Before she booked Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus's first television gig was a three-year stint on Saturday Night Live. While that's a job millions would undoubtedly kill for, the actor does not look back on that time fondly.
As Variety reports, Louis-Dreyfus recently sat down for a Q&A with Stephen Colbert at Montclair Film Festival, where she opened about her time on the SNL cast from 1982 to 1985.
She described her time on the show as "brutal," saying, "There were plenty of people on the show who were incredibly funny. But I was unbelievably naive and I didn't really understand how the dynamics of the place worked. It was very sexist, very sexist. People were doing crazy drugs at the time. I was oblivious. I just thought, 'Oh wow. He's got a lot of energy.'"
She added that the experience was at least "informative," saying, "I learned I wasn't going to do anymore of this show-business crap unless it was fun. I don't have to walk and crawl through this kind of nasty glass if it's not ultimately going to be fulfilling, and so that's how I sort of moved forward from that moment. I sort of applied the fun-meter to every job I've had since and that has been very helpful."
Further, the experience led her to first meet Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, and the rest is history.
As Variety reports, Louis-Dreyfus recently sat down for a Q&A with Stephen Colbert at Montclair Film Festival, where she opened about her time on the SNL cast from 1982 to 1985.
She described her time on the show as "brutal," saying, "There were plenty of people on the show who were incredibly funny. But I was unbelievably naive and I didn't really understand how the dynamics of the place worked. It was very sexist, very sexist. People were doing crazy drugs at the time. I was oblivious. I just thought, 'Oh wow. He's got a lot of energy.'"
She added that the experience was at least "informative," saying, "I learned I wasn't going to do anymore of this show-business crap unless it was fun. I don't have to walk and crawl through this kind of nasty glass if it's not ultimately going to be fulfilling, and so that's how I sort of moved forward from that moment. I sort of applied the fun-meter to every job I've had since and that has been very helpful."
Further, the experience led her to first meet Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, and the rest is history.