“I want to expand my creative
universe here.
I want to do stuff that maybe
people wouldn’t think I would do.”
series for each of the show’s previous six
seasons. Combined with another in the cat-
egory for her work on The New Adventures
of Old Christine in 2006, and one a decade
earlier for outstanding supporting actress
in a comedy for Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus is
currently tied with Cloris Leachman for
the most acting Emmys in history. It seems
all but certain she will have the honor to
herself as of awards night this year. She
has had, in other words, one of American
comedy’s most fruitful runs, and a little
break might seem to be in order. Yet, when
we met, there was still much to do: one
last Ve e p Emmy campaign, postproduction
on her upcoming film, her youngest son’s
college graduation.
Work, it turns out, and really only good
work at that, is where Louis-Dreyfus
seems to feel most complete. She loves
grinding through a scene until the rhythm
rings just right, when the jokes fly high and
the insults land with finely calibrated pre-
cision. She seems to take breaks only when
they are thrust upon
her. So there’s Louis-
Dreyfus’s undeniable
work ethic to contend
with, but there’s also
the fact that with rest
comes thought—and the unenviable task
of unpacking all that’s happened to her in
the last three years. Her beloved father
died in September 2016. The following
year, doctors diagnosed her with stage II
breast cancer; she underwent six rounds
of chemotherapy and a double mastec-
tomy. Then, just as Ve e p was set to start
filming, her 44-year-old half sister died
of an accidental drug overdose.
“I hate to have to think about it,” she
says. “But I’m very happy to be alive.”
Lately she’s been trying mindfulness:
“I realized I didn’t meditate this morn-
ing—like an asshole—but I should’ve
because it’s useful.” But stillness is just
not her strong suit. And Hollywood does
seem to be opening up to her in ways that
are likely to accommodate her blooming
ambitions—primarily delving into things
that aren’t necessarily comedic. “I want to
expand my creative universe here. I want to
do stuff that maybe people wouldn’t think
I would do,” she says. Her turn opposite
James Gandolfini in Nicole Holofcener’s
2013 drama-inflected romantic comedy,
Enough Said, demonstrated that desire.
Her dramatic vocabulary was also there at
times in Veep, if you were paying attention,
especially the moments when life wasn’t
going the way Meyer planned. That range
will be front and center in Downhill, based
on the 2014 Swedish film Force Majeure, a
five-years-in-the-making passion project
she produced and stars in opposite Will
Ferrell. Louis-Dreyfus plays a woman in
crisis—not the kind of manufactured ordeal
Meyer trafficked in, but an actual human
calamity wherein the life she thought she
had turns out to be a total sham.
“I just need time to think,” she says on
what will come after that. “So I’m think-
ing, formulating my next move and shit
like that. Which is fun but it also requires
thought. And sometimes maybe no
thought. Maybe [I need time] to just look
at those flowers and think: Wow, that’s
amazing. What a gorgeous arrangement.”
But soon she is racing out of the restau-
rant as Ve e p showrunner David Mandel’s
number is ringing on her phone.
“We’ve got to go write something,” she
says as she heads for the door.
—nicole sperlingRead our full
interview with TV
comedy’s reigning
queen at VF.com.MAKING AN
ENTRANCE
Louis-Dreyfus,
photographed
at the Montage
Beverly Hills.
Gown by Valentino;
shoes by Jimmy
Choo; earrings by
Irene Neuwirth;
bralette by Araks;
briefs by Eres.
Throughout: Models,
from left, clothing by
BOSS, Brooks
Brothers, and
Ermenegildo Zegna;
sunglasses by
MOSCOT, Oliver
Peoples, Ray-Ban,
and TOM FORD.
Hair products by
Kenra Professional
(Louis-Dreyfus) and
Shuga (models);
makeup and grooming
products by
Sisley Paris; nail
enamel by CHANEL.