Summary
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 features a star-studded lineup of famous guest stars, from Jimmy Kimmel to Bruce Springsteen.
Returning characters like Auntie Rae and new faces like Sharlto Copley add depth and humor to the final season of the show.
Political figures like Joe Scarborough, Stacey Abrams, and even celebrities like Sienna Miller make appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12.
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 has finally arrived, and as usual, the show’s creator and star Larry David has assembled an impressive line-up of cameos and celebrity guest stars. Throughout its two-decade run, Curb Your Enthusiasm has featured appearances from such guest stars as Michael J. Fox, Rosie O’Donnell, Ricky Gervais, and all four members of Seinfeld’s main cast. Guest stars on Curb Your Enthusiasm can either play a fictional character, like Steve Coogan as Larry’s therapist Dr. Bright, or a satirically heightened version of themselves, like Woody Harrelson.
There are a ton of famous faces in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, from returning guest stars like Jimmy Kimmel to exciting newcomers like Sharlto Copley in the role of an eccentric businessman who hires Larry to make an appearance at his birthday party in Atlanta. Marketed as the show’s final season, Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 has brought back beloved supporting characters from earlier seasons and introduced some great new characters. Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 has a bunch of recognizable cameos and guest stars.
15 Jimmy Kimmel As Himself
Jimmy Kimmel plays himself in the opening montage of Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 1, “Atlanta.” The montage shows Maria Sofia’s meteoric rise to fame after becoming the breakout star of Young Larry, and part of that rise is appearing as a guest on Kimmel’s late-night show. Kimmel previously guest-starred as himself in season 9, episode 1, “Foisted!,” in which Larry appeared on his show to promote his musical Fatwa! and ended up landing a real fatwa from the Ayatollah.
14 Ellia English As Auntie Rae
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 sees the return of Ellia English as Auntie Rae, Leon’s aunt who lived with Larry for a while after her home was destroyed in a hurricane. Auntie Rae hasn’t been seen since season 7, episode 2, “Vehicular Fellatio,” in which she angrily stormed out of Larry’s house following an unfortunate misunderstanding. 15 years later, she returns to the show as Larry and Leon visit her in Atlanta. She unwittingly gets Larry arrested when she accepts his offer of bottled water while waiting to vote at a polling station.
13 Sharlto Copley As Michael Fouchay
Michael Fouchay, the wealthy businessman who hires Larry and Maria Sofia to make an appearance at his birthday party in Atlanta, is played by Sharlto Copley. Copley is best known for playing Wikus van der Merwe in District 9 and the eponymous robot in Chappie. Copley is South African, which plays into the character of Michael as he tells people he’s African, which bothers Larry. In the episode, Michael questions Larry’s cordiality and claims he violated the terms of his contract by not being an affable enough guest at the party.
12 Jon Reep As Emmett
Emmett, the friend that Larry meets in jail in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 2, “The Lawn Jockey,” is played by Jon Reep. Reep won Last Comic Standing season 5, played Police Officer Gerald Bob in the sitcom Rodney, and is best known as the “That thing got a Hemi?” guy from Dodge commercials. Emmett learns the hard way that friendship with Larry David has unwanted consequences. After Larry gifts him a jacket with the tag still on it, Emmett gets arrested.
11 Saverio Guerra As Joe D’Angelo
Larry’s lawyer, Joe D’Angelo, is played by Saverio Guerra. Guerra played Chet the doorman in Bad Boys and Woodstock in Summer of Sam, but he’s best known to Curb Your Enthusiasm fans as Larry’s long-time rival Mocha Joe. Both Larry and Jeff point out that the lawyer is identical to Mocha Joe. The character could even be Mocha Joe in disguise, working on another vengeful scheme against Larry, but the episode leaves it ambiguous.
Related
Wait, IS That Mocha Joe? Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 Hints At The Worst Revenge Against Larry Yet
Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 2 hints at the ultimate revenge plot against Larry David with a lawyer who looks mysteriously familiar.
10 Joe Scarborough & Mika Brzezinski As Themselves
When Larry is released from jail and arrives at the Airbnb property in “The Lawn Jockey,” Susie is watching the MSNBC Morning Joe show on TV, where Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are discussing Larry’s decision to break the law by giving a water bottle to Auntie Rae in line at the polls. The discussion is overwhelmingly positive, lauding Larry for joining the fight against voter suppression. Scarborough goes as far as comparing Larry to Rosa Parks.
9 Stacey Abrams As Herself
Scarborough and Brzezinski aren’t the only well-known public figures who come out to show support for Larry’s actions. There’s also an on-air interview with Stacey Abrams, a renowned voting rights activist who previously served as minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, who praises Larry for giving water to Auntie Rae. Abrams isn’t the first political figure to cameo in Curb Your Enthusiasm; Barbara Boxer and Alexander Vindman previously guest-starred as themselves.
8 Bruce Springsteen As Himself
After Abrams’ interview, Bruce Springsteen also praises Larry’s actions. The pioneer of heartland rock has been known to speak out publicly about the importance of voting rights, so it makes sense that he’d be on board with Larry’s decision to quench Auntie Rae’s thirst at the polling station. Springsteen says that Larry’s middle name is “Involvement” and hilariously nicknames him “Larry ‘Involvement’ David.”
7 Lionel Boyce As The Garden Center Clerk
Lionel Boyce, best known for playing Marcus in The Bear, appears in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 2, as a clerk at a garden center, where Larry looks for a replacement lawn jockey. All the lawn jockeys on display are white, so Larry has to flag down the clerk to inquire about getting one of a different ethnicity, leading to the episode’s most hilariously cringe-inducing scene. Boyce has one of the funniest lines in the episode when Larry tries to explain himself and says it’s “a long story,” and the clerks quips that it’s “about 400 years long.”
6 Sienna Miller As Herself
When Larry returns to L.A. at the beginning of Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 3, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug,” he bumps into Sienna Miller at the airport. Miller flirts with Larry, which frustrates him because he’s stuck with Irma for at least six months, so he can’t do anything about Miller’s crush. This fictionalized version of Miller is shown to have a fascination with Jewish culture, which piques Larry’s interest. Miller usually plays dramatic roles, but she’s appeared in comedies like Alfie and Unfinished Business.
5 Troy Kotsur As Himself
Troy Kotsur guest-stars as himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 3, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug.” Kotsur is best known for his Academy Award-winning turn as Frank Rossi, the deaf father of a hearing teenage daughter, in CODA, which made him the second deaf actor after his CODA co-star Marlee Matlin to win an Oscar. In Curb, Kotsur is a member of Larry’s country club who Larry accidentally hits with a golf ball (and later a bagel). Kotsur is another dramatic actor who fits in comfortably with the naturalistic absurdity of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
4 Dana Lee As Mr. Takahashi
Dana Lee makes his fifth appearance as Mr. Takahashi, the manager of Larry’s country club, in Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 3, “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug.” Mr. Takahashi is one of Larry’s many long-time rivals. In episode 3, Larry runs afoul of Mr. Takahashi when he accidentally hits a fellow member of the club with a speeding golf ball. Larry’s standoffs with Mr. Takahashi usually take a while, but Larry manages to cut this one short by using Leon’s “trick” to make him uncomfortable enough to end the meeting early.
3 Willie Geist As Himself
After making a brief cameo appearance in episode 2, “The Lawn Jockey,” Willie Geist gets a bigger role in episode 4, “Disgruntled.” Geist does an on-air profile of Larry and snoops around the country club to do some investigative journalism in preparation for the interview. It doesn’t always work out when non-actors appear in Curb Your Enthusiasm, especially with the unique way the show is made, but Geist gives one of the series’ best non-actor performances. He has some of the episode’s funniest lines, like “big-D ‘Disgruntled’ energy.”
2 Annie Mumolo As Dr. Melanie Stainback
Annie Mumolo, the Oscar-nominated co-writer of Bridesmaids, appears in episode 4, “Disgruntled,” as Dr. Melanie Stainback, the couple’s counselor who provides counseling for both Larry and Irma’s relationship and Jeff and Susie’s marriage. Much like Fred Melamed’s Dr. Thurgood in season 8, episode 9, “Mister Softee,” Dr. Stainback doesn’t have much respect for doctor-patient confidentiality and lets a lot of Larry’s secrets slip. Mumolo plays every scene hilariously straight as Dr. Stainback leaves Larry gobsmacked with her brazen lack of professionalism.
1 Rob Riggle As Hobie Turner
Rob Riggle plays Dr. Stainback’s husband, Hobie Turner. Hobie is a fictional Seinfeld writer who was mentioned in previous seasons when he wrote a movie for Jon Hamm based on Larry. Riggle is best known for playing Phil Dunphy’s arch-nemesis Gil Thorpe in Modern Family and Mr. Walters in the Jump Street movies. In Curb Your Enthusiasm, Riggle gives an uncharacteristically subdued performance as the “straight man” opposite Larry’s usual antics.