Julia Louis-Dreyfus Recalls “Excruciating” First ‘SNL’ Moment That Left Her Humiliated

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is recalling a humiliating moment she had during her early Saturday Night Live days.

The Veep actress and comedian looked back at her early Hollywood career on a recent episode of Lemonada Media’s Wiser Than Me podcast, including one of her first memories with the sketch comedy show that didn’t necessarily go as planned.

“When I was just getting started, I was part of the Practical Theater company in Chicago,” she explained. “The producers of SNL came to see the show and they loved it, and they hired all of us to come to New York and be a part of SNL.”

At the time, Louis-Dreyfus said she and three other “complete and total unknowns” were asked to perform the first act of the show in the SNL office “under fluorescent lights in the middle of the day in front of 20 very cynical, unfriendly SNL cast members and writers who already hated us because a bunch of their best friends had just been fired to make room for us.”

“We never had a chance. Sketches that had killed in Chicago died a terrible, terrible death that day. It was excruciating,” the Seinfeld alum continued. “I think that humiliation influenced our whole SNL experience for the next couple of years, to tell you the truth. … I’ve learned a lot since that cringy day in a carpeted office on the 17th floor of 30 Rock.”

Louis-Dreyfus joined SNL as a castmember from 1982 to 1985, alongside Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Jim Belushi and Brad Hall, who she later married. She has also hosted the sketch comedy series three times over the years.