Julia Louis-Dreyfus broke into Hollywood thanks to her portrayal of Elaine Benes in the Seinfeld, but his character wasn’t always given much to do in the early days of the show. In an interview with The Everyday Beastthe actor revealed how he constantly advocated for Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld to write more material for Elaine.
“I never approached it from the perspective of my gender, per se. I wanted to just play ball with everybody,” said Louis-Dreyfus about her attitude to the role after she was out of the pilot. “I’m not going to lie, in the beginning, I didn’t always have much to do in certain episodes. And I would go to Larry and Jerry many times and say, ‘Hey, you guys, write me more, I’ve got to be on this show.’ That’s what I’m going on about. And they did.”
The two-part ending of Seinfeld Season 4, titled “The Pilot,” actually refers to their difficulty writing for a woman, but Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t think that’s the case. “But then, you see, they didn’t write for me as a woman,” she said. “They just wrote for me, for this character, as opposed to this gender, which I think is instructive in a lot of ways from a writing standpoint.”
In a separate interview with Rolling StoneLouis-Dreyfus recently rejected the idea of ”Seinfeld curse,” which was used to describe the alleged lack of success of the show’s stars after it ended in 1998. “It was invented by the media. They think it’s smart,” he said. “I don’t need you to prove it wrong, it’s funny! It makes no sense. I’m surprised it even has legs, because it’s so stupid.
Louis-Dreyfus undeniably had a post-Seinfeld success by starring in a pair of Emmy-winning shows: his CBS sitcom Old Christine’s New Appearances and the HBO political satire Veep. His latest film, You Hurt My Feelingshits theaters on May 26th.