Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Career, Resilience, and Humor's Therapeutic Power

Key Quotes

"We have such a pro we have the queen we have just the hilarious incredible inspiring julie louis dreyfus joining us today and um we talked to julia about so many fun good things we talk about season four of her podcast wiser than me we're uh we're going to talk about um her emmy nomination and how she just beat me year after year um we're talking about how many photos we have on our phone um and spoiler alert i have more and um you're gonna hear her reject my idea that she is the lebron james of television so great episode coming up but before we start we always like to check in with someone who knows our guest who has a question to give me to ask our guest and we have an incredible sweet super talented hilarious tony hale joining us"

Amy Poehler introduces Julia Louis-Dreyfus and mentions several topics they will discuss, including Louis-Dreyfus's podcast, Emmy nominations, and a playful disagreement about her being the "LeBron James of television." Poehler also highlights the segment where they check in with Tony Hale for a question, setting a collaborative and engaging tone for the episode.

"you have created such great codependent dysfunctional relationships in the work that you do because lucille and buster i mean is and and then the relationship you and julia have on veep is uh how when you explain your relationship to selena in that like how do you relation how do you how do you sum up the relationship you guys have together on the show your characters um i worship she was jesus to me i was i don't even think i exist i mean i she literally called me a bitchy mime on the show because she didn't really want me to speak so she had she gave me no value but i just had these crazy rose colored glasses and just i never heard it i just heard poetry when she was screaming at me so it was just and she knew it she knew it and she abused it"

Tony Hale describes the complex and dysfunctional relationships his characters had, particularly highlighting the codependency between Lucille and Buster Bluth and the dynamic between Gary Walsh and President Selina Meyer on Veep. Hale explains that his character on Veep viewed Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character as a deity, even when being verbally abused, demonstrating a profound level of devotion and a distorted perception of reality within the show's narrative.

"well i mean it's sort of um depends on what the the conceit is for what the conversation's going to be you've done this right because good hang lets you know exactly what it's going to be we could be talking about the photos on my phone for the next 45 minutes that's right we probably will and we might and that's like that is dynamite because that's there's an ease to that um unfortunately for me you've made it hard because you love hard work well i don't know about that but i have made it i mean it's definitely rewarding but it does i'm talking to older women about the wisdom they have acquired in their life and would they share it with us so that requires me to do a lot of research i really need to come to the table understanding who these people are and how to have an authentic conversation that isn't just you know your normal uh fuck around yeah or plug your this that and the other and and i it's why i love your show and i've told you that like i love the deep dive you do i do feel like i get this very you know big picture um perspective from the women and the lives that they've led"

Julia Louis-Dreyfus discusses the different approaches to podcasting, contrasting Amy Poehler's Good Hang with her own Wiser Than Me. Louis-Dreyfus explains that Good Hang allows for a more spontaneous conversation, while her podcast requires extensive research into the lives of older women to elicit authentic wisdom. She praises Poehler's show for its ease and depth, while acknowledging the demanding nature of her own interview style.

"i worship she was jesus to me i was i don't even think i exist i mean i she literally called me a bitchy mime on the show because she didn't really want me to speak so she had she gave me no value but i just had these crazy rose colored glasses and just i never heard it i just heard poetry when she was screaming at me so it was just and she knew it she knew it and she abused it"

Julia Louis-Dreyfus describes her character Gary Walsh's relationship with President Selina Meyer on Veep, portraying a dynamic of extreme devotion and subservience. Louis-Dreyfus explains that her character saw Meyer as divine, even when subjected to insults and demeaning language, indicating a willingness to interpret harsh criticism as something poetic. This highlights the character's deep-seated admiration and perhaps delusion regarding Meyer's perception of him.

"i mean i think i but i'm not going to i'm not accepting that man well here's why i say that you're not and i think that's smart to not accept it actually i take it back yeah yeah but no but the but you have been you're pretty good just say you're pretty good it's fine you won three this is my this isn't really stand the metaphor and i'm just i'm pleased that i came up with this from a sports perspective because um because you're such a sporty girl i'm such a sporty i mean this is what this podcast is about of course yeah like let's go deep into the into the draft and football and let's go into there let's get a deep in okay no but um because you're lebron because you have won championships for more than one team you're you have been on huge legacy shows more than once yeah it's not that's very unusual it's very unusual that is unusual and that's a lot of good luck you know really and so so great but not really lebron okay okay okay"

Amy Poehler attempts to liken Julia Louis-Dreyfus to LeBron James, citing her consistent success across multiple major television shows as evidence of her "championships for more than one team." Louis-Dreyfus, however, rejects the comparison, stating that while she appreciates the sentiment, she is not going to accept the "LeBron James of television" label. Poehler then concedes, acknowledging that Louis-Dreyfus is simply "pretty good" and that the comparison might not be entirely accurate, but still emphasizes her unique career trajectory.

"well i had you know i was kind of uh backed into a corner on that one because we had to shut our show down i it's funny how that worked out because normally i would not have done that i'm very private um but because we had to shut the show down veep at the time for a year uh i had to say you know 250 people weren't going to be working or whatever it is so um so i had to make a public thing about it but the good thing