Julia Louis-Dreyfus always wanted to be an actor. Growing up, it was movies such as The Sound of Music, Funny Girl, and Mary Poppins that fueled the desire she’s had for as long as she can remember. On an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the comedy powerhouse had what she described as a “watershed” moment her freshman year at Northwestern University, when she made it onto an exclusive improv comedy team that freshmen don’t typically make.
Soon after in 1982, she joined The Practical Theatre Company and performed in a show that would change her life and career. This improv show, called The Golden 50th Anniversary (even though the group had only been around for three years) was a massive hit and talked about around the Chicago comedy community. “It was a big, monster hit. Unbeknownst to us one night, the producers of Saturday Night Live were in the audience. And so after the show, they came backstage and offered us all jobs.” She dropped out of Northwestern and never looked back, as SNL was a no-brainer. Though this would be a boon to her career, it wasn’t necessarily the best experience or environment. Regardless, she met one person that would end up catapulting her career to unimaginable heights. Seinfeld co-creator Larry David was a struggling writer at the sketch show, and would soon think of her when casting for the iconic Elaine Benes.
While Seinfeld has left an indelible mark on entertainment history and Louis-Dreyfus’ career, that series was only the beginning of what has become an impressive filmography for the Emmy winner. She would star in the short-lived but respected series Watching Ellie, which would soon be followed by The New Adventures of Old Christine with Wanda Sykes, Hamish Linklater, and Clark Gregg. In 2012, she would start her next chapter in her television journey as Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO comedy series Veep. The series spoke to her for a lot of reasons, including the interesting similarities between an actor and a politician. “The parallels between Washington, D.C. [and Hollywood] are very, very wide, thick, deep parallels,” she said, adding, “so the notion that you sort of have to keep yourself alive, and relevant, and fresh, and in peoples’ faces in order to sort of stay alive career-wise, well, that notion really applies in both worlds…you’re selling a brand of yourself.”
After 7 stellar seasons of Veep and multiple Emmys later, Julia Louis-Dreyfus shows no signs of slowing down. She’s joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the righteous Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, stars in the Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris social commentary comedy You People, and the Sundance Film Festival hit You Hurt My Feelings from Enough Said writer-director Nicole Holofcener.
Let’s take a look at some of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ best performances.
8 Elaine Benes, ‘Seinfeld’
It’s hard to believe that Elaine Benes was not originally part of the legendary sitcom Seinfeld. In fact, it was originally called The Seinfeld Chronicles. Louis-Dreyfus was brought in when NBC requested a female character be added to the show, and, well, thank goodness they did. Elaine joined the rest of the unlikable yet lovable crew of Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards) in New York City for nine seasons of neuroses. “I liked to play a girl who was unapologetically in your face,” Louis-Dreyfus said when thinking back on the role. Whether she’s stressing over poppy seeds, fighting a Soup Nazi, or desperately trying to save movie seats, one thing is clear: it’s Elaine’s world, and we’re just living in it.
7 Princess Atta, ‘A Bug’s Life’
The 1998 animated film A Bug’s Life is a hidden Pixar gem. Directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, the buggy film follows the misadventures of Flik (David Foley), an awkward ant determined to protect his colony from the evil grasshoppers lurking around them. Louis-Dreyfus’ ant character Princess Atta is an intimidated, self-conscious, and paranoid little bugger for two big reasons: becoming the queen is in her future, and she has a crush on Flik. Louis-Dreyfus’ ability to strain and exaggerate her voice lends itself perfectly to such a hesitant yet enthusiastic character.
6 Maggie Lizer, ‘Arrested Development’
“I’m Maggie Lizer. As in, Maggie Lies-Her-Ass-Off.” The Seinfeld star’s performance in Arrested Development is something you just couldn’t see coming. Louis-Dreyfus’ Maggie Lizer is so outrageous and unpredictable that you might not realize she only appeared in four episodes. She has an incredibly toxic on-again, off-again relationship with Jason Bateman’s dry Michael Bluth, making Maggie’s character, which only emphasizes her character’s cartoonish behavior. The manic and pathological liar lawyer is most remembered for lying about being blind, opening the door for the actress to do some uncoordinated stunt work. (Like grabbing Michael’s face to identify his level of sincerity.) Maggie telling Michael, “I mean we were starting to establish some trust. Except for all the lies,” is a pretty solid summation of her time on the show.
5 Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
The only thing better than the Emmy winner playing a character is the Emmy winner playing a version of herself. She did this in a sketch on Inside Amy Schumer alongside Tina Fey and Patricia Arquette as well as with her long-time collaborator Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. During her very meta arc on the show, she takes part in a quasi-reunion for Seinfeld in Season 7. Similar to how Seinfeld is “the show about nothing,” these episodes were about the crew haphazardly trying to orchestrate a reunion. Not only was it fun to see the crew back together as versions of themselves, but seeing her bicker with her good friend Larry over the “interesting” fact that she might have lied to him is pretty, pretty, pretty fun.
4 Christine Campbell, ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’
The CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which ran from 2006 to 2010 takes Louis-Dreyfus’ knack for over-the-top, at-times buffoonish comedy and runs with it to great effect. Kari Lizer’s series is about Christine Campbell (Louis-Dreyfus), a socially inept single mom who is best friends with her ex-husband (Clark Gregg) and has an unhealthy attachment to her younger brother Matthew (Hamish Linklater). The character of Christine is so in tune with Louis-Dreyfus’ ability to make you laugh and cringe, and absolutely thrives comedically by leaning into Christine’s many foot-in-mouth moments. Christine is on a never-ending emotional rollercoaster. Louis-Dreyfus manages to go from happy tears to sad tears, excited to disgusted, confident to deflated — all within a matter of seconds.
3 Eva, ‘Enough Said’
Writer-director Nicole Holofcener’s 2013 film Enough Said is a stunningly authentic depiction of love in its most unadulterated form. The romantic dramedy tells the story of Eva (Louis-Dreyfus), a divorced massage therapist who somewhat reluctantly goes on a date with Albert (James Gandolfini), a man who she doesn’t consider her “type” but slowly realizes it’s their shared imperfections and candor that makes them the perfect match.
Louis-Dreyfus’ performance as Eva feels like a thesis project for her career, as it perfectly blends together the actress’s many strengths. Eva is self-sufficient, emotionally fragile, composed, yet awkward — all while being charming. The nervous energy she brings to her character on their first date weirdly exudes a refreshing confidence and contentedness that Louis-Dreyfus captures so well.
2 Selina Meyer, ‘Veep’
Did the President call? It’s rare to have an actor star in one long-running show that is well-received, let alone three. For seven critically acclaimed seasons, the Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine star led the HBO comedy series Veep. Created by Armando Iannucci, the satirical series follows Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus), the crass, blunt, narcissistic Senator turned Vice President who, when she isn’t throwing around blame, is quite literally throwing a tantrum. The actress conveys so much rage with the twist of her mouth, head tilt, or scoff, an immense testament to Louis-Dreyfus’ impeccable comedic timing and physical comedy abilities. “I think from a developmental point of view, this character is like a toddler,” she says about her Emmy-winning performance. “She’s had tantrums and throws things down and tells other people to pick them up.”
1 Laurel Lightfoot, ‘Onward'
Two decades after A Bug’s Life, Louis-Dreyfus brings her voice back to Pixar for the animated adventure Onward. Directed by Dan Scanlon, the family adventure follows polar opposite elven brothers Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt) who decide to try and bring back their dad for one day. Their widowed mother Laurel (Louis-Dreyfus) is kind of a classic mom in that all she wants to do is squeeze her sons tight and make sure they have everything under control. Deep down, however, she knows that she eventually has to let them out of her loving grip, which gives Louis-Dreyfus an excuse to vacillate between a doting mother and trying to be cool and helpful in the process.