Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ cancer battle
Support has poured in for Veep star and Emmy queen Julia Louis-Dreyfus after she revealed she has breast cancer
IT HAD been a night of gongs, glory and smashed records. When Julia Louis-Dreyfus took to the stage to receive her 11th Emmy award she also made history by becoming the first woman to win six consecutive Emmys for leading actress in a comedy. But stepping onto stage was a bittersweet moment for the woman who brought the outrageous Selina Myers to life in the hit satirical romcom Veep. In her acceptance speech Julia (56) paid tribute to her dad, billionaire Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, who’d died the previous weekend. “I’m so glad he liked me because his opinion was the one that really mattered,” she said, choking back tears.
But Julia’s emotional roller coaster wasn’t about to end there. Within 24 hours of her night of triumph, she learnt she had breast cancer.
She announced the news to her friends and fans on Twitter under the heading, “Just when you thought . . .”
“One in 8 women get breast cancer,” she went on to say. “Today I’m the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union.”
She then made a powerful political point directed at President Donald Trump’s take on non-inclusive healthcare. “The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal healthcare a reality.”
Hollywood immediately rallied around the star. Debra Messing of Will & Grace fame tweeted, “J sending all my healing energy your way. You’re incredible to use this moment as an opportunity to support others.”
Christina Applegate, herself a breast cancer survivor, tweeted, “Mama, find me. Let’s talk if you want.”
Julia’s Veep co-star Tony Hale, who plays her long-suffering right-hand man Gary, retweeted her announcement and the words, “We love this woman.”
Former presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was also quick to react. “Julia, you’re in our thoughts and our hearts. Inspired but not surprised to see you using your platform for good in this difficult moment.”
And former US vice president Joe Biden, who lost his son Beau to cancer in 2015, sent his family’s best wishes. “We Veeps stick together,” he tweeted.
THE star’s diagnosis came as the last season of Veep goes into production, closing the curtain on a show that has no sacred cows – everyone from presidents to the poor are ripped off with caustic equality. Julia, who plays the vice-president who becomes president by default, commands every scene as the ambitious but self-centred leader with an elastic moral compass.
When she accepted her Emmy last month she apologised for “the current political climate” in Trump’s America.
“Our show started out as political satire,” she said, “but now it feels more like a sobering documentary.”
Her cancer has played no part in the decision to finish the show, a spokesperson for the HBO network says. “The writers will continue writing and the production schedule will be adjusted as needed.”
The months ahead will be tough for Julia, who’s released no details about what stage her breast cancer is at or her treatment. But her fans are hoping she’ll be back after Veep to blaze another trail.
In many ways, Julia is in a league of her own. She’s one of the few to survive the so-called Seinfeld curse, which afflicted many stars of the iconic sitcom with the exception of the lead, Jerry Seinfeld.
The show was originally cast with just three male characters but after the pilot was aired executives insisted a woman be written in. Julia landed the part over comic actresses such as Rosie O’Donnell and Will & Grace’s Megan Mullally.
She stayed for all nine seasons and “broke every taboo”, says Peter Bradshaw, a reviewer at The Guardian newspaper. “She was anti-religion, pro-abortion and an appalling dancer. Sexually she was unapologetically ravenous, even undiscerning. She enjoyed her promiscuity so that the women in Sex and the City and Girls could later do likewise.”
Still, she’s the first to point out she did pound the pavements after Seinfeld and before Veep and knew what the school of hard knocks felt like. She launched her own sitcom, Watching Ella, but it was cancelled after two seasons. She tried out for the role of Susan Mayer in Desperate Housewives but lost to Teri Hatcher. She later had a five-season run with The New Adventures of Old Christine, about a woman called Christine whose ex’s new wife is also Christine.
Then Veep came along and she stepped into Selina’s shoes as if it had been waiting for her all her life.
“No one can match Julia, thanks to her remarkable range, demonic commitment to character and consistent ability to use ridiculous comedy to explore some terrifying psychological depths,” says Mark Peters of news site Salon.com.
Simon Blackwell, a writer and producer on Veep, calls her a connoisseur of comedy. “She’s just a joy to write for. You can give Julia anything to do and she’ll nail it. It’s like this comedic five-octave range. She’s a great physical comedian but she can bring it down to laser-surgery level.”
But Jerry Seinfeld probably describes her best. “Her ability to eat a peanut M&M without breaking the peanut defines her to a T,” he says.
“She cracks you up without breaking your nuts.”
JULIA isn’t only about the comedy. Her comments on universal healthcare at the Emmys aren’t her first foray into the – real-life – political arena. At the Screen Actors Guild Awards earlier this year she lashed out at Trump over his immigrant ban.
“My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France,” she said. “I’m an American patriot and I love this country. Because I love this country, I’m horrified by its blemishes, and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it’s un-American.”
Her dad, Gérard, a Frenchman called William by his family, was chairman of the global conglomerate Louis Dreyfus Energy Services, a company founded in 1851 by his father. Her American mom, Judith, was a writer and remedial teacher. They divorced when Julia was eight.
The star’s own family life is a happy one. She met her husband, Brad Hall, a comedian on Saturday Night Live, at university and they have two sons, Henry (25) and Charles (20).
There have been touching insights into her family life since Julia’s diagnosis. Henry took to Twitter with a picture of him as a little boy with his mom and a touching note to her fans. “I couldn’t be more thankful for the outpouring of support for my mom,” he wrote. Then, showing he’d inherited his mom’s sense of humour, he added, “Here’s a picture of us taken last year. Love to you all.”
Julia responded with an equally light-hearted message. “I’m thankful too. And also thankful for my dear boy with good manners.”
Charles joined in too – sort of. Members of his basketball team at Northwestern University, where he’s a student, tweeted a message for their friend’s famous mom. “You’ve been there for us,” they wrote. “Now we’re here for you.” SOURCES: SALON.COM, DAILYMAIL.COM, USATODAY.COM, VANITYFAIR.COM, THEGUARDIAN.COM