Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Presenting: Julia on Friends Keep Secrets

Episode Date: October 22, 2026

On Wiser Than Me, Julia seeks out the wisdom of women who have lived longer than she has. Today, we’re bringing you something a little different: Julia’s appearance on the podcast Friends Keep Secrets, where the roles are reversed. Its hosts, Benny Blanco, Dave Burd (Lil Dicky) and Kristin Batalucco, grew up on her work. Recorded at Dave and Kristin’s Los Angeles home, the show skips the formal interview. Instead, the hosts and their guests cook, play games, or simply spend time together. Julia’s visit was especially meaningful to all three hosts, who credit Seinfeld as one of the inspirations for their show. Julia talks with them about her approach to cooking, raising her children, and her favorite memories from Seinfeld. She also recalls the NBC crossover idea that Larry David turned down immediately. Watch the full video on the Friends Keep Secrets YouTube channel, and follow Friends Keep Secrets wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Tuesday at 6 AM PT.

Lemonada. Hey everybody, it's Julia. I recently went over to hang out with Benny Blanco, Dave Bird, and Kristen Battalucco on their podcast that Dave says is not a podcast called Friends Keep Secrets. And I had such a great time that I wanted to share the episode with you here. As you'll see, it really was just us hanging out at Dave and Kristen's house. They showed me a picture of me on the shelf, which was very sweet. talked about how Seinfeld inspired what they're creating and how their show came to life. We talked about having kids, who we've all been star-struck by, battling cancer, our favorite desserts,

and much more. These three have a very specific, very funny friendship, and I had a blast getting to spend time with them. So here's my episode of Friends Keep Secrets, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Julia. Oh, I thought you were saying, he, but you weren't. You were talking about Julie Dreyfus. She's our latest guest. You might know her from Seinfeld.

You might know her from Veep. You might know her just by knowing her. Everybody, get up, for we got Julia Louis Dreyfus Dreyf. Just the way we started is like, we hang out in here for like 45 seconds and then... Hang out where? If you stand anywhere here, right? Basically, you walk up and I'll only stay down here because if you're there, they're the camera will catch you or we don't get you like walking up.

Uh-huh. But you're gonna walk up here. Yeah. This like half door will be like this. You can just pop your head and be like, hello, and then we'll say hey, and then we hug and it's like. And then we just hang out. Hang out, yeah.

Okay, that's great. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you, Julie. I'll see you in about 45 seconds or whatever. Okay, thank you. Tell me when you want me to go.

You can start counting now 30 seconds. This looks broken. Oh, it is broken. That's like almost, I glued it. I glued it back together. Yeah. But it'd be very careful because I'm really excited. You have to hold it through here so that this doesn't fall off.

I'm really excited about today. Okay, I'm coming. Are you ready? Yeah. Oh, hi. Come on in. Nice. Nice.

It's the biggest show ever. Come on, come on. I think you should even go one more. No. No. This is like being in the Truman Show. That is thrilling. I was thrilling.

I like talking to you. The chemistry is unreal. This would not be this about Seinfeld. Isn't that amazing? What are you? I'm a mud. What am I? I don't know what I am.

You know what? I would love to show you one item. Oh. Hold on a second. This has been framed and in my house. That's me! Yeah. I've had this up in this home for about a decade. No way. Yeah, I thought it at a flea marketer. I forget where I saw it. Who did this? Is it like a card or a what? The person that did this has other ones of like other cast members of Seinfeld and maybe other shows as well. I don't know.

We do the same gag with everyone. We have a... No, we don't. And the frame is... Here's a camera. Yeah, there we go. Yeah. That's her. That's so cute. I like it, and even the shoes. Yeah, and the toilet paper. And the toilet paper.

I bet you could find one like that on Etsy. Yeah. I still have those shoes. You know, this jacket I'm wearing is from back then. Really? Yeah, really? Yeah. Worn on the show or not even?

I think I wore it on the show. Wait, this jacket is from, what year is this jacket from? Like the early, wait, when did the, in the, it's from the 90s. Oh, my. Wow. Yeah. Did you get to keep some of the wardrobe? Yeah.

Oh, wow. is solely from my show. I never go clothes shopping, but whenever I do a season of my show, I get all these new clothes. This is a good shirt. Yeah, from my show. Is that one?

No, I think that way. I think I got you that one. I tried to shop for him once. But it's based off of a shirt that I had that you said you liked it from my show. It might even be the one. I like when he wears them. One button too low.

Is that what you're saying? Yeah. I had this button buttoned before. No, I like it, though. It kind of felt like it looked like it was going to pop. Let me see. It just felt like, do you see how it looks. Yeah.

Yeah, the shirt doesn't. big breasts that are pulling it apart. Yeah, the shirt doesn't fit you. All the option is to have it be so low, it's lower than comfort. It looks good though. I like it, I think you should even go one more. No.

No. No more? No. You can't go one more. You have two boys. Are they similar in- You have two boys. Do they wear their shirts low like this?

Are they similar in spirit? They look just like you guys. Do that? Do they do? No. Oh. Tell us about your boys. They are, they are 28 and 33.

Is that how old you guys? You look like you're 16. Thank you. I've been saying that I think I was 28. Wait, how old are you? 28. He's 10 years older than that. I'm not 28.

How old are you? 37. We're born five days apart. Really? Yeah. You're pretty much 38 now. But I feel as though I carry myself like I'm 28. We.

Yeah, you have young, young vibes. Maybe that never goes. I carry myself. 31? Yeah, no, actually, I think you both seem about 28. Yes. You know? Kristen?

Wait. Twenty. Yeah, you seem like a mature 21 reunion. Yeah. Do you know? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I'm like really wide.

That's what I want. That's all I want. I want to look 21 but be so wide. You look absolutely beautiful. That is so sweet. I told him to say that. Do you know? No, she doesn't.

She doesn't. Yes, I do. I don't even when you're out of the other. I think it's important. Not a lot. I only say it when I'm struck by it, which is often. That's so nice. Maybe I should say it when I'm not struck by it,

but I think it's so genuine every time I say it. I really appreciate it. You need to always say it. Yeah. Yeah. Every day. I have two stories about when we first started dating. One, when we first started dating, it was like the beginning of COVID. And I, obviously I used to watch Seinfeld, but I never watched it. Like, I became, you, it was mostly because of you.

I watched it every day for, like, confidence. Because I felt like your character did such a good job of, like, being herself, it's probably, you know, how you are. And being confident and, like, being around men, but not losing, like, your sense of, like, she was still, like, feminine. And I feel like when I started dating Dave, I was so nervous about, like, being judged or, like. Oh, interesting. So it helped me, like, I feel like it helped give me my sense of self-back.

Oh, my God, I'm so happy to hear that. And then he used to be like, you remind me. That is amazing. My story about watching TimeConnell is so different. The first time, when I was about, I was about maybe eight, maybe, eight or, I can't even see you. No, watch this. Nice. You want me to get to a chair?

Watch this. No, I want to be sitting down like this. Oh, this is nice. Okay, now watch this. When I was like, I can't even believe I'm telling you. This is so stupid. I was about maybe seven or eight, okay? And my family, Seinfeld was a religious experience.

Every week. It was a thing that happened. Yeah. And I remember, and I don't remember many things from being a child. Really? Really? Not at that age. No, I think I blocked out a lot.

So, I'm like seven or eight, and everyone's watching Seinfeld, and I really have to use the restroom. I got to go number two. So I go up, and it was the first time in my... We can't go eight minutes without shit getting involved. It was the first time in my life that I ever consciously experienced constipation. Oh. Oh, no.

And I got really constipated. and I couldn't get it out, and I was embarrassed. So I went back downstairs. Like, it was mid, and I was like, I'm just going to like, I remember going through my head. I'm like, I'm just going to like keep this here, and it'll go away. And my parents had to go to CV. Someone went to CVS and bought, what is it, Enema when the water squatter?

But they made me wait until the show was over. Because they said they had to watch. They said, we can't go. So I had to stand up. I remember standing and wait, because they were like, don't sit down. I've never heard you say this. I know, and I just remembered it.

And I was standing up, just pacing back and forth. Because back then, you could, you had to watch it live. Or not live, but you had to watch it when it came out. Yeah, yeah, you had to watch it live. No, you could have recorded it. No, no, you could have. A hundred percent. No, you would have had to have a VCR right there with a tape in there.

They didn't want to miss anything. I guess so. I can't really remember. There was no direct TV or recording. No, but there were a VCR tape. But you had to have, but you had to have had a VCR tape. And everyone wanted to move when it was happening. Well, you do it in advance knowing that this is the goal of the...

Or you do it in the commercial. I'm just trying to help you. Maybe I'll call my parents and ask them. So I remember they went and then everyone, I remember how embarrassed I was. My whole family was gathered in the bathroom and I got it out after. And that's... It all worked out. See?

It all worked out. They all lived happily ever after. It's perfect. It's a perfect story. I think we're all a little nervous because how important you are to our lives. Oh my God, please don't be nervous. We've never even met you. Yeah, I mean, once you get to know me, you'll see. It'll be a nothing bird.

How do you even have the urge? You've already done like every... Oh, I like to work. No, but you climbed the mountain. Like, you've climbed it so many times. That's not what life's all about. That's not what I saw about. It's about...

No, I like work. Break it down. Creating. Yeah. How do you some women in common? How women are even allowed to show? Women are much more powerful in comedy now, I think, than when I first started out.

I mean, I don't know if that's your experience, but I mean, yeah, for sure, which is a good thing. I mean, when I was back when I was even on SNL, I mean, you know, it was just like the girl part. Wait, were you on SNL and then Seinfeld? Like, how was... That's where I met Larry, David. Got it.

Oh, by the way, I was on the phone with Jeff Schaefer coming over here. Oh, you call it. And he says hi and he says love. Wait, was it just a random? No, can't be. No, I called him and said, I'm coming to do this thing. Is there anything I should know? Did he say don't do it?

Did he say nice things? Yeah. Okay, good. What type of name? You love, we love Jeff. I'm from the Seinfeld coaching tree of comedy. Like, I'm, because Jeff is my mentor. Yeah, Jeff's great.

Yeah, and Jeff is, you know, Larry, and then, and then Benny's under my tree. And so on and so forth. Yeah. Love your TV show. Thank you. Really? Thank you. Yeah.

And it was my kids who turned me onto it. It was fucking hilarious. Thank you. That means the world. Yeah. It was really, really funny. In fact, one of my kids read for a part on your show, I remember. Really?

Yeah. But I forgot the name of the part, so sorry. That's okay. Dave. Sounds like he didn't get it. But I feel like Elaine as a character, like, to me, as far as just being a powerful voice in comedy, like the Elaine character, I felt like was, I mean. Yeah, it was like one of the first.

times in comedy where I really saw a woman have such a powerful, like, I feel like it's what you were saying. Larry and I knew each other back during S&L days because he was there. I was there for three years and he was there my third year, his one and only year. And we were sort of miserable on that show together and kind of hung out together. Yeah. And then we went off and did different things. You know, he was a stand-up, of course.

and I did, like, I got a pilot, and I did a series for two years on NBC. Anyway, long story short, he had written this thing, and he sent it to me. It sent it to me. It was like four episodes. It was only four. They'd only ordered four.

Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, because they didn't have a little bit of a slow start? Oh, yeah. They'd done a pilot, and then the network said you need to add a girl. Oh, wow. Oh, really? Good call by the network. Yeah, yeah.

You're literally my favorite character on the show. Actually, you know, I did, I was at the, it's funny that you say that because Jerry did a thing. I got at the Kennedy Center, I got the Mark Twain Award a couple years ago, and Jerry spoke, and he talked about the network note of that. And it was actually a really funny speech. Are you saying that in that moment, I reminded you a little bit of Jerry? No. Okay.

Understood. Go on. Four episodes. And so he sent the four episodes, and it was really an unusual script. And so I think there is something about being kind of, sort of, what's the word I'm looking for? It was just like being friends together and just hanging out. And I mean, that sounds as if it was just hanging out. It was a lot of work to make the show, of course.

But what I mean was there wasn't like we were all, we're like kids. Yeah. And we had our own idea and they had their own idea. of exactly what they wanted to do, which was not the norm at the time in terms of structured television. And so I think there was an air of freedom because of that, you know? You could feel it when you watch. I think the chemistry is just so unreal that you feel, you just feel the freedom, which

is, it's rare, I feel like we were watching TV. We had a lot of fun making it. Yeah. When you guys were filming like the first, were you like, this thing's going to be huge, or you had no idea? Oh, no. I thought it was, I thought it was really. really good, those first four, I thought,

wow, this is so unusual. And then I thought, the network is too stupid. They'll never pick it up. Oh, yeah, 100%. I mean, it was so, you know, the shows that were on them were like Cosby and, you know, and no disrespect. No, no, no, it's just a different format.

Right. Yeah. You have set up, set up joke. Yeah. Yeah. And this was just sort of like odd. Specific. I mean, it's not so odd now maybe in retrospect.

No, no. It's not odd now because it started it. Yeah. Even this would not be this without Seinfeld existing. I really think one of the biggest inspirations of us even doing this was trying to capture the feeling of like the 90s sitcoms where it's just a group of friends hanging out. Because we miss it.

Like, I'm glad I'm wearing this jacket. You feel it, right? Well, this is different because it's also a podcast, but we would always say like... It's not a podcast. Or whatever it is. You know, by the way, what the fuck's happening with podcasts now? Because everything's now...

It's on video. So it's a television show. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what it is. It is, Julia. I really don't know what it is. I don't. We're trying to redefine it. You're trying to redefine it.

Redefine the medium. So this is going to be like on YouTube. Is that the deal? DSP's digital streaming platform. But then you can get it as an audio. Yeah, yeah, digital streaming, it's on. The audio functions independent. And then what's happening with like even Spotify currently and Apple is getting into it is they have videos now.

So it's like Spotify has video. Yeah. If you want it. For us, like in our first episode that came out, we get into an argument about a sauce, about a marinade. Like, whether people, whether Dave believes that nobody makes marinate. No, that's not, that's not, that's the problem. That wasn't the argument.

Okay, okay. I said right in the beginning. The argument was that most people don't make their own sauce from scratch. Yes. And that's, to me, I stand by that. And somehow it's turned into me saying that nobody makes their own. And I said most people, I said most people have made a sauce or a sauce or a, marinade for a piece of meat or fish or tofu that they're cooking.

I don't think you said have made. I think you said made. Okay, most people. I would, I don't think one-time instances. That's not, I think more people, I think people have made a sauce in their life for a piece of chicken or fish more than once in their life. Do you cook? Maybe more than five times, more than ten times in their life.

And I think less than half of the adult population. Have you ever made a sauce for yourself? Yes. Did you make it, did you make it out of sauce? No. Okay. So that's one for Benny. But I need to know something.

because we're in the middle of something right now. Yeah. Your kids. Okay. You better not be talking about sauce. Yeah, I am. Your kids. Yeah.

So what are each of their names? Charlie and Henry. Okay. Has Charlie ever made a sauce for a marinade you think? I doubt it. Okay. There we go. Has Henry?

Yes. Okay. All right, so two to one so far. Now, has, do you have a husband still? Yes, I still do. Has your, well, I didn't know if you were divorced? I don't know. You've been married a long time, right?

Yeah. Has he ever made a sauce? Yes. Okay. Hey, Prime members. Did you know you can listen to Wiser Than Me, ad-free on Amazon Music? Download the Amazon Music app today to start listening, ad-free.

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Well, I think you need another focus than marinate. The world is blowing up. You want to come up with our new focus? Where are the cameras? Oh, they're everywhere. They're everywhere. Oh, yeah. Don't worry. Which angle do you like the best? I can't. I don't know. I need playback. Do you have an angle? I just learned that everybody has angled. I think I have a side, but I've sort of given up on all of it. Do you know when you first walked in, I said to her, as you were walking in, I said, I used a different word, but I said, well, I said, she's so hot.

Inappropriate. Really? I said, like, you really are. It's inappropriate. No, you really are. It may be inappropriate, but I'm happy to hear it. You really are stunning. That's so nice for you to say.

I have hair and makeup on right now, of course. No, you are beautiful, but you've always. We've all known that. Thank you. We all know. I'm not surprised. But I see you in a show like Veep or Seinfeld and you know you're dressed in a certain, like, you're so stylish. That's so nice of you to say.

You're very stylish. You've really made me feel good. Thank you. Do you feel pressure to have to, when you meet people that they're going to be like, do you just feel like people have such an expectation of you since you've been seen so much? Yeah, but I don't pay attention to that because otherwise you're going to go mad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, for real. Yeah. You're going to go absolutely mad. Yeah. Yeah. Did you never pay attention to it back in the beginning? Did you pay it, like, were you really... I guess there was no social media, so it's not like you had comments to read or anything.

Thank God. Oh, my God. None of it. Yeah. Honestly, isn't it just the end of the world? It's hard to navigate. It's really hard. I don't read comments.

I mean, I'm on social media, but I do not look at anything. Was it a trip to watch you become the most famous woman in America? Well, first of all, I'm not. No, but at that time when you signed thought, I can't imagine you're not being... I mean, that's like, you're like... It's the biggest show ever. Yeah, I think... Yes, it's definitely a big show.

But, you know, I think that after the show ended, it got even bigger. Yeah. I understand that. You feel me about that? But it was so big, like, the finale, like, you couldn't... It was the biggest show in America when it ended.

I know, but, you know, I was so surprised at all that attention. Really? Oh, yeah. Are you still surprised? Because it's still going. It's still good. It's still top of the game.

Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? Hey, I got a question. And maybe this... I don't think this is inappropriate at all. I'll tell you. Did you like friends? I didn't really watch friends. How?

Sorry. I mean, I've seen bits and bobs of it. But I was, you know, I've told you something, when I was doing Seinfeld, I had both of my kids during that time. Really? And yeah. And you'll see, I mean, if you want children. I do. Okay, so you'll see if you're working and you have kids, that's a balancing act like no other.

Yeah. And so I wasn't, no, for real. I believe that. I was just trying to... Yeah. So you had both, like, gave birth and then went back to filming. Yeah, that's why I was enormous on that show. I was going up and down, up and down with pregnancies.

Yeah. Was it at the time, like, friends in Seinfeld, like, were they, like, pinning you guys against each other? No, because they came after us. I mean, there was an overlap, but we were first out. It was Cheers, then Seinfeld came along. We overlap with Cheers for a while. And then, I mean, we could look it up. I don't really remember the years, but yeah.

I read the, I think it was like the Seinfeld. called a book or something, but there was one overlap because wasn't there like a New York City blackout and then they did something that you guys like all coordinated like the TV shows? You know what Larry would never do it. Ah. The NBC wanted to do like crossover episode where like each episode has a blackout

and Larry's like no fucking way. But he wanted to do Friends and Science and the network No, no. They were like it needs to if it's a blackout. I think it was. Yeah, I think it was something like you know that was a network idea that you know because that was what's it called

must-see TV back then. Everybody was watching on Thursday nights. And so the idea would be like all the episodes have a blackout to contend with, and that's lots of fun for the audience. But Larry, not in a million years would go along with anything like that. And did you respect that he had that kind of...

A hundred percent. What do you think made Larry want to be... Not the star? Want to be? No, want to be the star. After all those years of making sign... He made Seinfeld. He got to, like, he got all the glory of making Seinfeld, got all the success. And then, like, at, like, see.

No one knew who he was. He said, you know what? I'm the man right now. And I got to show everybody. Yeah, I mean, and it was a good. I mean, the curb is a great idea for a show. And, yeah. And I mean, and he was a stand-up, you know.

Yeah, he's such a great on-screen performer. Yeah. Like, one of the best ever. And why didn't he do it back then? I don't know. Yeah. It's a good, I mean, it's just like the one thing you. You could make that argument about a lot of things.

But, I mean, he's also a really good writer, so. Jason Alexander was just better at the time. Yeah, yeah. Maybe. It's probably, maybe. I know, it was just, it was interesting. I always found that interesting. You should have Larry on this thing.

I know, I got, do you think I can get him? Sorry, him in your up here. I feel like he'll be hard to get, but Jeff, if I have a chance, it's through Jeff. It's through Jeff. He will be hard to get, and he'll probably won't do it. But you should try. I'm going to try. Ask him, I don't know.

Yeah, we've got to have a mom. Do you watch any of your old? stuff? Yeah. Did you ever watch it? Like, would you ever watch it? Not much, no. Do you, when you watch yourself? I mean, I watched it maybe once back in the day, but like, even with Veep, I don't, I loved Veep. Yeah, I did too. We are talking about Seinfeld, but I loved Veep. Yeah. Me, you know, my mom got me into Veep. Oh, she did? Some people I work with, like, guys who are even comedians so funny and charming, they can't watch an ounce of footage of themselves. Yeah. Yeah. I sit in the edit and I die laughing at my own delivery. Like,

when you watch yourself, is it like hard or are you like, oh, I love it? I love watching myself. I can watch stuff that's more... Like, it sort of depends on what the material is, but I certainly was very much involved with the edit on VEP, particularly. And so I would definitely watch it. But it's kind of also like going back and watching early stuff. It's sort of like going through a high school yearbook to a certain extent

because it is quite a while ago. So it's like only so much of that I can take. Yeah. I understand that. Yeah. If you're like in a hotel room and you like turn on the TV and it's like Seinfeld or Vee. Are you just like, are you like, ooh, and you like got to turn it?

Or do you sit there and you're like, oh, and you kind of like go down memory lane? I don't usually watch it, but you know what's really funny and it's really sweet? My husband does. Like sometimes he'll be laughing, and he's just watching, he was watching bloopers or something of mine. And I'm like, I can't believe he's watching that. He loves it. What's the secret to being? You guys have been married for, I just Googled it before you came here.

Yeah, long time. Congratulations. How long? It's not 38 years. 38 years, yeah. We all just got married. Well, we got married in August, and he got married in September.

So we're fresh. We're all in the newlyweds, all of us. Wow, that's so cool. And any advice? Yeah, how do you keep it going? How do you keep it going for so long? I mean, I don't think it's going to be a challenge. I don't think so either.

But I think it's good to get advice. But there will be challenges ahead. Yes. No doubt. Yeah. Kids. We're scared kids are going to rock our world. We know they are.

Well, what do you mean you're scared? They are going to act. They are. Yeah, I can't believe everyone's world gets rocked so, like, profoundly. I mean, it's, we should probably within the next few years. Yeah. Here's why it's going to be good and also why it's challenging. Yeah.

So, I mean, I know you guys have partners and you're in love and that's great and everything. But ultimately, your ego is what you look after. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And then you can have a child. And your child's ego will be in front of yours. I think I need that. Yeah. Well, don't have a kid because you need it.

I won't. Don't. I value cuteness and sweetness. I do. So all of a sudden, everything about your life is back burner. And everything about this creature's life is front burner. Yeah. And that's a big life adjustment.

That's a real shift. Yeah. For real. And it's happier. Ultimately a happier life. But I'm not going to lie. It's a big adjustment. It's only like 55% happier, 45% less.

Thereabouts, no. And I feel like the relationship, too, then, because I imagine when I have a kid, like, I'm going to be so focused. like I'm gonna be so focused on the kid and then it's like and then if you're working you're doing all these other things and then you got to maintain a relationship with your partner too it's all gonna work everybody does it by the way you know me and my wife talk about this a lot and you're like the perfect person to ask this all right I'm sure I'm gonna get the answer wrong no no and I think about a lot and I always try to ask people that are in your position but geez excuse me how how there's two two of them it's such a like The main one is like, how do you make it all work with, you know, you're successful, you're forward-facing. Both me and my wife are forward-facing people.

How do you keep your children, A, grounded, B, how do you ensure that their life is as normal as possible while growing up? Well, I mean, I assume you have sort of a moral compass that you go by and you just, have to live that, you know? And the trappings of this town in particular. How do you protect them? Did you raise your kids here? Yeah. And when we first moved here, even before we were married,

and I said to Brad, I said, okay, that's fine. We can live here because we're looking for work. We can live here, that's fine for now. We can even get married here. But I will refuse, if we have kids, refuse to raise my kids here. And then we raised them both here. And they turned out great.

Yeah. See, there are enough great kids that I've met that have... You always have... It's really the parents, obviously... I know there's trappings and whatnot, but I've met too many great kids that are L.A.-based to be fearful. Where did you grow up? Philly. So you can, you know, imagine the grit and the hard work that...

My parents lived in Philly for about 10 years. Oh, really? Yeah. It's a nice town. It's cool. I just feel like in L.A., kids grow up, and there's so many things that just didn't exist. It's like, there's social media, and it's like... Oh, well, that's...

something you've got if when you have kids that you're gonna have to figure that one out that's like a nightmare you got to keep those kids off screens yeah you can't get like you're and also you I have I know my nephew has kids and he was saying when they come home they take the phone and put it in a basket we're off phones as soon as you're in the house for the kids yeah and that's gonna be hard but I think you got to do it how did you do it on set like you had children you're on set and like you're like because you still worked through I had a nursery I had a nursery right next to my dressing room.

Oh. That's what we were, we're talking about all this stuff. So they came to work with you. Yeah. Keep thinking this thing is moving. That's Hesiba. Uh-huh. Yeah. How you doing? It's cute. Okay, so in between takes, you were doing all that stuff. Yeah, it was really hard. It was tough. Yeah. I'm not even sure it was the right thing to do, but yeah, that's what I did. Did you take off ever? Did you ever, like, for either one of your kids,

were you like, I'm taking off four months to just like make sure I'm like... Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of jobs I didn't take. Okay. Yeah. When you look back, you said it was really hard, which I know it was. Do you have like a bond? But it was also divine. Yeah. Perfect.

So you have like, it's just a mixed bag of probably, you were like overwhelmed with work and with the kids. But you don't have, you're not like, man, I wish I didn't do it. I wish I'd had one more, actually. Oh, really? Yeah. One more season? No, one more. Yeah.

How do you raise boys? Different. Did not turn out like me. Since having two boys has your opinion on men changed at all? Like, do you have a, do you see men differently because you had to raise them? Oh. Probably. I don't know how, but yeah. I'm sure.

Are they good boys? They're fantastic human beings. You're not just saying that because they're yours. No, I'm actually not. You're not? No, I had to really think about that. But they're both, like, if they were here, you would love talking to them. Are they married?

No. Are they single? They're single both with girlfriends. That's not single. Sorry, things have changed a little. That's not single to any human being. They're single with girlfriends. What does that mean?

They're not married as much you mean. Of course, one day I'm looking forward to having grandkids, my God. Yeah. Huh? It's crazy. It's like, what? I'm way too young for that shit, is how I feel. But anyway, I just, all I want is, and that's a big life decision, needless to say.

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Are you on an icing on the cake time and drew life? What part of life are you in? Oh. Huh. Um, I guess you could call it icing on the cake, except it's been, you know, we've had our, we've had struggles, as I mentioned. I mean, in other words, it's, I wouldn't call it living, I mean, yes, yes, it is kind of, I mean, cakeish. Cakeish for sure.

There's plenty of cake. There's cake. There's lots of cakes. And I do love cake. Do you love cake? Yeah. Like, I love cake. That's your favorite?

Dessert? Oh, yeah. Really? Oh, yeah. Not my number one favorite dessert. Straight up. Yeah, me too. Chocolate.

Do you love it? Love it. Cacao? Just no, but chocolate cake. No, chocolate cake. I actually only love chocolate cake. Can you guess our favorite desserts? Keep going, yeah.

Okay, and then you'll guess our favorite desserts. I want to hear more about where she is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll only have for so much time. We don't have to rush back to getting to her what guess of dessert we'd like. I'd like to after. She'll text you after her favorite dessert. No, no, no, don't text me after.

I want to know in this. But first, Tell us about your life. Well, I had cancer. I got cancer about, I don't know how long ago. You did? Yeah, I did. What type of cancer?

Breast cancer. And so I got through all of that. And so that's sort of a heart-stopping challenge. Were you scared? Terrified. Really? Yeah. And we were doing VEP and we had to shut the show down.

Right. Now, there's definitely, I have a sense of like, oh, wow, this isn't going to last forever. Yeah. Yeah. And so, what's the focus? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so the focus for me is not to waste a lot of time wringing my hands about shit.

Did it put everything into, like, perspective? A lot into perspective. So does it change how you even operate on a day-to-day level? I thought, sure, it changes how you operate on a day-to-day level. But it is a different lens through which you're looking at. your life for sure. Would you do yesterday? Like, just start to end.

Okay. I just want to know what, like, an average day is this. I don't know. Today's Thursday. Oh, today's Thursday. I'll tell you what I did yesterday. I just want to know what an average day is. See this?

Yeah. See that camera? Yeah. What is it? It says NRDC, Natural Resources Defense Council. It's a huge environmental organization and I was at a board meeting all day.

Oh, wow. That's what I was doing. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers for that. You guys, you need to support this organization. We will. I would love to.

Will you? Yes. We made a song called Earth that raised a lot of money for the climate and environment. Now, we do still use plastic bottles every now and then, as you saw earlier. We will change. We will change. We'll change in honor of you. And learning.

Thank you. Do you want to know something crazy for about 16 years of my life, maybe? I thought your whole name was your first name. Julie Lerrevez. I thought it was all one, and I was like, whoa, that's a crazy first name. Yeah, that would be a crazy first name. I think you thought her first name was Julia Louis. You didn't think that her first name was Julia Louis.

Yeah, I probably thought your first name was Julia Louis. Yeah, sometimes people call me that. Is that French or something? Are you French? Yeah, my dad was French. Are you Jewish? Half Jewish. Porter Jewish, I guess.

What is your, like, what are you? What's your ethnicity? No. No. No. What are? What am I? What am I?

I don't know what are you. I don't know what I am. Okay, cool. No, no, no, I'm a mutt, you know. But my dad, my dad was French, and my whole family on his side was French. Accent French. Wait. Was there any debate in your career with going with the Louis, like just being Julia Dreyfus?

Is Louis your middle name? No, it's Louis hyphen Dreyfus. Oh, so it's, okay. That is, in fact, my last name. Oh. Yeah. Hey, so maybe my thoughts weren't so wrong after all. No, I like to know.

First name ended in Dreyfus. What's his favorite dessert? I don't think he's a dessert guy. I'm not. Yeah. What's her favorite dessert? Chocolate cake. Growing up, there's a nostalgic dessert that I had.

Growing up, my mom used to get from a place called Safeway. Safeway, yeah, it's a grocery store. A lot of people have not heard of that because it's only like a Proger brand? It's only in certain locations. Yeah, but that's not every grocery store thing is. No, but there's no Safeway here in California. Yeah, there's a place called Ralph's, yeah. Well, there's a safe place here.

Yeah, but a lot of people, like when I say, Safeway a lot of times people go, huh? In Philly, it was Acme? I've never heard of that. Acme? Acme? Never heard. And Gianardi's?

Never heard of either one of those. Mine was Meyer. You ever heard of Meyer? Michigan. We had Safeway Giant. Giant. Giant. Giant.

That's a fantastic name for a grocery store. It is. Giant. You got any good names. Should we come up with one? Yeah. I like to steal Giant. That could be my new name. Giant.

Giant. Julia Giant. Julia Giant. I like Julia Giant. Just giant. Giant. I like Giant. I like Rapper.

It's like Lil Wayne because he's so small. Yeah. Yeah. You could call you Giant. You could call you Guy. I like Julia. For sure. Jai.

Jai. You know what movie I love that you did? I love the movie Enough Set. Oh, thank you. I love that movie too. I love that movie too. Oh, wow. Have you seen enough of Stead with James Gendolphini?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So good. That is a good. Yeah. He was, what was it like working with him? Yeah. He was a dream, but he was actually a lot like the character he played in that movie.

He was a very sort of soft kind of a teddy bear kind of a guy. Yeah. And insecure. Really? Strangely insecure. Yeah. Well, Tony was. Yeah.

That's right. I think he tapped into that. Yeah. We all have a little bit. Have you ever been starstruck in your life? Yes. You have. Who were you most starstruck for?

I have to think, Mel Brooks. Oh, yeah. I was starstruck. Oh, my God. I was so starstruck. When I met Mary Tyler Moore. Really? Oh, my God.

And this is what happened. I did do a photo shoot. We were doing a photo shoot. I forgot what it was for some magazine. And it was the two of us together. So, first of all, what? Yeah. Like, what?

Like, that's bananas. Of course. And then the photographer, who was a really good photographer, she said, you guys, oh, I don't want to block the camera. You can. You can. You can. Put it wherever you.

Fuck it. Fuck it. Yeah. Don't say fuck you to ho-ho shoot. Sorry, darling. So it's okay. And so she said, will you guys just stand next to each other and, you know, put your hands together like that?

So, in other words, like that, right? How I feel starstruck right now. Are you a little starstruck from Kristen or no? Yeah. I'm not. I was starstruck for you today, but I think I'm holding it together. So we did that and he takes a picture. And as I'm doing that, I start to ball.

Really? I was so overcome. Yeah. I couldn't believe this moment that I was touching. that, you know, that's a very intimate thing to hold your hand like that. Yeah. And, you know, for...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It wasn't just like that. There's the power. The power. You can feel it. Yeah. And I started to cry, and then, of course,

I was so embarrassed. Yeah. What did she say when you started crying? I tried not to let her see. Yeah. You know? The first time we ever saw LeBron James. I thought you were going to say the first time we ever had.

Me too. Well, LeBron was bananas. LeBron, yeah. I met LeBron too. Yeah. The air moves as he moves. Yeah, we also. Can you believe LeBron's career, by the way?

I know. It's unbelievable. Can you believe it? Who do you think? Are you LeBron or M.J.? Best of all time? Oh, well, I have to say LeBron. I mean, but I mean, I can't call that.

Now I really wish both of my boys were here. Oh, are they big sports fans? Well, my younger son, Charlie, was played Division I basketball. Oh, my God. Really? Yeah, he played at Northwestern. Oh, my God. Yeah.

You went to Northwestern. Yeah. Well, they went to the tournament. Yes, and I went. That is thrilling. Oh, my God. Do they lose it? Did they lose in the first round or they went a little bit?

No, they made it to the second round. Oh, my God. Was he like, did he ever play or no? Yeah, he played. He was a walk-on, so, but he definitely played. I wish I was still hooping. I have two. It's so fun.

I have two questions. All right. One question I need to know. What? What's your favorite breakfast food? No, it's just the prefaces. Well, one question. Okay, I need to know your hobbies.

Well, I'm a big hiker. I'm a big exerciser. Do you hike every day? I try to hike, no, not every day, but maybe, three or four times a week. You don't go alone, do you? Uh-huh. You never, you never worried? Zero Killer? Well, I've lived in LA for 14 years. I've never been on more than one hike. The one I took him? I've been on one hike. And how to go? Not that well, I guess. I took him, I begged for him to go on a hike with me, and I picked, it was like... It's the hottest day of... Where did you go? You go to Feynman? I don't know. We went down somewhere in Malibu.

The lands were, like, every bit of land, the, like, the leaf color was, like, burnt. Like, everything was... You need to go now post all these gorgeous rains. And I did this thing. No, you really should. You go to Los Leone's. Where is a good line? You should go to Los Leone's hike. Put that in.

That's your hobby number one. That's my hobby number. My next hobby is where's the bathroom? I have to go pee. Kristen, I'm eating one. Do you want one? No. I don't want any more of that.

What is it? Oh, chocolate covered strawberries. A frozen strawberry with chocolate? Yes. Oh, you want one? 100%. Oh. I would love one.

We also have if you're looking for... There's one lack. I'll take it. Do you mind if I take the last one? Take it. Do you want a snack or anything? I was digging my sticky fingers in this. No, this is good, I guess.

You should check, though, if you get a little chocolate on your teeth after. If you like it. Because sometimes it does when we're shooting. Okay. Ooh, you're good. Yeah, it's great. Like a little healthy snack. We also have heavenly hunts, but they might be moldy.

They're not moldy. What's your go-to dish? Oh, I don't know. God. What's yours? I mean, I don't. She isn't really cooked. No, I'm not a good cook. I just make soup and I freeze it. Oh, I love to fry it.

make soup and freezing. That's my favorite. I love freezing things. You know what you should love freezing. Do you have a dog? I do. And is it a cockapoo? No, he is a...

It really is a rumor then. No, no, it's not a cockapoo, Labradoodle. We got a, we have a puppy name, not a puppy anymore, I guess. He's a baby, though. Dogs are... What's his name?

Reggie. Oh, that's nice. My dog's name is George. George? George. No relation to George. The stanza? No, after my father-in-law.

Oh, okay. That's sweet. My dog's name's pudding. Oh, I love pudding. I know somebody else who had a pudding. Really? For real? That's a good name.

Pudding looks like she's melting at all times. Oh. She's a big... Oversized tongue. A big, chubby English bulldog. Oh, wow. Yeah, I have... Tongue doesn't fit in the mouth right.

Yeah, it doesn't fit. She was a rescue and she's got all sorts of issues. And then Larry, Larry, Larry... Larry named after Larry David. Larry is named after Larry David. Seriously? He probably not said that. He was.

I forgot. Yeah. Wow. Larry David. And yeah, Larry, his name was, his name was actually Larry David was his full name. Oh. And he was. I thought it was Larry Reese.

We changed him. Larry Reese. Yeah. He, uh, that was the first dog you fell in love with. Yeah, he's a bodybuilder. Yeah. He didn't even like dogs. He didn't like dogs before.

He's a thick. And he loved to lick. He'd come up and just lick you constantly. He was a fucking built. He was a French bulldog. He was a French boy. He was so cute. And his rapid descent.

Rapid descent. Oh, yeah. That dog fell apart. Yeah, rapid. I feel like a dog is a good segue into... Children? Well, for me, at least, when we got a puppy, I was like, he was working a lot, and I said, don't worry.

Like, I will take care of it. No, a puppy's a lot of work. But, I mean, I imagine it's how I feel with children. You know when it balloons in the air? You play the game where you try to keep it up in the air and you hit it? It's like, there's a balloon in the air for the rest of your life that you always are kind of having your... Can't, like, just live your life.

You're always going to have to be like... There's nothing I'm more excited. Check. There's nothing I'm more excited. Is that a good analogy? I feel like that's a good analogy. It is. It's great.

I'm so excited. I'm just nervous. I think it's like approaching. So you wish you had three? Yeah, that's a debate we keep having. She says she wants three. I love the number. But I've never had one, so.

Start with one. See what happens. Whatever happens, happens. Yeah, exactly. We'll figure it out. You'll figure it. Yeah, of course. Speaking of figure it out,

yes. What do you think that special thing is about a show like sign-fell that we could perhaps... Steal. Steel. Give us the, give us the ingredient. Is there an intangible kind of thing, like a North Star that, well, this, I really, it doesn't, it doesn't apply to it. This is not a scripted thing and, you know.

We've been reading off the script. So irrelevant. Oh, you've been on, really? Oh, that's right. I had this all memorized, I forgot. But feeling. No, but I think what. What are you talking about?

Feelings. No, disregard that question. You got any more hobbies? Do you still keep up with all those guys? I do, actually. I just saw Larry and Jerry recently, yeah. Larry and Jerry. Larry and Jerry.

You keep up with Jason? Not as much, but we email back and forth. Was there ever, you don't even have to answer this if you don't want to. Okay, I'm not going to answer. Was there ever any friction ever, like on Seinfeld? Of course, yes, tons, yeah. Oh, really? Well, I mean, it's hard to do anything really well, and it takes a lot of work,

and you're going to butt heads. Live audience was there. Of course, what am I saying? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, wait, I've always forget. Yeah. Yeah, live audience.

Yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. It's like a whole other level of, like, intensity. Wait, every night was a live audience. Yeah. Every episode was a live audience. Did you ever fill out without a live audience?

Yes. There was like COVID or something? No, there was no COVID back then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, we did. I want to say we shot the Puerto Rican Day parade, I think, without a live audience. I think if I'm, oh, no, that was just in real time with the Chinese restaurant. But that was different.

You found it inspiring and additive as a performer, not like distracting. Well, I mean, you know, you know what it's like to be in front of an audience. I mean, there's energy that you're living off of and it infuses performance. And that's true for, or you, that might be you. No? Were you still able to do, yeah, it's probably my phone? Were you still able to do multiple takes? Yeah.

Yeah. So they just sat there. But I think the audience got a kick out of it because you got to see, you know, sort of how the sausage was made. You also get to see like rewriting on the fly. Yeah. Any hecklers? Like would you ever get like some regular hecklers? No, they wouldn't let them in there.

Kristen, when I went to Selena's reboot when they were shooting, like in between when people are chilling, they have like a commentate. Like a guy. Yeah. Like an MCLEAN, they've had the same one on Selena's thing for like 30 years. Like he was there from the beginning. Yeah. Yeah.

It was really. It was helpful. And that, by the way, is a real skill set. Oh my God. Did the warm up guy ever make it in an episode? I feel like he's probably waiting to get, you know, plucked and be like, give a shot. I can't really remember. Yeah.

Did you start to be like in your head, well, that laugh wasn't loud enough or no, like you kind of zoned, you weren't, like, focused on their feedback as much as, like, just making the show? Well, if you're focusing on the feedback, you would get a problem. But, I mean, I think, but, I mean, of course you clock it. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

Were they collaborative? Like, could you be like, Larry, like, I would never say this. Like, we have to change how this is being said. Yes, they were collaborative. I mean, sometimes there was an argument. Yeah. Was there a lot of improv? Huh.

There was some improv that came out of a rehearsal. Yeah. Feels so improv. There was some stuff that happened. And then, of course, mistakes would happen and would get folded. Yes. Yeah. It feels like so much.

Tell us. Tell us. You know the parking garage episode? Of course. Remember how the car doesn't start at the end? It was supposed to start, but it just didn't. Wow. How funny is that?

That is funny. And you ended. And Michael was going, come on, come on, trying to get it started. Yeah, it was really funny. God, that made me laugh. And you can see, if you watch carefully, you can see that I collapse in the Paxi because I'm laughing so hard. They're blinking that thing.

You've got to go, Julia. Boy, are we thankful that you came? This is like being in the Truman Show. I know. The light is kicking me out of here. Yeah? Yes. It was so fun.

It was such an honor. Wow. Thank you so fun. I hope this cuts together. I feel like we didn't talk about anything. That's the best part. That's like Seinfeld, the show about nothing.