Julia Louis-Dreyfus is doing great. Last year, the actress revealed that she had breast cancer; soon after, Veep went on hiatus as Dreyfus battled her illness. But on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night, Dreyfus revealed shes cancer-free, back at work, and feeling good. Even better? On Sunday, Dreyfus will accept the Mark Twain Prize—pretty much the greatest honor a comedian can receive. When asked how shes feeling, Dreyfus did not miss a beat, replying, “I feel very strong.”
Throughout her illness, Dreyfus was very open on social media—partially because, as she told Kimmel, Veep production had to stall, which made it more difficult to keep her illness private. “Then I just sort of embraced that, and I got a lot of positive feedback,” Dreyfus said. “I think people liked the fact that I had a sense of humor about it, and also I think its an important conversation to have about health and healthcare.” Dreyfus said that although she believed in insurance for all before, she really believes it now.
On Sunday, Dreyfus accepts the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor—an award that has been bestowed on performers including Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, Carol Burnett, and, last year, David Letterman. The award itself is an honor, of course—but the speech has Dreyfus nervous. “It sort of feels like theyre giving you an award for being comedic and now theyre saying, at the same time, Now prove that you deserve it with this speech!” she said.
And of course, Dreyfus and Kimmel also discussed Veep—which premieres its seventh and final season next year. Dreyfus described the experience of ending the show as “bittersweet.”
“I adore these people,” Dreyfus said. “And I adore the show and what we were able to achieve with it.”
When asked if there was one scene in particular that stood out in her mind as the funniest, Dreyfus thought back to a moment in Season 6, when Gary (Tony Hale), recovering from a heart attack, is staying in Selinas basement. She makes him spaghetti with a cut up sandwich on top—and sits next to him on a single bed as he eats it. Specifically, Dreyfus said the two struggled to keep it together as Gary complimented the dishs use of bleu cheese—and Selina revealed that, actually, there was no bleu cheese anywhere in the dish.
“You cannot imagine how long it took us to get that,” Dreyfus said. “We were howling.”
Unfortunately, every show must come to an end—but as Veep nears the finish line, at least we know we can count on Dreyfus in the years to come.
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Laura BradleyLaura Bradley is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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