Julia Louis-Dreyfus Embraces Old Christine's Adventures

Combining a caustic tongue with knockabout (and knockout) vulnerability, Julia Louis-Dreyfus struck TV gold again — Emmy gold — as a lovable divorcée in CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine (Mondays at 8:30 pm/ET). The affable actress talked to us about the show's success, her Saturday Night Live days and the Seinfeld legacy.

TV Guide: Congrats on your Emmy for Christine. Did you ever put much stock in that supposed Seinfeld curse?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: None. That's ridiculous.

TV Guide: Christine has a lot on her plate juggling work, romance and family. What makes her unique?
Louis-Dreyfus: That she fails at all of the above. [Laughs]

TV Guide: Any guest stars of note on the horizon?
Louis-Dreyfus: Yeah, we've got some really fun guest stars. Jane Lynch (Best in Show) is coming back again as Coach Hammond, and Dave Foley (NewsRadio) is a date for Christine in one particular episode. And [we had] Sandra Bernhard (Roseanne) — [in an episode where] we're trying to get people to sign our petition outside of a Whole Foods-type market. It was really fun.... She was outrageous.

TV Guide: You're the first female SNL alum to host the show. What was it like?
Louis-Dreyfus: Isn't that remarkable? I feel proud and kind of appalled all at once. But mainly proud. I had a wonderful experience.

TV Guide: How do you look back on your time on SNL?
Louis-Dreyfus: That was a difficult three years. I left college to do that show, and I was very, very naive and green. So I didn't know how to make the system work for me. It was a great place to learn. It was like grad school in entertainment.

TV Guide: When was the last time you went through the day without someone mentioning Seinfeld?
Louis-Dreyfus: It happens a lot, although I have to say that people mention Christine a lot to me, too, which is a very good feeling. Having said that, though, it makes me proud when people mention Seinfeld to me or a particular episode or scene or phrase, because it's sort of iconic. Who wouldn't want to have that experience in their lives?

TV Guide: Do you miss Elaine's puffy locks?
Louis-Dreyfus: I do not miss the hair and I do not miss the oversized sort of clothing covering up various pregnancies.

TV Guide: What do you think she did when she got out of prison?
Louis-Dreyfus: She probably did something and went straight back to prison again. [Laughs]

Find out what Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton are up to these days, in the April 9 issue of TV Guide. Click here to subscribe.