Highlights
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus almost missed out on being part of the Seinfeld cast, but luckily it all worked out in the end.
- She had a deal with Warner Bros. to develop her own show, but it fell through. This led her to consider the role on Seinfeld.
- Despite initial legal issues with Warner Bros., Julia went on to have a successful career post-Seinfeld, starring in The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep, among other projects.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is best known for her time on Seinfeld today, but she almost didn’t end up as part of the cast. During an appearance on The Ellen Show when that show was only in its second season, Julia discussed how she nearly missed out on the show, and how it all came together in the end.
Joking that she needed a hefty paycheck to bust out Elaine’s signature dance move on Ellen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus might have been recalling her impressively high salary on Seinfeld. She also confirmed how fortunate she was to have it all work out, even if she lost the opportunity to have her own show because of it.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Nearly Skipped Seinfeld
While Ellen DeGeneres hinted that Julia nearly “didn’t take the role,” the actress had to set the record straight. Agreeing that her career would have been wildly different had she not appeared on Seinfeld, Julia explained what really went down.
At the time, Julia had a deal with Warner Bros. to develop her own show, which was actively ongoing. That wound up falling through, according to Julia, but it wound up being a positive thing. Right around that time, Louis-Dreyfus received some scripts from her “good friend” Larry David.
The two had worked together before, and Larry was developing a script that needed a little extra something—namely, an additional actor.
Calling the scripts “a cut above,” Julia explained to Ellen that she was immediately intrigued. She elaborated that the script “didn’t resemble anything in sitcom” at that time, hinting that she had a feeling it would become big, bigger than any other sitcom to date.
Julia made it sound like the earlier opportunity fell through, and only then did she consider Seinfeld. However, there was one thing that meant Julia was on the fence about the opportunity.
Recounting the story, Julia explained that the part of Elaine was “this big,” pinching her fingers together to illustrate just how tiny Elaine’s section of the script was. Fortunately, that changed when Julia came on board.
Seinfeld Made Elaine’s Part Bigger And Get Julia’s Buy-In
Since Julia and Larry David were good friends already, thanks to Saturday Night Live, it seems that the Seinfeld script grew quite a bit for Elaine. By the time the sitcom ended, Elaine had had just about as many relationships on set as Jerry Seinfeld did, and she had major plot points, too.
In recalling the original script, Julia called it “meaty stuff,” at least in two of the four scripts she was given. That made sense given that Larry and Jerry were basically told to write a strong female character into their formerly all-male cast.
Things also changed when the cast got on set, and many of the show’s best moments stemmed from unscripted and off-the-cuff lines.
Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing once Julia had the Seinfeld script in her hands. Despite what she told Ellen during their chat, there was a gray area with the actress’ planned gig with Warner Bros. that resulted in a legal issue.
Warner Bros. threatened legal action, claiming that Julia had ditched their project to join Seinfeld when apparently, that wasn’t the case. At least, that’s what Louis-Dreyfus claimed at first.
From Julia’s perspective, she hadn’t done anything wrong; she claimed that the development deal had “a creative out based on the material,” and it didn’t work out.
Julia did “bow out” of the project, but as she understood it, she was well within her contract rights to do so. Ultimately, no legal action occurred due to the falling out, and Warner Bros. apparently didn’t hold it against Julia later on.
Julia Earned Plenty More Opportunities Post-Seinfeld
She might not have gotten her own show at that point, but after nearly a decade on the sitcom, there were some great opportunities offered to Louis-Dreyfus as she ended her time as Elaine.
In fact, after Seinfeld, Julia did go back to Warner Bros. and star in a show. It took a few years, but in 2006, Julia debuted in The New Adventures of Old Christine, which ran for four years (and 88 episodes).
She also appeared in various episodes of other sitcoms, even joining the TV cast of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She’s also appeared in a handful of films, including Marvel projets Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Julia also wound up starring in Veep for seven years plus served as the series’ executive producer—proving with her well-heeled resume post-Seinfeld that the “Seinfeld curse” doesn’t actually exist.
The same may not be true of other minor cast members on the show, or Michael Richards’ trajectory after his outburst, but it was promising for the only lead female character. Julia may not have had such a notable show as Seinfeld since it wrapped, but she’s still recognized as Elaine today, for better or worse, but always with comedic value.
Source: NewsFinale
