There is no shortage of stars and other talented individuals who claim that Larry David is a straight-up genius. The Seinfeld co-creator and creator and star of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm has a talent for finding the funny in the honest and even mundane. His unique perspective on general human interaction in nearly every situation in western culture has fueled some of television's funniest moments such as "The Contest" episode in Seinfeld and the MAGA hat storyline on Curb Your Enthusiasm. So, it's not uncommon for other creative geniuses to turn to Larry for advice. His insight can be unique, but other times it just good common sense.
This is precisely what Social Network and Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin found after he left his job at The West Wing.
Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we know precisely what advice Larry gave Aaron and how it's helped him throughout his career. Let's take a look...
But First, Why Did Aaron Leave The West Wing
The West Wing remains one of the most beloved dramas in television history. It was enormously successful during its run from 1999 - 2006. The show was dreamt up by talented screenwriter Aaron Sorkin who helped showrun the series with director Thomas Schlamme. But in April 2001, things started to go downhill for Aaron who, according to Variety, was arrested at the Burbank airport for carrying on a number of illegal drugs. As Aaron has said himself, he was spiraling downwards due to his addictions.
"Tommy [Schlamme] and I called the cast and crew together the morning after I was arrested," Aaron said to The Hollywood Reporter. "I told them what happened and that I was guilty and I apologized for embarrassing the show. They seemed more concerned with my health than with unwanted attention, but that didn't surprise me."
All of this happened the day after they had finished shooting the second season of the show. Luckily for Aaron, continuing to write The West Wing gave Aaron the structure that he really needed to deal with his problems. But the show was deal with a number of financial issues in part due to Aaron taking too long to write or not finishing the episode on schedule. The actors were also going through various re-negotiations of their contracts due to the show's success. Many of them tried to negotiate as a group so that they were all being paid equally.
"It was a very, very scary time to go through that renegotiation period," Allison Janney, who played C.J. said. "I really don't enjoy that part of the business. That's why I hire lawyers and then managers and agents. I said, 'I am going to go crawl under a rock; let me know if I can come out.'"
But by the fourth season, some of the actors had left the show, including Rob Lowe. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he left the show due to lack of screentime as well as because of money issues.
"It was one of those moments that I think people have where you can stay static or you can invest in yourself, and both choices are legitimate choices," Rob Lowe said. "It just depends on what kind of person you are. And here's what would've been the worst thing: to stay on The West Wing only to have Aaron leave like he did."
According to Aaron, he and Tommy Schlamme had been discussing their exits from The West Wing for some time. The budget constraints and the time crunch was just too much for them.
"It was an impossible decision because we'd built a home for ourselves and even felt like we kind of had kids — although by then we both actually had kids — but we also knew that it was time to do whatever we were going to do next and give the show to fresh legs. On a rainy day in late March, we asked our publicists to work with the publicists at Warners to draft a press release. We gathered the cast in the Roosevelt Room and told them that this was our last episode."
Of course, the remaining cast and crew took the new hard. They would have to continue on without the parents of their show. But their parents of The West Wing also had to watch as new parental figures took over and raised their baby... And this is where Larry David comes in...
The Advice Larry David Gave Aaron
After leaving The West Wing, Aaron came into contact with Seinfeld co-creator Larry David. Like Aaron, Larry had also left his very own show partly through the run. While he still repped the financial benefits from Seinfeld and made special appearances on the show, Larry did not write or produce any of the later Seinfeld episodes until the series finale. And what Larry learned from that experience was that a writer should NEVER watch his/her show after they leave it.
And this is the wisdom that Larry imparted to Aaron.
"Either it's going to be great and you're gonna be miserable, or it's gonna be less than great and you're gonna be miserable. But either way, you're gonna be miserable," Larry David told Aaron.
But Aaron didn't listen...
And according to Aaron, Larry was right. He watched the first couple minutes of the season five premiere and had to turn it off because it was "like watching someone make out with your girlfriend".
Aaron then said, "[It was] so difficult to watch these characters in this world that I had created no longer needing me at all. Just doing it by themselves."
The lesson is... always listen to Larry David...