Julia Louis-Dreyfus: There Was a 'Ton' of Friction on 'Seinfeld' Set

Julia Louis-Dreyfus said that working on the set of "Seinfeld" was not always smooth sailing, revealing that the cast and crew experienced friction behind the scenes. Louis-Dreyfus discussed the workplace dynamic during an appearance on "Friends Keep Secrets," hosted by Benny Blanco, Lil Dicky, and Kristin Batalucco, when she was asked whether there was ever tension. "Of course. Yes. Tons," she replied. The 11-time Emmy winner elaborated on the pressures of working on the NBC series. "I mean, it's hard to do anything really well, and it takes a lot of work, and you're going to butt heads," Louis-Dreyfus explained, adding that pitching ideas to co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David sometimes led to arguments despite an overall collaborative atmosphere. Despite those occasional clashes, she described working with her co-stars as "just being friends together and just hanging out," though she clarified, "That sounds as if it was just hanging out. It was a lot of work to make the show." She credited the show's unconventional structure with giving the team creative freedom. "But what I mean was we were all, like, kids. And we had our own idea and [the writers] had their own idea of exactly what they wanted to do, which was not the norm at the time in terms of structured television," she said. "So I think there was an air of freedom because of that. We had a lot of fun making it." When NBC initially ordered just four episodes, Louis-Dreyfus recognized the show's potential but doubted the network would keep it on the air. "Those first four [ordered episodes], I thought, 'Wow, this is so unusual,' and then I thought, 'The network is too stupid. They'll never pick it up,' " she recalled, describing the style as "odd specific" for its time. The series went on to become a hit. Show co-host Lil Dicky, whose real name is David Burd, said it was "the biggest show in America when it ended" in 1998, though Louis-Dreyfus said it grew even larger afterward. "I was so surprised at all that attention," she said, adding, "Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" Her remarks build on previous comments from a May "Awards Chatter" interview detailing a "big fat argument on set" during Season 2 over an episode in which Jerry and Elaine sleep together. That dispute involved Larry David and Castle Rock Entertainment executives arguing over "whether or not to turn this into a will they, won't they?" "Larry was livid," Louis-Dreyfus said. "He did not want anything to do with the idea of romance, the cute, the sexy."