Elaine Becomes Christine
Julia Louis-Dreyfus remembers the first time she ever got a laugh. She was 3. She stuck a bunch of raisins up her nose. She got her laugh, and then was promptly taken to the emergency room.
So little has changed, as she observes, for to do comedy, "you have to be willing to make a complete fool of yourself. You really do. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You've got to take the risks, I guess."
Louis-Dreyfus is taking her most recent risk with a new sitcom, "The New Adventures of Old Christine," which is premiering with back-to-back episodes on CBS tonight (Monday, March 13) at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. (Starting next week, March 20, you can watch every Monday night at 9:30/8:30 Central.)
She is, of course, something of a TV icon, having portrayed Elaine Benes in the eternally popular "Seinfeld." But it's been eight years since Elaine, Jerry, George and Kramer said goodbye, and so co-anchor Hannah Storm of The Early Show wanted to know more about the show in which Louis-Dreyfus is saying hello again.
To begin with, Louis-Dreyfus plays a single mother named Christine Campbell who finds out from complete strangers that her ex-husband has a new girlfriend, also named Christine. As one of the strangers says: "It's kind of like she's the new Christine. Which I guess would make you the old Christine."
Her character's relationship with her ex-husband, Richard (Clark Gregg), is "as great as we can possibly make it. There's inherent conflict there, but, yes. In the pilot episode, I talk about it like nothing has really ever changed just because we're divorced. It's, like, better than most people's marriages."
And then "old Christine" finds out about "new Christine," who turns out to be "perky and kind."
In real life, Louis-Dreyfus is happily married to actor, writer and producer Brad Hall, and they have two sons, Henry, 13, and Charles, 8. Does she draw anything from her real life into her work?
"I'm drawing a little bit," says the actress. "I don't think I'm quite as crazy as Christine, but maybe I am. I don't know. I am definitely drawing on it, and it feels comfortable."
Actually, Louis-Dreyfus recognized herself in the first page of the "Christine" script, in which the character cannot sleep and, so, she is leaving herself a voicemail message at 2 in the morning, a "to-do" list for the next day.
"I thought, 'This is so my life. I am so signing up to do this show,' " the actress says.
She says she does miss "Seinfeld," telling Storm, "I miss all the wonderful people that I worked with. It was so great. But we get to see each other and that's nice."
It's also nice that Louis-Dreyfus received an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four American Comedy Awards during "Seinfeld's" nine-year run.
But she's already thinking of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" as an ensemble along the same lines as "Seinfeld."
She explains: "We have an incredible cast and really talented actors. And, I don't know, it's a very congenial set, and I am just having a good time. I don't know what else to say. I'm having a good time like I did back then."
Fast Facts About Julia Louis Dreyfus
Born: New York, N.Y., Jan. 13, 1961
Husband: Brad Hall. Actor, writer, producer. Worked together on "Saturday Night Live"; produced the TV series "Brooklyn Bridge"; married in 1987; together since about 1981; attended Northwestern University with Louis-Dreyfus.
Sons: Henry Hall. Born 1992. Charles Hall. Born 1997.
Louis-Dreyfus started out in two Chicago-based theater groups: the Practical Theatre company and the Second City comedy troupe.
"Saturday Night Live" (1982-84)
Film credits: "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Soul Man" (both 1986); "Jack the Bear" (1993); "north" (1994); "Father's Day" and "Deconstructing Harry" (both 1997), and "A Bug's Life" (voice of Princess Atta, 1998)
Her other recent TV credits include a recurring role in "Arrested Development," the NBC series "Watching Ellie" and voiceover for the TV movie "Animal Farm."