Julia Louis-Dreyfus recounts her first humiliating 'SNL' rehearsal in front of 'cynical' crew at 21
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Julia Louis-Dreyfus had a lot to take in during her unforgettable moment on 'Saturday Night Live’ set at an early age.
The ‘Veep’ star recalled about rehearsal for the show back in 1982, and the learnings from the day during the Lemonada Media's ‘Wiser Than Me’ podcast.
“When I was just getting started, I was part of the Practical Theater company in Chicago," Louis-Dreyfus shared.
"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," the iconic comedian added.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus recalls her challenging first rehearsal at 'SNL'
The budding artist said during the episode that she and three other "complete and total unknowns" had to perform the first act of the show in the 'Saturday Night Live' office "under fluorescent lights in the middle of the day in front of 20 very cynical, unfriendly SNL cast members and writers.”
Louis-Dreyfus felt that the group "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. I think that humiliation influenced our whole SNL experience for the next couple of years, to tell you the truth," she explained.
"I've learned a lot since that cringey day in a carpeted office on the 17th floor of 30 Rock,” Louis-Dreyfus confessed.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus' 'SNL' cast members in 1982
The 'Seinfeld' actress joined the popular TV show in 1982 at just age of 21, which made her the youngest female cast member back in the day.
Her cast members at the time comprised Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Eddie Murphy, Christopher Guest, and Brad Hall, whom she went on to marry.
In 2019, Louis-Dreyfus opened up to Stephen Colbert that her 'SNL' time “was a pretty brutal time but a very informative time."
“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,” she told the host, per People.
