SEINFELD'S SWEET SIDE

THE COMEDY ICON SHARES HIS FUNNY PERSPECTIVE ON MARRIAGE, FATHERHOOD AND TURNING 70-PLUS WHY HE MADE A PROUDLY SILLY MOVIE ABOUT POP-TARTS

- MIA MCNIECE

jerry Seinfeld's one birthday wish may not be what people expect from the legendary comedian, who turned 70 on April 29. "The thing I would like to do more than anything is get up on a surfboard and ride a wave," he says. "That would be the dream of my life." Of course, the Brooklyn native has made many other kinds of dreams come true. There's his iconic TV series Seinfeld, which ran from 1989 to 1998; his 25-year marriage to wife Jessica, 52, and fatherhood to their three kids Sascha, 23, Julian, 21, and Shepherd, 18; and now his new Netflix movie Unfrosted, about the creation of, yes, Pop-Tarts. "I've been obsessed with PopTarts my whole life. I love the idea of serious people with suits and ties talking about Pop-Tarts," says Seinfeld, who stars in and directed the film. Set in the 1960s, it contains elements of truth but is "99 percent fabricated," he notes, smiling.

He enlisted some of his favorite funny people to costar, including Melissa McCarthy, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, James Marsden and Jim Gaffigan-and made yet another of his dreams come true when Jon Hamm and John Slattery agreed to play ad executives. "I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to be in Mad Men, finally!"" he says.

Given all of these accomplishments, standing on a surfboard doesn't sound too far out of reach. But Seinfeld has his doubts about it. "I'm too old now. I don't think I'm athletic enough. You know what? Maybe it's good to have some dreams you didn't reach," he says with a laugh. Below, the star shares how he's found success in marriage, parenting and his career by never losing his sense of humor.

There's a lot of 1960s nostalgia in Unfrosted. How did growing up in that era influence you?