Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus discusses how she repeatedly asked for her character, Elaine Benes, to be featured in more storylines.
Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus discusses how she fought for her character to be featured more in the sitcom. Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy – in addition to a number of other awards and nominations – for her portrayal of Elaine Benes. Given the character’s history with Jerry and her hilarious standalone stories, it’s hard to imagine the seminal sitcom without her presence, but at least in the early years of Seinfeld, that’s what could have happened.
In an interview on The Last Laugh podcast to promote her new movie You Hurt My Feelings, Louis-Dreyfus also discussed her time as part of the Seinfeld cast and confessed that she initially had to ask co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David to write more for her to do. The actor also discusses her approach to portraying Elaine. Read her comments below:
“I never really approached it from the perspective of my gender, per se. I wanted to just play ball with everybody. I’m not going to lie, in the beginning, I didn’t always have a lot to do in certain episodes. And I would go to Larry and Jerry multiple times and say, “Hey, you guys, write me more, I need to be in this show more.” That’s what I just kept doing. And they did.”
Why Elaine Is Intregal To Seinfeld’s Success
In several episodes, Seinfeld’s charm was checking in with characters like Elaine, Jerry, George, and Kramer to see how they would bungle a somewhat relatably frustrating social scenario. The sitcom rarely used this to dip into outright cruelty, which is something the divisive Seinfeld finale was criticized for. Even with that structure, Elaine provided balance to what otherwise would be a duller comedy.
Seinfeld’s earliest episodes, which Louis-Dreyfus references, fail to connect for many reasons, including Elaine not being fully brought into the group and the story. With her performance and utterly committed physical comedy, Louis-Dreyfus quickly became a series’ highlight. Some of the sitcom’s best moments, from her dance to her odd job with “J.” Peterman (John O’Hurley), are in large part due to Louis-Dreyfus crafting Elaine into an iconic character.
As Louis-Dreyfus says, Elaine wasn’t better than the other three Seinfeld characters. She could be just as selfish and driven by petty grievances, which frequently led to hilarious results. Within that framework, she still bought her perspective and specificities needed to save the show from going stale.
