I’m in love with “Long Story Short.”
If you haven’t watched the animated Netflix show about the Schwooper (that’s Schwartz and Cooper adorably melded together) family from “BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg yet, you must. I love the way it breathes new life into Jewish stereotypes and the specificity of its Jewish representation, and I love it’s all-star cast. But even I still get confused about who voices who in this excellent show. So here’s a breakdown of the show’s Jewish cast, characters and guest stars, and their excellent past Jewish roles.
Naomi Schwartz — Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein plays Jewish matriarch Naomi Schwartz, one of my surprisingly favorite characters in the show. Edelstein herself is Jewish. Most of us know her from her excellent roles in medical shows like “House,” where she played (Jewish!) Dr. Cuddy, and “The Good Doctor.” She also recently played a complex Jewish mom in the Canadian show “Little Bird.”
Elliot Cooper — Paul Reiser
Anyone get Elliot Gould vibes from Elliot Cooper, the Schwooper patriarch? Well, he’s played by another, just as iconic Jewish dad: Paul Reiser. I am so, so stoked that Reiser plays this role because the actor is know for playing many a Jewish-coded character that isn’t overtly (by that I mean, that doesn’t explicitly mention being) Jewish — from “Mad About You”‘s Paul Buchman (I was obsessed with that show) to “Beverly Hills Cop”‘s Detective Jeffrey Friedman. Edelstein and Reiser also both starred in Netflix’s very Jewish “The Kominsky Method” together.
Avi Schwooper — Ben Feldman
Ben Feldman is no newbie to Jewish roles. Yes, the majority of people know him as Jonah from the excellent and underrated “Superstore,” but the actor started his movie career in a trippy Passover movie called “When Do We Eat.” And I don’t think anyone who watched “Mad Men” can forget Jewish ad man Michael Ginsberg and his severed nipple (still healing from it, myself).
Shira Schwooper-Hooper — Abbi Jacboson
We all know and love Abbi Jacobson from her very Jewish role as Abbi Abrams in “Broad City.” I also adored her recently in the very Jewish-coded lawyer Leslie Fisher in “No Good Deed.” “Long Story Short” isn’t Jacobson’s first collaboration with Raphael Bob-Waksberg; she played Emily in “BoJack Horseman,” Todd’s (Aaron Paul) high school ex-girlfriend and bestie. In “Long Story Short,” her character is married to Kendra and the two are raising their kids Jewish.
Yoshi Schwooper — Max Greenfield
Max Greenfield might never play a role as iconic as Schmidt from “New Girl,” but I think he’s pretty amazing as the youngest Schwooper sibling who finds himself in Orthodox Judaism. Greenfield has played many Jewish roles, including Feldman’s character’s brother in “When Do We Eat” (we love a reunion!). An accomplished children’s book author, Greenfield has also recently starred as genuinely nice Jewish doctor Lev Levenson (still can’t get over the name) in “Running Point.”
Kendra Hooper — Nicole Byer
Nicole Byer, who isn’t Jewish, plays Kendra Hooper, whose story of Jewish conversion we get to explore in episode seven of “Long Story Short.” Kendra meets Shira in the checkout line getting groceries for Rosh Hashanah dinner, and the rest is history (except we don’t really know how Shira got Kendra’s number, or vice versa!). The two are married, Kendra working as a big shot at a Chuck E. Cheese-like franchise called BJ Bananafingers. Byer is herself a big shot in, well, everything; she’s a prolific comedian, podcast host, actor and of course, the former host of the hit show “Nailed It!”
Hannah Schwooper — Michaela Dietz
Michaela Dietz plays Avi and Jen’s (Angelique Cabral) daughter. Avi, who does not feel spiritually connected to Judaism, chose to raise her not Jewish — but Hannah may or may not have other plans. Unlike the majority of the stars in this list, Dietz is mainly a voice actor, who is best known for voicing Amethyst in the “Steven Universe” franchise.
Danny Wegbreit — Dave Franco
Dave Franco plays Yoshi’s chaotic friend Danny in the show, and truly has some of the most unhinged scenes. Franco, brother of actor James Franco, frequently collaborates with his wife Alison Brie (their latest movie is “Together”) also recently played a version of himself in “The Studio.” Unlike Yoshi and his character Danny, Franco was never bar mitzvahed, but his mother is Jewish and his grandmother Mitzie was active in the National Council of Jewish Women.
Rachel “Baby” Feldstein — Gina Rodriguez
Baby is Shira’s mythological ex-best friend and we get to meet her through a crazy 2015 night she spends with Yoshi. In real life, Gina Rodriguez, like Baby, does have Jewish heritage.“It was so interesting to play a Latina Jew and we don’t see that very often. My grandfather is a French Jew and my sister and her kids are fully Jewish,” the “Jane the Virgin” star said in an interview about her 2013 role in “Sleeping with the Fishes.”
Uncle Barry — Danny Burstein
Uncle Barry is that Jewish uncle who always steals the spotlight. He’s the husband of Naomi’s sister, Susan. Outside of the world of “Long Story Short,” Jewish Broadway star Danny Burstein does steal the spotlight in every show he’s in, and has several Tony nominations and awards, including a nomination for playing Tevye in “Fiddler.”
Susan Schwartz — Zoe Lister-Jones
Jewish actress Zoe Lister-Jones plays Naomi’s sister, Susan, who passed away before Naomi did and left Barry a widow. A celebrated filmmaker, Lister-Jones has had many a Jewish roles. She played an Orthodox women in the 2007 movie “Arranged.” She also recently starred in “A Good Person” directed by Zach Braff (who voices her son in “Long Story Short”), and played the love interest of Max Greenfield’s (who voices her nephew in “Long Story Short”) Schmidt in “New Girl.”
Carol Schwartz — Julie Klausner
Julie Klausner — podcaster, creator and star of the very Jewish “Difficult People” and wearer of fancy Judaica — is perfectly cast as Naomi’s other sister, Carol. We want more of her in season two, please and thank you.
Joni — Rachel Bloom
Cousin Joni, Barry and Susan’s granddaughter, gets accused of some pretty awful Zoom-shiva faux-pas behavior in the season finale of the show. Rachel Bloom of course gave us one of the best Jewish shows of all time — “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” — as well as the best Hanukkah musical comedy album of all time. She also makes delightfully Jewish and heartbreaking comedy specials and starred as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor in “Heritage Day.”
Vivian — Ellen Greene
The iconic Ellen Greene of “Little Shop of Horrors” fame plays one of my favorite side characters of the show: Joni, Barry’s Vegas girlfriend. Greene also plays an Aunt Vivian in “Pushing Daisies” — from one iconic Vivian to another, as our people say. She also played Natalie Portman’s mother in “Léon: The Professional.”
Gilad — Zach Braff
Zach Braff plays Susan’s son and the Schwooper kids’ domineering cousin in episode two of the show, “Hannah’s Dance Recital,” and is part of a traumatizing memory for Shira. The “Scrubs” star (reboot forthcoming!) is also the director of many Jewish films like “Garden State” and “Wish I Was Here,” and also played himself in a couple of episodes of “BoJack Horseman.”
Noah Wapner — Ben Schwartz
Ben Schwartz plays Kendra’s Jewish colleague who ends up inevitably leading to her conversion. It’s an iconic role and oh-so-fit for the star who played my favorite Jewish-coded “BoJack Horseman” character, Rutabaga Rabitowitz. He also played the one and only Jean-Ralphio Saperstein in “Parks & Recreation” (Jenny Slate played his sister, Henry Winkler played his dad, it was and remains everything to me) and a rabbi in “This Is Where I Leave You.” He is also THE LITERAL VOICE OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. Something for your mother (and me) to kvell about.
Mrs. Schwartz — Shoshana Bean
Broadway star Shoshana Bean transports us to 1950’s New York as the voice of Naomi, Susan and Carol’s mom. Bean, like Idina Menzel before her, played Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway, and was nominated for a Tony for her role in the very Jewish “Mr. Saturday Night.”
Ira Schwartz — David Krumholtz
Many people still known David Krumholtz best from his role in the “Santa Claus” franchise, but Jewish roles have always been central in the actor’s career. He’s played Jewish or Jew-ish in “Slums of Beverly Hills,” “Harold and Kumar” and “Oppenheimer” — and he’s playing Superman’s uncle in the upcoming “Supergirl” movie, arguably a very Jewish role. In “Long Story Short,” Krumholtz plays Naomi’s father, Ira, who complains about his parents escaping the terror pogroms of Eastern Europe only for his daughters to terrorize him.
