something terrible happens but is otherwise indifferent to his pals' suffering.

Jerry encounters dozens of characters in his petty misadventures, including Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris) and the Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas). But the real Jerry Seinfeld's favorite side character may come as a surprise.

Jerry gets along surprisingly well with his goofy next-door neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). But he considers another neighbor, Newman (Wayne Knight), his arch-nemesis. A recurring exchange on the show is Newman saying "Hello, Jerry" in oily glee, while Jerry replies "Hello, Newman" with disgust. However, Jerry's hatred for the postal worker is never fully explained on the show.

Seinfeld famously is a huge Superman fan, and per the series' making-of documentary, always saw Newman as Lex Luthor to the fictional Jerry's Superman. During a 2013 Reddit AMA, Jerry Seinfeld told mist87, "Newman would be my favorite supporting character. I mean, when I got to have a real evil nemesis like Superman would have, that was a dream come true for me. There's no superhero that doesn't have an evil nemesis, and I got to have one." 

The comedian also noted how nobody asks why Jerry disliked Newman so much. Maybe all the explanation we need is from Jerry on the show: "I've looked into his eyes. He's pure evil."