Julia Louis-Dreyfus is best known for comedy. A recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the National Medal of Arts, and an inductee of the Television Academy Hall of Fame, the veteran actress shares, with the late Cloris Leachman, the record for most Emmy wins for acting — eight, spread between the unforgettable TV comedy series Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep — with another three for producing.
But, interestingly enough, what brought her to this year’s Cannes Film Festival — where she visited Meta House to record an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast in front of an audience of festivalgoers — was the world premiere of a deeply moving dramedy: Tangles, Leah Nelson’s animated feature directorial debut, which was adapted from Sarah Leavitt’s 2010 graphic memoir of the same name. The film chronicles the impact on a family of the diagnosis of its matriarch — voiced by Louis-Dreyfus, who also was a producer of the film — with Alzheimer’s disease.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Scott Feinberg at Meta House on May 14, 2026.
Over the course of an hour, the 65-year-old reflected on her path to acting. A performative streak in elementary, middle and high school led to the study and practice of theater at Northwestern — but she left school after three years because she was offered a job on Saturday Night Live, becoming, at just 21, its youngest female cast member to date. She did not enjoy her three years on the show (1982-85), but bonded, during her third year, with an equally unhappy new writer there: Larry David.
