The American actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus received her seventh Emmy nomination for playing Selina Meyer in HBO’s Veep. She’s known for her work in SNL, Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2019, Louis-Dreyfus wrapped up her stint with political satire Veep. The actress has also featured in films such as Picture Paris and, Enough Said.
Though the actress will always be remembered for her iconic Elaine Benes on Seinfeld. Her acting genius is reflected in numerous other roles. Here are the top ten listed by IMDb sorted according to their ratings.
The New Adventures of Old Christine: 7 (2006-2010)
The New Adventures of Old Christine aired on CBS from 2006 to 2010. The sitcom is headed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Christine Campbell, a gym owner. She’s neurotic about her child Ritchie. To top it all, her ex-husband Richard (Clark Gregg) and his girlfriend New Christine (Emily Rutherfurd) are a pain in the neck. There are audiences who prefer Julia’s five-year stint on The New Adventures of Old Christine to Seinfeld.
The Old Christine and New Christine dynamic is the center-stage of the show. Every season of the show garnered Louis-Dreyfus an Emmy nomination and one win in the ‘Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series’ category. With her energetic portrayal in this sitcom, followed by Veep, she broke a number of Emmy records.
Enough Said: 7 (2013)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Eva in the indie romantic comedy Enough Said. She is a middle-aged divorcee, a single mother to a teenage daughter and a masseuse by profession. Enough Said is the middle-aged dating story of Eva and Albert (The Late James Gandolfini). Eva and Albert share so much in common, they both are divorced parents of teenage daughters, about to be empty-nesters.
Middle-aged dating means awkwardness and anxieties for both Eva and Albert. Things become complicated when Eva discovers her client and friend, Catherine Keener’s Marianne is Albert’s ex-wife. Louis-Dreyfus shines as Eva in an awkward role that demands charm, wit, and layers of self-consciousness.
A Bug’s Life: 7.2 (1998)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus lends her voice in the 1998 animation film A Bug’s Life. The movie at the time was considered to be a watershed in the world of animation. A Bug’s Life is created by Pixar animation studios and presented by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the tale of oppression of bugs by grasshoppers, chief of them Kevin Spacey’s Hopper.
A Bug’s Life is directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton. Julia voices a fun and witty Princess Atta. It is helmed by Dave Foley’s Flik- the bug. Louis-Dreyfus has contributed her wit to an otherwise blandly written Princess Atta.
Deconstructing Harry: 7.4 (1997)
Woody Allen, who plays a writer in Deconstructing Harry, is out of ideas and inspiration for his new book. So, he unethically sources real-life stories of his friends. Harry uses his friends for material and discards them when he’s done.
Harry’s fictional character from the book (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is having an affair with her sister’s husband Ken (Richard Benjamin). Besides this adulterous couple, the actual cast of the film includes Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Judy Davis, Amy Irving, and Elisabeth Shue.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: 7.6 (1989)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is third in line to the Vacation movies; National Lampoon’s Vacation, National Lampoon’s European Vacation. It is helmed by Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold who begins with bringing home an uprooted Christmas tree. The Griswold family lives in Chicago suburbs. Everything that could have gone wrong on Christmas does actually go wrong for Clark.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the uptight Margo Chester, who along with her husband Todd (Nicholas Guest) finds the Griswolds peasantry. Margo only hopes for Clark to fall and break his neck for Christmas. Their animosity with the noisy Griswolds keeps the spirit of the holiday movie alive.
Picture Paris: 7.7 (2012)
Picture Paris arrived a year before Enough Said. The latter movie is closely mirrored on the former. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Ellen Larson, an empty nester. Having been preoccupied with Paris most of her life, Ellen takes off alone on the trip.
With Ellen’s husband having jilted her, she takes a solo trip to the city of love and romance. But the trip doesn’t go as she had thought it would. Interestingly, Picture Paris is written and directed by Louis-Dreyfus’ real-life husband Brad Hall.
Veep: 8.3 (2012-2019)
Louis-Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer in HBO’s political satire comedy Veep. The show successfully ran for 7 seasons, ending its run in 2019.
Selina is the Vice-President of the United States of America. She and her team juggle the day-t0-day challenge to make a difference. Louis-Dreyfus shines in her role as an anti-heroine in the funniest setting. Veep comes from Armando Iannucci and is a polar opposite of the hard-hitting shows on the country’s Executive-House of Cards or The West Wing.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: 8.7 (2000-)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays a fictionalized version of herself in Curb Your Enthusiasm. It is an American comedy series helmed by Larry David himself.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is a semi-improv sitcom that airs on HBO. Louis-Dreyfus is one of the recurring characters on the show. She’s made several appearances on episodes “The Wire”, “The Shrimp Incident”, “The Doll”, “The Massage”, “The Reunion”, “The Bare Midriff”, “The Table Read”, “Seinfeld”.
Arrested Development: 8.8 (2003)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ other TV credits include 2000s beloved sitcom Arrested Development. She appeared in the show as a prosecutor, Maggie Lizer.
Maggie firmly believes that a lawyer’s profession is a liar’s profession. She always has a trick on two up her sleeve to gain the sympathy of judges. Maggie is Michael Bluth’s on-off flame in the show. She’s a pathological liar, a cheater and dishonest, yet Michael is drawn to her. Louis-Dreyfus as Maggie Lizer is incredibly hilarious. Her vices make her an interesting recurring character on Arrested Development.
Seinfeld: 8.8 (1989-1998)
Julia’s most notable roles include Veep and The New Adventures of Old Christine but she will always be Elaine Benes to her loyalists. Though she successfully broke the Seinfeld curse, Elaine is far too iconic to let anything else come in the way.
Louis-Dreyfus played Elaine Benes on the smash-hit sitcom Seinfeld. She worked in Pendant Publishing, as an assistant to the upper-class Mr. Pitt and an editor at the J. Peterman Catalog. Elaine Benes was one amongst the rag-tag team of four fellows on the show. Elaine is destiny’s favorite child-like George Costanza is. She’s best friends with the lead Jerry Seinfeld, whom she has dated in the past as well.