1980s: Early career and Saturday Night Live ,
Gary Kroeger and Paul Barrosse As part of her comedic training, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in
The Second City, one of the best-known improvisational theatre groups. It was her performance with
The Practical Theatre Company at their "Golden 50th Anniversary Jubilee" that led to her being asked to join the cast of
NBC's
Saturday Night Live at the age of 21. Louis-Dreyfus subsequently became a cast member on
Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985, the youngest female cast member in the history of the program at that time. It was during her third and final year on
SNL that she met writer
Larry David during his only year on the show. Louis-Dreyfus has commented that her casting on
SNL was a "
Cinderella-getting-to-go-to-the-ball kind of experience"; however, she has also admitted that at times it was often quite tense, stating that she "didn't know how to navigate the waters of show business in general and specifically doing a live sketch-comedy show". '
Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live''''' • April May June, a
televangelist • Becky, El Dorko's (
Gary Kroeger) date • Consuela, Chi Chi's friend and co-host of ''Let's Watch TV'' • Darla in
SNLs parody of
The Little Rascals • Weather Woman, a superhero who controls the weather • Patti Lynn Hunnsucker, a teenage correspondent on
Weekend Update Following her 1985 departure from
SNL, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in several films, including
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) by
Woody Allen,
Soul Man (1986), and ''
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), in which she starred alongside fellow SNL
alumnus Chevy Chase. In 1987, Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the NBC sitcom pilot The Art of Being Nick, an intended spin-off from Family Ties starring Scott Valentine. When the pilot did not make it to series, Louis-Dreyfus was retained by producer Gary David Goldberg for a role on his new sitcom Day by Day, as the sarcastic and materialistic neighbor, Eileen Swift. Premiering in early 1988, Day by Day'' aired for two seasons on NBC before being cancelled.
1990s: Seinfeld and widespread recognition in September 1995 In the early 1990s, Louis-Dreyfus became famous for the role of
Elaine Benes on NBC's
Seinfeld. She played the role for nine seasons, appearing in all but three episodes. On the "Notes About Nothing" featurette on the
DVD package, Seinfeld says that Louis-Dreyfus's ability to eat a peanut
M&M without breaking the peanut described her: "She cracks you up without breaking your nuts." Louis-Dreyfus garnered critical acclaim for her performance on the series, and she was a regular winner and nominee at television award shows throughout the 1990s. Her performance earned her two
Golden Globe Award nominations, winning once in 1994, nine
Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, winning one in 1995 and two in both 1997 and 1998, and seven
American Comedy Awards, winning five times in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998. In 1996, she won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, an award she was nominated for on seven occasions from 1992 to 1998. After receiving the award, Louis-Dreyfus said the win was a "shocker", and that after being in both positions, it was "much better to win than to lose." In 1998, Jerry Seinfeld decided to end the series after nine seasons. The
series finale aired on May 14 and was one of the most-watched TV events in history, with over 76 million viewers tuning in. During her time on
Seinfeld, she appeared in several films, including the comedy films ''
Fathers' Day'' (1997), opposite
Robin Williams and
Billy Crystal, and
Woody Allen's
Deconstructing Harry (1997). Following a voice role in the highly successful
Pixar film ''
A Bug's Life'' (1998), Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice as
Snake's girlfriend Gloria in
The Simpsons episode "
A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love".
2000s: Post-Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine In 2001, she made several special guest appearances on
Seinfeld co-creator
Larry David's show
Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing herself fictionally trying to break the "curse" by planning to star in a show in which she would play an actress affected by a
Seinfeld-like curse. After several years away from a regular TV job, Louis-Dreyfus began a new single-camera sitcom,
Watching Ellie, which premiered on NBC in February 2002. The series was created by husband
Brad Hall and co-starred
Steve Carell and Louis-Dreyfus's half-sister
Lauren Bowles. The initial premise of the show was to present viewers with a "slice of life" from the goings-on and happenings of the life of Ellie Riggs, a Southern California jazz singer. The first season included a 22-minute countdown kept digitally in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, which many critics panned, claiming it was useless and "did nothing for the show." Overall, the show received mixed reviews but debuted strongly with over 16 million viewers tuning in for the series premiere, and maintained an average audience of about 10 million viewers per week. When the series returned for a second season in the spring of 2003, it suffered a decline in viewership, averaging around eight million viewers per week. The show had undergone a drastic stylistic change between the production of seasons one and two. The first season was filmed in the single-camera format, but the second season was presented as a traditional multicamera sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience. With dwindling viewership and failing to retain the numbers from its
Frasier lead-in, the series was cancelled by NBC in May 2003. Following NBC's cancellation of
Watching Ellie, the media began circulating rumors of a so-called "
Seinfeld curse", which claimed that none of the former
Seinfeld actors could ever achieve success again in the television industry. Louis-Dreyfus dismissed the rumor as "a made-up thing by the media", Louis-Dreyfus was interested in the role of
Susan Mayer on
Desperate Housewives, the role that ultimately went to
Teri Hatcher. Instead, Louis-Dreyfus scored a recurring guest role as Maggie Lizer, the deceitful prosecutor and love interest of
Michael Bluth on the Emmy-winning comedy
Arrested Development, from 2004 to 2005.'' at the
Museum of Television & Radio in April 2007 In 2005, Louis-Dreyfus was cast in the title role of a new CBS sitcom,
The New Adventures of Old Christine. The series and its concept were created by writer and producer of
Will & Grace, Kari Lizer. The series told the story of Christine Campbell, a single mother who manages to maintain a fantastic relationship with her ex-husband while running a women's gym. The series debuted on CBS in March 2006 to an audience of 15 million and was initially a ratings winner for the network. Louis-Dreyfus received considerable critical acclaim for her performance on the show, with Brian Lowry of
Variety stating that Louis-Dreyfus broke the so-called "
Seinfeld curse [...] with one of the best conventional half-hours to come along in a while." Alessandra Stanley from
The New York Times asserted that Louis-Dreyfus's performance on the series proved she is "one of the funniest women on network television." Louis-Dreyfus also earned the 2006
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the first season. Referring to the
curse, she stated in her acceptance speech, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!" After a successful reception of her 2006 episode, Louis-Dreyfus again hosted
SNL on March 17, 2007, and April 17, 2016. Louis-Dreyfus reprised her role as Gloria in two
Simpsons episodes: 2007's "
I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and 2008's "
Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes". In the fall of 2009, she appeared with the rest of the cast of
Seinfeld in four episodes of the seventh season of
Larry David's sitcom
Curb Your Enthusiasm. The reunion shows received much media attention, and the episode received strong ratings for the series. In 2009, Louis-Dreyfus was granted the honorary award for Legacy of Laughter at the
TV Land Awards. Previous winners had included
Lucille Ball and
Mike Myers. She was presented with the award by friend
Amy Poehler. The following year, Louis-Dreyfus received the 2,407th star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 4, 2010, for her remarkable contribution to the broadcast television industry as both an actress and a comedian. Originally, the star was set with Louis-Dreyfus's name spelled incorrectly. It was missing both the 'o' and the hyphen in her last name. The star was corrected and the misspelled portion was removed and presented to her. Celebrity guests at the event included past and current colleagues from throughout her career, including
Clark Gregg, Larry David,
Eric McCormack, and Jason Alexander.
2010s: Veep and acclaim in May 2010
Old Christine was cancelled by CBS on May 18, 2010, after 5 years. Discussions were held with ABC to revive the show but the show was never revived. In the spring of 2010, Louis-Dreyfus guest-starred several times in the third season of the web series
Web Therapy, starring
Lisa Kudrow. Louis-Dreyfus played the sister of the main character, Fiona Wallice, who gives her therapy online. When the series made the transition to cable television on the
Showtime network, Louis-Dreyfus's appearance from the web series was included in the second season, airing in July 2012. In fall 2010, Louis-Dreyfus made a guest appearance on the live episode of
30 Rock, playing
Tina Fey's role of
Liz Lemon in the cutaway shots. Louis-Dreyfus was among several
Saturday Night Live alumni appearing in the episode, including
Rachel Dratch,
Bill Hader, and regulars
Tracy Morgan and Fey herself. Louis-Dreyfus also starred in a "Women of SNL" special on November 1, 2010, on NBC. In May and June 2011, Louis-Dreyfus teamed up with husband Brad Hall for her first short film,
Picture Paris. This was the first time the couple had collaborated since their early-2000s NBC comedy
Watching Ellie. Hall wrote and directed the film, while Louis-Dreyfus played the lead role of an ordinary woman with an extraordinary obsession with the city of Paris. The film premiered on January 29, 2012, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and has received considerable critical acclaim. It made its television premiere on HBO on December 17, 2012. in April 2013|left In early 2011, HBO confirmed that Louis-Dreyfus had been cast in the lead role of U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer in a new satirical comedy series titled
Veep. The series was commissioned for a first season of eight episodes. In addition to her starring role, Louis-Dreyfus would also be a producer. In preparation for her role, Louis-Dreyfus spoke with
Al Gore and another former vice president, senators, speechwriters, chiefs of staffs of various offices, and schedulers. Louis-Dreyfus commended HBO for allowing the cast and crew to engage in a "protracted pre-production process", which included a six-week rehearsal period before filming began. The first season was filmed in the fall of 2011, in
Baltimore, and the series premiered on April 22, 2012. The premiere episode was met with high praise from critics, particularly for Louis-Dreyfus's performance.
The Hollywood Reporter asserted the character of Selina Meyer was her "best post-Seinfeld role" to date and claimed she gives "an Emmy-worthy effort", while the
Los Angeles Times contended the series demonstrates she is "one of the medium's great comediennes." Following the success of the first season, Louis-Dreyfus was named by the
Huffington Post as one of the funniest people of 2012, asserting that she is the "most magnetic and naturally funny woman on TV since Mary Tyler Moore." for
Veep in August 2014 For her performance on
Veep, Louis-Dreyfus received several accolades, most notably seven nominations for the
Primetime Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series between 2012 and 2019, winning the award six times. These Emmy wins for
Veep, following previous wins for
Seinfeld and
The New Adventures of Old Christine, resulted in her becoming the only woman to win an acting award for three separate comedy series. Her sixth win in 2016 surpassed the record previously held by
Mary Tyler Moore and
Candice Bergen for the most wins in that category. In 2017, her sixth consecutive win, and eighth acting win, overall made her the performer with the most Emmys for the same role in the same series, surpassing
Candice Bergen and
Don Knotts, and put her in a tie with
Cloris Leachman for the most Emmys ever won by a performer. She was also nominated as one of the producers for
Veep in the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series category for all seven seasons, winning the award in 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the fourth, fifth and sixth seasons respectively. Louis-Dreyfus also received five
Critics' Choice Television Award nominations, winning twice in 2013 and 2014, ten
Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, winning twice in 2014 and 2017, and five
Television Critics Association Award nominations, winning once in 2014. Her performance additionally garnered her five
Satellite Award nominations and five consecutive
Golden Globe Award nominations. accepting the
Peabody Award for
Veep from
Al Franken in May 2017|left Louis-Dreyfus lent her voice to the 2013 animated film
Planes, in the role of Rochelle. To date, the film has grossed well over $200 million at the box office worldwide. She also starred in the film
Enough Said, directed by
Nicole Holofcener, which was released on September 18, 2013. This marked her debut as a lead actress in a full-length feature film. The film garnered rave reviews from film critics, ranking among the best-reviewed films of 2013. The website
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 96% based on 152 reviews, many of them praising Louis-Dreyfus's performance. She received several Best Actress nominations including for the
Golden Globe Awards and the
Critics' Choice Movie Awards. Another review aggregation website, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 44 critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews". Since December 2014, Louis-Dreyfus has appeared in a series of television commercials for
Old Navy. In 2015 she acted in the
Comedy Central sketch series
Inside Amy Schumer alongside
Tina Fey and
Patricia Arquette, playing a version of themselves giving advice on aging to
Amy Schumer. Dreyfus said of the experience "I started to feel unbelievably paranoid that I was making fun of myself and wondering, was this really happening to me? Like, how meta is this moment in my life? I started to have a kind of soul-searching crisis in the middle of the day. And I didn't know [the other women] well enough to bring it up, so I was just trying to be a good sport even though I was dying a little bit on the inside." On April 16, 2016, she returned to
Saturday Night Live serving as host for the third time with musical guest
Nick Jonas. During the episode's cold open, she reprised her role of Elaine Benes from
Seinfeld.
2020s: Professional expansion and
Mindy Kaling in the
White House in March 2023. In 2020, Louis-Dreyfus headlined the comedy-drama
Downhill, opposite
Will Ferrell. The film premiered at the
2020 Sundance Film Festival and was theatrically released on February 14. Next, she voiced a suburban elf mother, Laurel Lightfoot, in
Pixar's
Onward opposite
Tom Holland and
Chris Pratt. The film was released on March 6, 2020. In January 2020, Louis-Dreyfus signed a multi-year deal with
Apple TV+. Under the deal, she will develop new projects for Apple TV+ as both an executive producer and star. The following year Louis-Dreyfus appeared in the
Disney+ series
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) as
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though she was originally intended to debut in the film
Black Widow (where she appears in the post credit scene). She reprised the role in
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and also appears in the film
Thunderbolts* (2025). In 2022 she was a guest on the
Netflix show
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. In 2023 she reunited with
Nicole Holofcener starring in the
A24 independent comedy film
You Hurt My Feelings. Dreyfus produced the film and acted alongside
Tobias Menzies,
Michaela Watkins,
Arian Moayed and
Jeannie Berlin. The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews.
Peter Bradshaw praised her performance writing, "Louis-Dreyfus is such a superb comic performer that it is interesting seeing her take on something low-key". That same year she portrayed a liberal Jewish mother in the
Netflix romantic comedy
You People (2023). She also starred in the A24 film
Tuesday, directed by Daina Oniunas-Pusić, which premiered at the 2023
Telluride Film Festival. In 2023, Louis-Dreyfus became host of the podcast
Wiser Than Me. On the show, she interviews women older than her on their lived experience and earned wisdom. Guests have included
Jane Fonda,
Carol Burnett,
Isabel Allende and
Amy Tan. The show, produced by
Lemonada Media, was named Apple's Best Podcast of the Year in 2023. Among her season two guests, Louis-Dreyfus interviews
Billie Jean King,
Patti Smith, and
Julie Andrews. In 2024, Apple announced that
Wiser Than Me was the 3rd most shared show in the
United States on
Apple Podcasts in 2024. == Artistry and reception ==