Unfrosted might not be fully accurate in its portrayal of the race to create the first toaster pastry, but it does capture an essential truth: The more specific nostalgia is, the more universal its appeal. Which is why Unfrosted’s director, co-writer, and star Jerry Seinfeld’s personal passion for the Pop-Tart can be seen through the lens of a subversive yet somehow sweet look back at the ’60s, a time when kids roamed free (and right into dumpsters) and Shakespearean actors moonlighted as cereal mascots.

About that — the mascot in question is Tony the Tiger, and the real-life actor who voiced him was named Thurl Ravenscroft. And while, no, he was not a thespian who specialized in the Bard’s work, that’s the spin Hugh Grant has put on the character in Unfrosted, to great effect. Below, Grant talks to Tudum about playing a “frustrated old actor,” whether or not breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and why “people don’t have conversations anymore.”

What was the initial appeal for you with Unfrosted — and how much of it was just getting to play someone named Thurl Ravenscroft?
Well, it is a great name and he was real.

Yes, he really did play Tony the Tiger and he also sings the iconic  “You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” song.
He has quite a following. So I hope I don’t upset them. Especially because I don’t play him American. I play him as a rather grand British thespian.

You do. And he has something of a chip on his shoulder, I would say.
He’s livid.

How fun was it getting to play around with that characterization?
A lot of fun. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m angry.

I’ve not heard that about you.
Frustrated old actor.

I don't think that's your reputation.
Well, I don’t know. Anyway, I play a version of it in Paddington 2, and I recognize this as his slightly darker cousin.

The nostalgia factor is very big with this film, even if it’s done in a subversive way. It plays around with the idea of a ’60s childhood, America, and, well, not apple pie, but toaster pastries. What do you think the appeal is of nostalgia in film?
I have a fascinating theory that filmed entertainment works better when it’s set in a pre-digital world, a pre–cell phone world, where people really had to talk to each other more. I think it’s really hard now to make something about the world we live in. People don't really have conversations anymore. 

And I think a lot of the texture’s gone out of life. So actually, setting it whenever this is, ’63, is it? Immediately I think you have a little lift and a fondness and it’s hilarious. How could life have been like that? I can just remember it. My mummy, she had a ’60s hairdo and they wore headscarves, and she wore gloves to go down the high street and do her shopping in the summer — ladylike, ’50s gloves.

My grandmother told me that she never left her apartment in Manhattan without wearing gloves, a hat, and she always wore heels — and it’s completely different now. Everyone’s just in leggings.
It’s so depressing.

So you liked going back to this time — it was such an interesting time for kids, because they had this different sort of freedom. 
I think what children loved in those days — what they would fixate on, it might be a breakfast cereal or baseball cards or something, but it couldn’t be what it is for every single kid now, which is a phone or an iPad. I have five children; that’s all they want. It’s all their friends want. So I conduct experiments with my children.

I think that’s what every parent should do.
I make them have nothing. They go digital-free for three weeks and it’s fascinating to watch. Obviously there’s a lot of friction at the beginning, and then they blossom.

Boredom is something, I think, that we should force each other to experience more…
Yes, because then they take care of it in fascinating ways.

Absolutely. It’s where imagination comes from, and you get to go to all sorts of weird and new places which this film certainly does. How did you feel watching Unfrosted?
Oh, massive relief.

OK, good!
I always assume everything I’m in is going to be a gigantic failure. And I thought it worked really well. It was funny. I mean, it’s hard when you're watching it by yourself in a screening room. I need people around to really tell if the funny bits are funny, but I think they are.

There’s a lot of laughs. What was it like working with Jerry as a director?
It was good. He was open about never having directed before, and I thought he did a great job. Some of the performers wanted to improvise as well as doing versions which were exactly as he’d written it. He crafts his stand-up so finely down to the last full stop and comma, and he realized that people were bringing things that were useful to him.

For my final question: Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
Yes.

Watch the Trailer for Unfrosted