When you hear Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s name, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s excitement for her upcoming film Tuesday, her iconic role as Selina Meyer on Veep, Elaine Benes on Seinfeld—or maybe something as simple yet iconic as her signature dark brown hair. Recently, the 63-year-old actress threw everyone for a loop by debuting blonde hair on her Instagram grid while on the set of the upcoming Marvel film Thunderbolts—and it’s a must-see.
While it’s likely that Dreyfus’s blonde hair is a wig, that hasn’t stopped fans from flocking to the comments section to praise how she looks with the new hair color. “You look like Madonna with blonde hair!” one person commented. Another wrote: “Blonde JLD is everything I’ve ever needed.” A third: “Who is this blonde bombshell!” Check out her new look below, and don’t forget to press “play” on the video to see a classic Louis-Dreyfus comedy bit.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus with blonde hair
Between her slew of acting gigs, hair and makeover appointments during said acting gigs, and political advocacy work, Louis-Dreyfus recently spoke with The Times about what it’s like to see herself age on camera, how the industry has changed since her Seinfeld days, and her thoughts on the comparisons the Veep storyline often draws to present-day politics.
“It is a weird thing to watch yourself age on camera, like when I see old clips of Seinfeld and I was — Jesus Christ, was I in my twenties? Yeah, I guess so,” she mused. “Anyway, it’s jarring for sure. So I know I’m older, but I feel young. I’m not going to play the 25-year-old ingenue, but I never did play those roles, so it’s fine.”
As for the industry? It has grown beyond the “boys’ club” mindset, which is how she confirms things felt on Seinfeld, where she was the only woman. “It was very male, but that felt familiar to me so I knew how to navigate it,” she said. “When I started out in showbusiness in the 1980s, there was no awareness about trying to … I was going to say diversify, as if adding women is a diversification, but it is. But now there is awareness, and that’s a good thing.”
As mentioned, Louis-Dreyfus is also a dedicated political advocate. She’s participated in various political causes and campaigns, particularly those related to climate change and environmental issues. It also happens that people, including herself, find similarities between the satirical Veep storyline and the current state of American politics.
One way this is evident is through the fact that “female candidates are more scrutinized,” she told the outlet. “That is the reality and we played into it and used it to our comedic advantage. There is an episode in which a character suggests Selina open a speech with ‘As a woman’ and she said, ‘I can’t identify as a woman! People can’t know that! Men hate that and women who hate women hate that, which I believe is most women.’ So we used that for a lot of fodder.”
