Julia Louis-Dreyfus Ends 'Seinfeld Curse'
Earlier this year, Julia Louis-Dreyfus dispelled rumors of a "Seinfeld" curse when she won and Emmy best actress in a comedy for her role in the CBS show, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
The show draws 13 million viewers each week and is one of the most popular on television. It's an unexpected feat for Louis-Dreyfus after former castmates Jason Alexander and Michael Richards stared in shows that bombed.
Louis-Dreyfus, who won an Emmy for best supporting actress for "Seinfeld" in 1996, said she was "utterly, completely delighted," when she won her second.
"I kept wondering if this was really happening," she told The Early Show co-anchor Hanna Storm. "It was a dream come true."
Louis-Dreyfus is now about to embark on another season of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" in which she plays a divorced mother who muddles her way through life. Although Christine has a good relationship with her ex-husband, she is looking for love elsewhere. Her son's African-American teacher has caught her eye and Christine, although she tells her black friend that she doesn't see color, mistakenly calls Mr. Harris Mr. Black.
It's foibles like those that make Christine a character who's easy to identify with. The show's executive producer has said that she is beaten down but not pathetic and that other women can laugh with her.
"I think women are relating to the struggle that Christine has, which is to keep a million balls in the air and trying to, sort of, I don't know, keep your head above water all the time," Louis-Dreyfus said. "That's certainly true for working mothers. But I don't think you have to be a working mother to like this. It's all about how hard it is, really to live."
Although she has been married to her college sweetheart for many years, in some ways Louis-Dreyfus can relate to Christine. She is a working mother with a son in fourth grade and another in ninth, who recently began watching some old "Seinfeld" episodes.
Christine is often looked down upon by mothers at her son's school for being a working mom. Louis-Dreyfus says she also feels that backlash.
"You have to compartmentalize, which is what I do, sometimes well, sometimes incredibly badly," she said. "…but there sometimes is tension between the mothers who work and the mothers who don't. I have had comments made to me like 'Oh, Julia, it's so good to see you, we haven't seen you in school for so long.'"