Julia Louis-Dreyfus recently recalled feeling “devastated” when her late father body-shamed her over one of her first “Saturday Night Live” sketches. The iconic actress, who is currently promoting her new film “You Hurt My Feelings,” opened up about the experience in an interview with Variety.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus declined to name the sketch (“I’m not telling you which one,” she deadpans, “because you’ll look it up”), but does say she’ll never forget the feedback. “I remember him saying something really negative to me. He didn’t handle it properly and he wasn’t gentle. His complaint was that I was too big, too broad. I was devastated by that,” she says.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Shared Her Story Publicly
The 62-year-old was just 21-years-old when she was scouted by “SNL” on the Chicago improv stages of Second City and the Practical Theatre Company. She had never set foot on the set of a television show, let alone appeared on a live program that she would join as its youngest-ever player at the time, working alongside fellow future greats like Eddie Murphy and Jim Belushi. “I had no understanding about performing in this new medium,” she says.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus said her father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, was a “narcissist” and she did not think to evaluate his criticism. “And I say that with love in my heart,” she added.
The “Seinfeld” alum said her new film is a reflection of her experience with her father. In “You Hurt My Feelings,” Louis-Dreyfus’ character struggles with a lack of confidence in herself and then, after the betrayal, her marriage. Her husband, Don (Tobias Menzies), isn’t exactly setting the world on fire as a therapist. But before his overheard criticism of her work, their lives were filled with quiet, co-dependent harmony.
