‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’: Jeff Garlin Details What Happened After Final Scene Was Shot

Jeff Garlin at SiriusXM
Timothy Norris/Getty Images

Jeff Garlin has been a part of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm since the first season premiered in 2000, and despite his best efforts not to be sentimental about it, he’s feeling emotional about the show’s ending.

The actor appeared on The Roku Channel’s The Rich Eisen Show on March 26, where he was asked if he was “sentimental” about the end of the iconic sitcom, which airs its series finale on Sunday, April 7.

“Not at all, zero, and by the way, I’m a sentimental guy,’ Garlin said, though he started to get emotional when talking about filming the final scene alongside his long-time co-star and Curb creator, Larry David.

“I have to admit something else,” he shared. “So yes, I’m not sentimental about it, but last day of filming, last scene ever of the show, and [director] Jeff Schaffer comes out, and he says that’s a wrap on the greatest sitcom of all-time… and I began bawling.”

Larry David and Jeff Garlin for 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - Season 12

John Johnson/HBO

As he recalled the moment, Garlin began to become choked up. “We’re doing the scene, I’m inconsolable… everybody comes up and puts their hands on my shoulder, Cheryl [Hines], Ted Danson, Richard [Lewis], and Larry didn’t know about it,” he explained.

“I’m all a mess, and I’m walking back to my trailer, and I see [Larry] coming back to just pat me on the back, saying, you know, ‘I know, pal’… now I’m getting sentimental on here. It’s a bunch of crap!” he continued.

A teary-eyed Garlin noted how he was at David’s side when the idea for Curb was first born, saying, “Point being, as I told you, from the very first second, I’m there with him till now. It’s f***** up!”

The final season has taken on an extra sentimentality due to the recent passing of cast member Richard Lewis, who died from a heart attack on February 27.

Larry David, Richard Lewis, Jeff Garlin on Curb

HBO/Everett Collection

“By the way, losing Richard… you know, it wasn’t a surprise because he was very ill,” Garlin shared, referring to Lewis’ battle with Parkinson’s disease. “It wasn’t a surprise, but it tore the crap out of me.”

He also shared how whenever someone complimented Lewis and told him he “looked good,” the comedian would cough “Parkinson’s” into his hand.

“That’s the last joke I heard him… I can’t talk about him,” Garlin said, choking up. “Gotta stop.”

Despite his emotion over Curb’s conclusion and Lewis’ passing, Garlin stated, “I’m happy. I swear I am. I’m grateful, and I’ve got some things coming up that I’m really happy about.”

Garlin is currently hosting the podcast The History Of Curb Your Enthusiasm alongside his Curb co-star and on-screen wife, Susie Essman.

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Series Finale, Sunday, April 7, 10/9c, HBO and Max