Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Re-Release)

Summary

Podcast Summary

You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes
Episode: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Re-Release)
Release Date: August 13, 2025
Guest: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Host: Pete Holmes
Theme: Celebrating the secret weirdness behind comedic icons, the episode dives into wisdom, aging, comedy, spirituality, and the art of living well—with warmth, insight, and a healthy dose of silliness.

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Overview

In this special re-release episode, Pete Holmes reconnects with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, legendary comedian and actor, for an open, playful, and deeply human conversation. They explore Julia's new podcast focusing on wisdom from older women, her approach to work, comedy, fame, the meaning of aging, spiritual curiosity, and how laughter and presence can shepherd us through the weirdness of life. Their chemistry results in both hilarious banter and rich insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Welcoming Julia—The Studio, Vibes, and Podcast Life

• Pete expresses gratitude and disbelief at having Julia as a guest again, noting studio changes and creating a casual, fun mood.
• Julia jokes about being the first to see the "redo" of the studio (02:43).
• Julia talks about the joy—and surprising amount of work—in hosting her own podcast, Wiser Than Me:

  "It's a lot of work. ... I'm talking to some really, like, intelligent, intellectual, accomplished women." (03:50)

• The podcast uniquely features conversations with women 70+, and Julia stresses the importance of reframing how society views older women:

  "I really do believe that older women are a natural resource. Untapped. Very untapped." (05:49)

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2. Wisdom, Aging, and Shifting Cultural Narratives

• Julia is inspired by Jane Fonda's life and the concept of "five acts," wanting to spotlight the overlooked wisdom of older women (06:51).
• Pete and Julia critique society’s youth obsession and the waste of elder wisdom, discussing menopause, productivity, and consumption as gendered expectations (08:16).
• Julia reframes aging as potentially mind-expanding—less about what we lose, more about what we gain (07:43):

  "I think it's terribly interesting to consider... maybe thinking about [aging] as a mind expanding experience as opposed to what we lose as we age." (07:43)

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3. Work, Flow, and Identity

• Julia reflects on being in a busy, creative season—podcast, new movie, interviews—but expresses real gratitude for it all:

  "This is all good fortune. ... But there. These are good times." (11:26)

• Pete and Julia bond over the weird inertia when suddenly there's nothing scheduled—a modern existential dilemma (13:16).
• The comforts of home: Julia confesses her love for getting into bed early, watching Jeopardy, savoring coziness (14:50).

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4. Fame, Privacy, and Living with Icon Status

• Pete asks Julia what it feels like to be such a public icon, recognized by all generations, often approached in everyday life:

  "I'm used to it. And I try to live as normal life as possible. ...It's fantastic. It's great. It's like, who would have thought?" (18:17)

• The familiarity of TV: She’s often approached with a familial energy—people want to hug her, sometimes literally pick her up!
• They reminisce about the warmth of Mr. Rogers, with Julia moved to tears by old clips (20:51).

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5. Parenting, Wonder, and Seeing the World Anew

• Both share anecdotes about their children and the delight—and sometimes terror—of seeing the world through their fresh eyes (24:43).
• Julia remembers her son crying in the car wash, a perfect example of how kids experience the ordinary as the extraordinary (24:43).

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6. Relationships, Marriage, and Domestic Dynamics

• Julia illustrates the strengths and quirks of her marriage, including her husband’s noted forgetfulness, or "object impermanence" (29:38).
• Both discuss the joys of long-term partnerships and how these bonds allow them to feel more themselves (32:46):

  "I like to be with him, you know, I like to be with him. It's nice." (32:46)

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7. The Performer’s Psyche and The Nature of Comedy

• Julia is drawn to the "pretend" of acting, finding comfort and centering in diving deeply into characters—a "savior" for her as a child (34:17).
• She and Pete discuss the “bubble” of performance, where all other worries fall away, and compare the experience of improvisation, acting, and standup as controlled, immersive environments (35:09).
• Julia admits to nerves and the risk-taking required to do comedy—"All I was ever doing was trying weird, bizarre things with the hope, of course, that they would land." (43:58)

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8. Early Career: SNL, Comedy Roots, and Seinfeld

• Julia recollects joining SNL at 21, recalling self-produced basement plays and comedic "troupes" of her youth (47:44).
• Discusses her journey through Second City touring company and her husband’s Practical Theater Company, preferring true ensemble work over competitiveness (54:12).
• Seinfeld origins: Details her “non-audition” for Elaine, chemistry with Jerry, and the casual (“sidewalk offer”) vibe before the show’s success (60:44).
• On Seinfeld’s success:

  "I had both of my children during this time, so my focus was majorly split... I had a foot in both worlds very firmly planted." (66:09)

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9. Spirituality, Awe, and The Mystery of Existence

• Pete asks about Julia’s spiritual life:

  “I am in awe of the mystery of it all.” (73:38)

• Discussing existential humility, the enormity of the universe, and the feeling of awe when confronted with concepts like the Hubble telescope (75:09).
• Julia describes herself as spiritual in relation to nature and the unknown, not tied to a specific belief:

  "The mystery is the God." (73:38)

• They both share a deep appreciation for meditation (Transcendental Meditation in particular) and "forest bathing" as meditative practices (80:25, 81:39).

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10. Resilience, Cancer Survival, and Gratitude

• Julia candidly discusses surviving cancer:

  "I had cancer, so. And I survived it" (85:33). "It was a bear and a half." (86:02)

• She describes focusing on recovery, accepting support from loved ones, and the joy of returning to work:

  "Talk about getting back to work was just about the most joyful thing ever after that experience." (90:12)

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11. Laughter as Salvation and Life Lessons

• On laughter as a coping and transcendent force:

  “It's the only way out.” (88:28)

• Speed round:
  • Motherhood: "Please relax. It's going to be fine." (96:22)
  • Show Business: "Trust your instincts." (97:03)
  • Acting: "Listen. ...A lot of actors make that mistake." (97:19)
  • Facing the Unknown: "At least I can still breathe." (98:39)

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12. Memorable Quotes & Moments

On the untapped resource of older women:

• Julia: "I would like very much to change that narrative. ...Older women are a natural resource. Untapped. Very untapped." (05:49)

On the overwhelming weirdness of life:

• Pete: "We have a lot of old children now. We actually don't have a lot of elders because they weren't indoctrinated into that system." (09:01)

On the comfort of performance:

• Julia: "The pretend. Pretending to be a character and really getting ...down and dirty with it ...is good for my psyche and maybe because ...it was almost in a weird way, centering." (34:17)

On facing illness:

• Julia: "I was very much just on getting. Getting through one day after another because I really was quite ill, and so I was not ... I was just laser focused on getting better." (87:42)

On living with mystery:

• Julia: "I would say that I'm a believer in the mystery of all of this, but I don't have a God per se that I pray to. The mystery is the God, the mystery of. Yes. I am in awe of the mystery of it all." (73:18)

On comedy and acting technique:

• Julia: "Listen. ...A lot of actors make that mistake." (97:20)

On laughter as the ultimate escape:

• Julia: "It's the only way out." (88:28)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic / Quote | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 02:43 | Studio "redo" and Julia’s candid humor | | 05:49 | "Older women are a natural resource. Untapped." | | 07:43 | Rethinking aging as mind-expanding | | 13:16 | Navigating sudden free time, existential home wandering | | 18:17 | On daily fame and adjusting to being an icon | | 24:43 | Parenting: son cries at car wash, childhood wonder | | 29:38 | Husband’s "object impermanence" & marriage dynamics | | 34:17 | Acting as pretension, centering her psyche | | 43:58 | Risks in comedy: "All I was ever doing was trying weird, bizarre things..." | | 54:12 | Ensemble work vs. competitive theatre | | 60:44 | The casual "sidewalk offer" for Seinfeld | | 73:38 | On God and the mystery: "I am in awe of the mystery of it all." | | 85:33 | "I had cancer, so. And I survived it"—Talking about cancer | | 88:28 | "It's the only way out."—On laughter in the hospital | | 96:22 | Motherhood advice: "Please relax. It's going to be fine." | | 97:20 | Acting tip: "Listen. ...A lot of actors make that mistake." | | 98:39 | Anxiety calming mantra: "At least I can still breathe." |

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Notable (and Funny) Exchanges

• On SNL Youth:
  Julia jokes she may have been the youngest female cast member after, “the guy who was dating all those girls… Pete Davidson.” (45:25)

• On Husband’s Forgetfulness:
  Julia: “It's called object impermanence... it's very hard for them to keep hold of things…” (29:38)

• On Meditation:
  Pete: "Are you a meditator?"
  Julia: "Yeah…. It's hard for me to remember to do it." (80:22)

• On Laughter and Being Forbidden:
  Julia’s lifelong hardest laugh: singing a “stupid” song in seventh-grade glee club and being forbidden to laugh—“That's all you need to be forbidden is unbelievable.” (102:07)

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Final Thoughts

The episode is an exemplar of Pete Holmes’ podcasting style: earnest curiosity, openhearted humor, and a willingness to “make it weird” to uncover what’s truly meaningful in his guest’s life. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, openly philosophical, forthright about her vulnerabilities, and very, very funny, delights at every turn—from wisdom and wonder to healthy skepticism about fame and a devotion to enjoying the present.

Keep it crispy, indeed. (103:58)

Transcript

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Lemonade.

[Pete Holmes]

You made it weird with Pete Holmes. What's happening, weirdos? This is a summer re release of one of my favorite episodes of all time and one of my favorite comedic actors. I guess I could just say actors, but also a very, very funny comedic performer. Oh, I like what I did there. Julia Louis Dreyfus. I still can't believe she came on the show. I'm so glad she did. She is here again. We're going to listen to it together because that's way more fun than just going back into the archives. Let's all get it in our feed and enjoy it at the same time. If you want, I am on tour. If you want, go to PeteHomes.com I'm coming to Washington D. Boston, New Hampshire. We also added New York, New York, albeit town hall in New York, New Jersey. All sorts of dates. Florida. All these are and more [e-mail]. hope you can be there. This is my favorite hour. I've been loving seeing weirdos out on the road. Hope you can join. And in the meantime, enjoy this chat with Julia Louis. There's no ads in this episode, but I'm gonna do a promo code dump in like 30 seconds here. De stress your body with shakti maps. Get an acupressure mat. Go to shakti mat.com and use promo code weird30. It's a million pokey spikes that go into your body and make you feel fantastic and melt away stress. Upgrade your summer with dad grass leisure drink. It's incredible. Go to dadgrass.com weird and use promo code weird for 20% off. Liberate your lower limbs. That sounded like I meant something else. I really just had to cough with the perfect gene. The most comfortable jeans I've ever owned in my Life. Go to ThePerfectGene NYC and use promo code NoHardPants for 15% off. Upgrade your hydration drink LMNT DrinkElement.com and use promo code weird for a free sample pack. And give your testosterone a natural boost. I've been so obsessed with this. Up your drive, your energy and blood flow. Wink, wink, up. You can get 20% [e-mail] your first order with promo code weird. All right, Julia Louis, here we are. Get into it. I want to say that you're the first. We redid the studio and it's like kind of. We sort of did it. We were like trying. You were the guest. We were trying to be done. Believe it or not, this is the redone.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

This is the redo.

[Pete Holmes]

This Is the redo.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I think it's good. I mean, I'm.

[Pete Holmes]

You should have seen it before.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I was going to say there are some, like, scratches.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Don't critique.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, you just asked me if. I'm a shit talker.

[Pete Holmes]

Not to me.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, okay.

[Pete Holmes]

You said. We said behind backs only. When you leave, say to Charlotte and.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

William what a douchebag you are.

[Pete Holmes]

I don't know how my personality came into question with this. No, I. The first. I just want you to feel welcome.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll be excited.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm very excited to be here.

[Pete Holmes]

Are you really?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, why not? I think you're funny. I like you. I like your podcast. Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

A podcaster now. Just get it out right in the top. Wiser Than Me, Available.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Wherever you get your podcast, you have.

[Pete Holmes]

To say it like you don't even know. I don't know. If you find out, tell me where I can find Wiser Than Me.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You can find it on Apple and Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

[Pete Holmes]

There's other ones, but we don't know.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know who they are.

[Pete Holmes]

Well, I'm glad you're doing it. Isn't it a joy?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It is a joy. It's a lot of work.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. I heard you say that on Conan's. How do you. What do you mean?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What I mean is, is that I. You know, it's not like I have other friends who podcast and they're like, oh, my God, it's so much fun. You sit around, talk, and then it's done. But in this case, that, you know, I'm talking to some really, like, intelligent, intellectual, accomplished women.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

So I.

[Pete Holmes]

Women. I'm just kidding. Imagine. Sorry. Women. What I was picturing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I have just blown your lab coats.

[Pete Holmes]

You know, scholars.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

Exactly. But no, that's the point of your podcast, is that older women. I don't know where the line is. Do you have a line?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

70 ish.

[Pete Holmes]

Really? I thought you were gonna say, like, middle age. Up. You're saying they have to be older than you?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Older and wiser.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

How many have you found so far?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I've done. I've had 10 conversations.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. And it's a work. It's work because you admire them and you want to. You don't.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I don't want to be. I want to be super prepared and I want to really have a thoughtful conversation about. About their experience in life and their. Their experience with aging and, I mean, just all of it.

[Pete Holmes]

You know, it's A thing. Right. I mean, why older women? The crone. Right. Yeah, I'm gonna say the crone. No, Mother maiden. Crone. Maiden, mother, crone. And we don't know what to do. I mean, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it seems to me you're trying to address, like, as a society, it's like we don't know what to do with our elders in general, but especially, as I said, the crones.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I think that the sort of the old lady trope is a bummer house.

[Pete Holmes]

Made of candy luring in children.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Exactly.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Hunched over.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes, yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And the old wise man on top the hill.

[Pete Holmes]

That's right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Another trope.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And I think it's time to. I would like very much to change that narrative. And, you know, so that. Because I really do believe that older women are a natural resource. Untapped. Very untapped.

[Pete Holmes]

You mean we could run. Use them for energy?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, exactly. That is what I mean. You could put them on a bike and make them bike, and then it can create energy.

[Pete Holmes]

They love bikes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They love horses. Yeah, but more bikes.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, they're bikes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And you can get the energy off of, you know, they're pedaling.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm just saying, you lure them in by being like, we have saltwater taffy. We have horses. The things that comfort them.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And this is how I get the guests on my show.

[Pete Holmes]

You call them on their phone, one of these. Hello, Eisenhower. Like one of those. And you call them up and you say, a podcast is like a radio. You know, that big.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's right.

[Pete Holmes]

Thing that looks like the front of a Chrysler.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Saltwater taffy.

[Pete Holmes]

That's all you have to say. Swt.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But they. The. And I mean, just. And selfishly, I just really want. I. I got the whole idea for this because I saw that Jane Fonda documentary and.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

About, you know, life in five acts. That doc, which, for those of your listeners who haven't seen. Seen it.

[Pete Holmes]

It's so good. Edit that out.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And. And I thought, oh, I must. I. I was struck by her life and how. I didn't. I hadn't considered her. Her. The expanse of her life. And so I thought, wait a minute. What about all these other older women out there that we're not hearing from?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I personally would like to hear from them.

[Pete Holmes]

And what flavor are they giving other than saltwater taffy? What flavor are they giving that other people aren't like? What. What is. What are we plumbing in these depths? What has surprised you with the type of wisdom and advice that they're hitting.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, what has surprised me.

[Pete Holmes]

That might be an unfair question. It might be how they say it. Maybe it's not what they're saying, it's how they're saying. It might be a vibe that you get, like a comfort that you get. Tell me what you're getting without it necessarily.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I think. I think the. I think it's terribly interesting to consider when aging and not being afraid of it and maybe thinking about it as an ex. Mind expanding experience as opposed to. As opposed to like what we lose as we age. Because of course we do. Yeah, but what do we gain?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, we have none of that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

We have none of that because you.

[Pete Holmes]

You stop.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Everything is about youth all the time.

[Pete Holmes]

Because young people can make money and buy. Buy stuff. I'm not trying. I know we're smoking a jay in our dorm room now, but like, it is. It's like you' not useful if you're not consuming or producing. And that's why I think the. The child, like the pressure to have children. And when you are no menopause being like a thing. And then the later years. So now, okay, you're not working because you might be not physically able or willing or whatever it might be. So you can't. You can't buy stuff and you're not producing babies, which is. There's this unspoken bias. I don't mean to explain that to you. Women are here to help the men make more men or whatever it might be.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

Does that sound right?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I think that's an interesting take on it.

[Pete Holmes]

It's just straight from my heart.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's how I know, I hear that's how you.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm 100% JK, but like, where I'm into wisdom and in other cultures, it's just understood that the la. The first part of your life is finding a partner, having a family. Second part is your career. Third part is. Is those elder years where you're supposed to cultivate some inner silence, some stillness and some wisdom and share it with people. But we have a lot of old children now. We actually don't have a lot of elders because they weren't indoctrinated into that system. But there are some that are just being flat out ignored. And it seems to me that's what you're trying to remedy.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And I'm. And I just, frankly, I just want to, you know, I mean, we have this line that, sorry, I'm trying to put water and hold this bottle cap.

[Pete Holmes]

This is good Foley work. There's Ice in there that's good for the RNDC. We'll sell this bottle for $50,000 anyway.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I can't remember what I was saying.

[Pete Holmes]

It doesn't matter.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It doesn't really matter.

[Pete Holmes]

Tell me how you feel today because nobody cares about your podcast. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. A little touch. A little touch to say, jk, but tell me how you're feeling, jk.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Why don't you just say just kidding?

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, why don't we say automatic teller machine?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, that's true.

[Pete Holmes]

I can't believe I won you over so quickly.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, it was very quick.

[Pete Holmes]

That was really. I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm cur. Curious just how you're feeling today because, like, what is your. Your team told me that you were working. Are you in a work mode? Are you in a flow mode? What's your life like currently? Let's.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's a total work right now.

[Pete Holmes]

What. What. What is that?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I mean, it's just. Just a ton of stuff. Just the. The podcast. I have a movie coming out in May, which I'm very excited about. A lot of stuff about that.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You know, I mean, it's all very fabulous and. And wonderful.

[Pete Holmes]

And how does that flow into your day to day? How are people nagging you about these things?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, they're not. First of all, let's be clear.

[Pete Holmes]

I heard you say nagging.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Let's be. No, you said it. Let's be clear. This is all good fortune.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay. But, like, right before I walked into your house, I'm sitting in my car listening to premium content for an episode for the Fran Leibowitz episode. And then I have a photo shoot for. With People magazine for the movie that's coming out. And that's happening. I think tomorrow I have to look at my calendar. So it's one of those things. And then.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, you're in one of those times.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's one of those times. But there. These are good times.

[Pete Holmes]

I understand.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Is that. That was part of my. Because I just did your. I'm assuming your friend Jason Alexander, unless you want to give us a TMZ scoop that you can't stand. That. That pizza.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I. I would rather not comment on anything.

[Pete Holmes]

I saw jj. I'm gonna call him jj. I saw jj. No one calls him that. Nobody yesterday. Because we both did a hundred thousand dollar pyramid.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

How is my man?

[Pete Holmes]

He's a delight. He's. He's a grandfather. I know. Isn't that crazy?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Isn't that wild?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

And he's just, he just looks like a little boy. You just gave a piece of cake. That's how he always looks and that's how he makes me feel, like I just gave him cake. But speaking of cake, he looks fit and fabulous and he was a delight and he was promoting his podcast. So here's Conan, here's you, here's Jason Alexander doing podcasts. Are you happiest? Let's not get stuck in an interview. We're just chat, we're just two ladies chatting. But are you happiest when you're working? Like, is that your best place? Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And you don't really like it. What's it like when it slows down?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, it's funny you should say that because Yesterday at around 3:30, everything, all the stuff stopped and I didn't have anything pressing and I had been on like, okay, what's next? What's next? Okay, click on that. I gotta zoom with them. I gotta. And then like 3:30 or 4, it was over.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Power out.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And it is a little. I don't quite know what to do with myself.

[Pete Holmes]

I know that feeling. Sometimes I walk around the house, I tell Val, my wife, I go, I just sing out loud. I go, she is my life. Like if I'm. I don't know if that's codependence, but if it is, it's sweet. Sometimes I just shuffle around.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Can I have to tell you something? I'm not sure your wife likes that. And I don't know her particularly well.

[Pete Holmes]

But she, she loves it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

She loves it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, she. Okay, that's cuz she feels the same way.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

We watch. I watched this documentary on YouTube about this guy who lives in like some ice forest. It was horrible. I hated it. It was like a 20 minute YouTube documentary. This guy decided to live in the forest.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And I mean when you say forest, it's not like the Shire. It's like he lives in the worst place.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Why?

[Pete Holmes]

I don't know. They didn't really cover that. It's like kind of like Thoreau, I guess. Like he's like, I'm out, I'm going to just eat rabbits and milk.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right. But Thoreau was in a really nice forest.

[Pete Holmes]

I know a beautiful forest.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right. And so then what happened?

[Pete Holmes]

Well, this documentary grows and hangs out with this guy. And the funniest part, I mean, quite a few parts were funny.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

It was just treachery. The whole day is he goes out, he's also like 89. And he goes out into the woods and cuts down a tree and, like, has to dry it. And then he just uses that for the days. He. This is a nightma nightmare. And he'll maybe catch one rabbit, drink some snow he melted. And then it. The whole nightmare picks up the next day. So he had a little free time. And what he did. Yeah, what he did, Julia, in his free time was he had all these cans, like, old cans, and he just started playing them with his forks. Like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Like, just pure madness. And I said, that's sometimes how I feel if, like, Val is gone for a couple days and I'm just kind of like 8 o' clock rolls around, like, don't know what to do.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I'll tell you one thing. I did tell me I went to bed really early.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes. What's that?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I. What's early? For me, I'm. I was in bed last night by like 8 o'.

[Pete Holmes]

Clock. That's beautiful.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It is beautiful. I love my bed so much. It's so cozy.

[Pete Holmes]

I have zero judgment here.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And I just turn on the television and I watch Jeopardy.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You cannot beat that life. You cannot beat that life now.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes, this is right. You're correct.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Just back to your throw guy in the Ice Force.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

There's a show which you've probably heard of, called Alone. Have you heard of this show?

[Pete Holmes]

No. Katie's nodding.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Have you seen it, Katie? Okay. Don't you think you should watch it alone? Alone? Yeah, it is a reality. Serious.

[Pete Holmes]

Not naked and Alone.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, it's not.

[Pete Holmes]

So this is close.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, it's much more high, bro. And. But it's people going out into the wilderness and they just. It's. I don't know how many people is it, Katie? Do you think it's like 10 people to start. And the whole idea is you have to. You. You're given very few tools, like, practically nothing, and you're on your own, and it's whoever is able. And it's just like what you were describing. It's like they really have to find their food. Sh. Food, you know, blah, blah, blah. It is. We got so hooked on it during real lockdown during the pandemic.

[Pete Holmes]

Peel off.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, I'm telling you, we watched like three episodes a day. We couldn't get enough of it.

[Pete Holmes]

Wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And this guy is basically on that show for no prize or no glory. He's just.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, because the winner gets, I think, a million dollars.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Or maybe 500,000 notes. I can't really remember.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll tell you one other thing about this documentary. The whole time it's like you can see them seeding a story that his windows suck. His windows let in all the cold. And you can tell this. This crew comes by with all the stuff and, and they're like. And we decided to give, I don't know his name a gift. And I'm like, of course they're going to fix his fucking windows. And they gave him like a mug or something.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

A mug? A mug with the name of the documentary company on it. That's perfect.

[Pete Holmes]

It's like True Line Productions. Like here now you have a new bass drum. You have a new thing for your little kit.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Let's. Let's shift gears from a documentary nobody cares about.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Why? I think this is interesting.

[Pete Holmes]

I actually do too. I'm going to take back that self deprecation. I've been enjoying remembering it and watching you learn about it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you.

[Pete Holmes]

And feeling William. But not Charlotte. Charlotte's not interested.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

She's not interested.

[Pete Holmes]

What is it? This is stupid, but will you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, it is. I can tell already.

[Pete Holmes]

I know. But I do. I really want to know, as a human, how does it feel to be you? Meaning my dad sees you at the airport. It's a whole thing. How's that going?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What are you asking me?

[Pete Holmes]

I'm asking people. Coming up and saying Elaine, or wanting you to do the dance or like, what's your life like when you're an icon? Not just an icon. That I know. My parents know. People have. I don't have to tell you. My brother used to leave dinner parties at 7 o' clock to watch Seinfeld. Like if he was at someone else's dinner party, he'd be like, I have to go. And it'd go turn on their tv. So there's this like compulsive cultural obsession with this thing. I asked Jason the same thing. It's. It's like, what does that feel like? Are you just blocking it out, trying to normalize your life? Or is it just kind of like something you've become accustomed to? What do you do when my dad comes up?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I try to be as polite as possible to your dad.

[Pete Holmes]

Sure.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And I. The answer is it's I. I'm used to it. And I try to live as normal life as possible. I mean, I. The answer is I do all of those things. I'm also a very private person, so. But I, I, you know, it's I'm not. It's fantastic. It's great. It's like, who would have thought? Who would have thought? And I mean, it's an incredibly. It's just nothing good that it would.

[Pete Holmes]

Have happened and that it would be so warm. Nobody's coming up and saying bad things.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, for the most part, I think. I mean, I'm sure somebody has at some point, but I can't.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm reaching.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, anyway, whatever. No, no, no, no, no, no.

[Pete Holmes]

We just watched you delete a memory. Well, no, it's all been positive. Well, I'm going to say something. Everyone who listens to this podcast knows I'm going to say this, but David Letterman said on Charlie Rose, he was like, I like being famous because it turns the world into a small town. And I can relate. I was just in Houston, Texas, and. And people just say, like, I love your comedy. That's nice. But what I'm trying to get at is Seinfeld. I know you've done many, many wonderful things, but specifically, Seinfeld is like this. It's like a dream the whole country had. And there's the lady from my dream. And we feel like we own you. I'm not saying that, but you're in. I heard Seinfeld say, Jerry say when you're on someone's tv, you're in their living room.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Sure.

[Pete Holmes]

So there's that. I'm sure it wasn't the first to say it, but you see Bono at the grocery store, you leave Bono alone. You see Jerry, you go up to him because that's your friend from tv.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's right.

[Pete Holmes]

Do you experience that?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I do. I definitely experience that. And, and, and sometimes it can be a little bit alarming.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You know, when people really want to, you know, I'm very short and I know people. You notice that.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Well, I'm very tall.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. How tall are you?

[Pete Holmes]

Too tall. No, really, I'm six foot six.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You are? My son is six five. So I'm used to these tall people, but I am not tall myself. And so people, I think because I'm. Because I'm in the television, and then it turns out I'm small, people often want to hug me and pick you up and pick me up and put me in their pockets.

[Pete Holmes]

Put you back in their televisions. Really? It's like when that little kid said to Mr. Rogers, how did you get out of my TV?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I know.

[Pete Holmes]

Isn't that the cutest?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Excuse me. How much do you love Mr. Rogers?

[Pete Holmes]

10 out of 10.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I believe 10 out of 10.

[Pete Holmes]

You know who else is there? Nobody. The best you can do is a nine. Nobody's unseating Fred.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, my God. He is just such a dream. Every time I watch any clip of him now, I just start crying.

[Pete Holmes]

I know, because I feel like it's slipping away. Like what he was grasping at that kindness and that simplicity.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Who is shepherding that and that quiet and for young children.

[Pete Holmes]

I know. Remember when he was like, let's see what a minute feels like. And he had an egg timer set to a minute and he just sat there and that was on tv. I mean, I tried to get my daughter to watch it, but she lit a mattress on fire and flipped it around. She's like, this, this will not suck.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Hey, did you ever do that? You know that thing that's all over the Internet that you could see people doing it all the time where they say that the behavioral trick with your kid or kids and where you say, okay, here's this piece of chocolate and I'm going to walk out of the room and don't touch it. And then when I come back, I.

[Pete Holmes]

Don'T know why I haven't done it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You need. How old are your kids?

[Pete Holmes]

She's four.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You could do it.

[Pete Holmes]

We could do it now. It's a great time. I have a strong feeling Leela is a strong willed child. She's going to eat that chocolate.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, so that would be so interesting to know.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't mean put it up on the Internet for us. Just for you.

[Pete Holmes]

Just for us.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And if I were you, I would tape it though, just so you have it for your family archives.

[Pete Holmes]

And you go, if you, if you don't eat it, I'll give you two.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You could do that as well.

[Pete Holmes]

But if you do eat it, you only get that one. I think Leela's just like. She's a real. Pull the rip cord.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Like, pull it now.

[Pete Holmes]

Smoke them if you got them. She's got that vibe. She's got like an old. I can't even call it. I've never met anyone like her. I know. I don't know many four year olds, but I just. Her essence is like, are you. She feels like an interdimensional being who's the first time trying to be like a person. But she's very wise, right? But she's like, for the first time, I'm gonna see what this bullsh. And she showed up and she's kind of like, she gets frustrated. Like, what is this? Like a lot of the time And I'm like, I know, like, how much of life parenting is telling your kids. Like, I know this is crazy. Like, what we put up with, the uncertainty of it, the irregularity of it, the unfairness of it. But just like going back to the dream thing, it's like we're all having this crazy dream, and you and I as grown people have gotten used to it. You're like, well, there's gravity and there's hunger, there's sleep, and sometimes there's completely uncalled for anxiety, just for no reason.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

We've gotten used to it because we've done it for so long. But they just showed up here going like, I don't understand. And we're like, I know it's crazy. And you just kind of have to.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I know. And it's fun to be able. First of all, how much pot did you smoke before this conversation?

[Pete Holmes]

None.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

None. Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

This is a natural. Sorry, I have to do that to camera. This is. Is a natural. Thank you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, I. But what's so great about having kids is when they see things for the first time and then you get to see it the same way.

[Pete Holmes]

That's right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's so thrilling.

[Pete Holmes]

They're as excited as we should be.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

But there. I think there's a neurological reason for that, is our brains have adapted. Not just our psyches or our personalities have adapted and been like, well, life is sometimes unfair or sometimes you're anxious for no reason, but it's also visually editing out things that aren't important. Isn't that why. And her brain isn't doing that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

So speaking of drugs, that's one of the things that drugs can do. Certain drugs, psychedelics, for example, will stop that process. And you will see a flower in all of its beauty or whatever. And that's really not helpful. You know what I mean? Like, it's fun, but it's not helpful. That's why your brain goes, don't show them the flower. But when you. And marijuana is a mild psychedelic as well. So when you're stoned, you can see a flower in a different way.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I remember a long time ago, I took one of my sons to the car wash, and he'd never been there before. I mean, he was young and so. And so the car was going through and we were watching at the window.

[Pete Holmes]

One of the drive through ones. So fun.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And he started to cry.

[Pete Holmes]

Wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What are they doing to our car?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. What is this? Felt octopus.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

He's not wrong.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He's. He was terrified. And I Was like, oh, my God, this is. But this is a. That's an example of what I'm. Yeah, right. Me.

[Pete Holmes]

Perfectly.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

You and I. What about the dentist? He's gonna chisel your teeth. Or the doctor, he's gonna poke you. Don't worry. It's just to inject you with something that's gonna change your cell or whatever, cure a disease, whatever it might do. That's insane. Bags of fluid. The number of things that we're overlooking. It takes a whole day to forget them.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Or an hour.

[Pete Holmes]

Did that just take to a heavy place? Yes, there were bags. Was it bags of fluid?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, that was it.

[Pete Holmes]

Well, the first time your kid cuts themselves and. And blood starts coming out and you're just. Are you queasy? Are you queasing her?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, no, no, no, I'm not. Are you?

[Pete Holmes]

No, no. Do you want to blood sport?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. Just kidding. I thought maybe we'd fight to the death. That's weird that you said no, but the first time she starts putting together what she is. Or that she's a skeleton.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah. Weird, weird.

[Pete Holmes]

Or that there's another set of teeth behind her teeth waiting to come out. My daughter's two sets of teeth.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Or when they get older, you'll see. And they. What do you mean she has two sets of. Oh, because the big. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Let's not even talk about it. It's too weird.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

This is exactly my point.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

When the. They get older and they start to read for pleasure. RFP and. Yeah. Atm. Jk and so. And you know what? That was a cb.

[Pete Holmes]

Senior moment.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, cb.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I know, but I thought even the senior moment extended into the acronym.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, that meant callback.

[Pete Holmes]

Call back.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you. So. But anyway, what I was going to say was. He was reading. Oh, God. Yeah. But what was what's. Of Mice and Men. Soft things and. Yeah. And that happens at the end. I won't. I won't spoil or alert it for. You know. But it has very sad. Sad. I feel turn of events. And he came in. I know, I'm kidding. But he came into. He was reading was probably maybe fourth grade. And he came in and just bawling. And I just remember. Yeah. Anyway, I'm just musing on the same thing over and over again.

[Pete Holmes]

We're in a jazz band and you have a trumpet and you're playing beautifully.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That is exactly correct.

[Pete Holmes]

You're hearing the theme that I established.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. And I'm improvising.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll hit the ball back with this. I used to Go on walks with my mom. Mom walks. I was just. Dad's out. Where's dad? He's working. He's at a ball game with my brother. I'm strolling with the ladies.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And if we saw a squirrel get hit by a car, immediately I'd just start bawling. Just bawling. And my mom knew you'd see it, and you're like, this doesn't look good for the squirrel. I'd pre go into her to be like. Because it's fucking nuts.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, how many squirrels are getting killed in your neighborhood?

[Pete Holmes]

It was a problem.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

There was a guy who seemed to be aiming for.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Or maybe stupid squirrels. I mean, maybe they're really dumb in your neck of the woods.

[Pete Holmes]

I feel like if it's not in regards to storing acorns, they're dumb as. They're dumb as shit. They're dumb as beans. What's your biggest problem with your husband? What do you get on him the most about?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What in the living hell did that come from?

[Pete Holmes]

Look, I listened to Conan's podcast. Not to shoot down the big dog, but what a snooze. Let's keep it moving. This guy's going on and on about how great Veep is. Who gives a fuck?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm trying to think. What is it about my husband? Well, first of all, he's. He's incredibly. I'm saying the nice things. He's incredibly intelligent. He is. He can fix any. Okay, I'm going to say this, but we have to touch wood, because I don't want to jinx it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's so good at fixing all computer technological things. Like. It's unbelievable.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He's a great sense of humor. He's very generous. He's very kind.

[Pete Holmes]

I met him at the thing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You met him at the thing.

[Pete Holmes]

Tall, too. There's where your son gets.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Where the tallness came. Although my mom's side of the family. Also very tall. I just got the shrimp gene, but whatever.

[Pete Holmes]

Sounds delicious.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He's. Yeah. And he's maybe a little bit forgetful.

[Pete Holmes]

He's a forgetter.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

A little bit. He has. He has something that actually, my son has, too. A sort of. It's called. I think it's called object impermanence.

[Pete Holmes]

Like peekaboo. He'd be fooled by peekaboo. I mean, that's what object impermanence is.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It is, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

If I disappear behind this, I no longer exist. That's what. Object impermanence.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, I see. Well, okay. Well, maybe that's one version of It. But in his case and also in my son's case, it's very hard for them to keep hold of things, if that makes sense. He comes in, he'll put his. The keys down, and then that's just like a literal.

[Pete Holmes]

In the material, in the three dimensions. Their objects are impermanent. Yeah. Yeah, I understand.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

So it's not really that big of a complaint. What. What complaint do you have about your wife?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I would never. What if I just don't answer?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I would never have a complaint.

[Pete Holmes]

What, sell them out for a podcast.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Like I just did.

[Pete Holmes]

Jk. Of course. Val. It's hard to know what Val really thinks, and I would say that she's going to listen to this. It's. And I love that about her. If Val doesn't like something, I sometimes have to, like, interpret. Like, I'll say, do you want to go to this thing? And she'll be like, yeah. And I'm like, that's a no. That's a hard no.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh. I say, well, that's the. Excuse me. Those are relationship dynamics.

[Pete Holmes]

Rds. What do you mean? Like, how does that FS friendship?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

For sure.

[Pete Holmes]

Tell me more for sure. You. You mean that's normal for a relationship?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I think to a certain extent.

[Pete Holmes]

Here's another example. Yesterday, we're dropping Leela off at school. I know. Val has to pee. We were coming back from LA to get Leela at school. She's talking about how she has to pee. I have to pee. I'm going to explode. I have to pee. We pull into the parking lot. We get out. There's one of the kids, moms. I blow right past him. I'm going to go get my daughter. Hi. Nice to see you. Val starts talking to them. I almost was like, I know, like her lawyer or her Secret Service. I should go. She has to pee. She has to pee right now. I go and get Leela. I sign her out. I come back, she's still talking. I yell, val, go pee. That's. That's one of the things that I'm like. It's not, like, a big problem for me, but I'm like, she would admit she needs to get better at going, like, pee. I need to pee. You know what I mean?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And was she happy that you said that?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I think so. I think we help each other out. We have a good. I called our relationship yesterday the perfect Arnold Palmer.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, nice.

[Pete Holmes]

I think we got a really good blend.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, I like that.

[Pete Holmes]

You seem to have a good blend with your partner.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I do.

[Pete Holmes]

How does he deal with the. Because Val, I don't want to say she coddles me, but she knows that this business has ups, downs, has the three 30s, where everything shuts off.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Does he do well with. Is he a steady Eddie, or is.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He also, like, total steady Eddie? Always has been. Always has been. Just because he's an intellectual gu. Guy has a lot of interests. He's. He's just. I mean, I. I like to be with him, you know, I like to be with him. It's nice.

[Pete Holmes]

Key to a successful relationship.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I just like being with them.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And you probably. I'm putting words in your mouth, but tell me if you agree.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

You feel more yourself with him there. Like, there's not a. You're not putting on a show. You can go now. Just Julia.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And you know what else, too? Like, I've had. Occasionally I've been away and I've been on location shooting something, and he hasn't been able to be with me. And after a period of time, it's a. It's. It's hard to. For me, anyway. I mean, we've been married a long time. We've been together a long time. To be by myself past a certain amount of time.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. It's like I'm. Yeah, exactly. And I might get some of those cans because I have to go to. Away in a couple. Couple months and I have to be gone for a while, and I think I'm going to get some cans and sticks.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Look, feel free to dodge. I think it's a beautiful question. It's sort of a classic question, but I know I got into show business because I don't. I like the way I feel when I'm being engaged with, like, I like being heard and I like hearing people. And I grew up in a house where I was sort of like, does anyone hear anyone? Like, there was like, that's the classic part. Are you in touch with what. And it doesn't have to be bad, but, like, what drove you? Because it is. There's sort of a compulsive quality to wanting to perform, to wanting to make other people laugh. And I know that's a classic, you know, shrink thing, but I'm interested in if you're in touch with that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I like. I think that it is the pretend of it all. The pretend. Pretending to be a character and really getting just like, down and dirty with it and really rolling around in a role is good for my psyche and maybe because it's. I think it was sort of a savior to me as a child. And it was almost in a weird way, centering. And so, and that's. And, and I just feel very comfortable being challenged by the experience of pretending to take on a character.

[Pete Holmes]

Is it like a bubble experience? Yeah, yeah. So you. The outside world falls off. Falls off, yeah. And of course that's very comforting. Again, feel free to dodge. But what was it? What does it feel like when you're not in that bubble? I'm a highly sensitive person. I get freaked out. I like doing standup comedy. But if you think about it, stand up is an incredibly controlled circumstance. Just like being on set, the lights are in certain places, your. Your mark is in a certain place, your clothes, it's a control freak's dream. Whereas I think other people look at and they go like, how can you go out and perform? And, and aren't you nervous?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, but what you. But stand up. But stand up is really different, don't you think? I mean, I think I mean. And I don't mean different in a bad or a good way. I just mean it's a different beast. I think it is.

[Pete Holmes]

But what I'm the. There's a bubble quality to it. Some people might go, oh, the tension that there's these people looking at you. And I'm. I'm more thinking about the bubble that's created where I'm like, everything goes away. Like you're saying you, you roll around with it. I'm playing the role of a stand up comedian, but I'm completely lost for that hour. And you come back and you might as well have been. There was efforting for sure, but it feels like you took a week long nap or something.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right, Right.

[Pete Holmes]

And so I'm wondering, are you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I think those are the dopamines or.

[Pete Holmes]

Whatever it is for sure. Absolutely. There's a lot of reward chemicals happening. I always say this, but the guy, the free solo guy that climbed the mountain, I'm like, these guys are trying to shut off their minds. You know what I mean? It's not just I love being low and then I love getting high. Very slowly they want to shut off their brains. So is the world an overwhelming place to.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You can be sure?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

How. How could it not be, really?

[Pete Holmes]

I don't know. I see a lot of people at dinner parties just having a fun time. You put me in a dinner party, I'm not enjoying it. I don't like.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You're not a dinner. You're not a dinner party person. What happens?

[Pete Holmes]

I just, I'm quietly envious that people are just kind of like, okay with how loud it is. That's one. How is everyone okay with how loud it is? Why am I yelling? North Dakota. North Dakota. Like, how was your show? How am I gonna fucking tell you? Appetizers are getting dropped. I don't like it. I like this. The thing that I like about Pete is Pete looks out for Pete. And Pete figured out that Pete likes one on one conversation, so Pete made a podcast. That's beautiful.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I.

[Pete Holmes]

This is work and press or whatever, but I like this kind of conversation. We can really hear each other and I can lock on to you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay, but wait a minute. So do you ever have, like, a couple come to your house and have dinner? Do you ever do that?

[Pete Holmes]

I'll do that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's more calm.

[Pete Holmes]

Do it. In fact, I'll do a dinner party at my house. I just don't want to do it in, like, a loud restaurant with. But you're not. That way you can enjoy a party. Hey, we're going to the WME Emmy party. Are you going to have fun?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Absolutely. And I'm not going. Absolutely not. And I'm not going.

[Pete Holmes]

Tell me why.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't. It's too. It's. It's. It's too businessy. It's too phony. Yeah, of course. I mean, I understand people have to go to those things and, you know, rub elbows and all the rest of it, but I would prefer to skip it.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. We're going to a party of my friend. We're good friends.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

In this scenario. And I'm going to a party, but you're not gonna know anybody. Just kind of like a regular party. Are you gonna enjoy that?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know. What does regular party mean anymore?

[Pete Holmes]

Like, picture a party in a movie. You know, there's a punch bowl.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I'm not going to that party.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I'm not.

[Pete Holmes]

And tell me why. What are the feelings that make that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's just I'm kind of. I'm already sort of feeling tired.

[Pete Holmes]

And what is the tired. Protecting.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's a lot of work to go to a party like that, I think, you know, and it's exhausting and it's a little tiring. Yeah, it's a little tired. I. I prefer. Again, I mean, it's not like I don't go to those kind of parties, but I prefer a gathering of a smaller gathering of people that you know, so that you can actually have a proper conversation. Although I will say this, I do like to Play games.

[Pete Holmes]

Games are great.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Games are great.

[Pete Holmes]

Because isn't shooting a movie a game?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Totally. It's the same thing.

[Pete Holmes]

It's a structure.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

That's why I love being on set, too. It's like, like we're all pointed in the same direction.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. We're all on this team.

[Pete Holmes]

We're all on this team. Yeah, that's right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Totally.

[Pete Holmes]

And if we like each other, it bleeds through.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's right.

[Pete Holmes]

Speaking of, did you and James Gainolfini love each other? Cause when I watched that movie.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm like, there's. Because I heard a rumor that if actors hate each other, I heard Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray didn't like each other, but that reads as love in Lost in Translation.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Really?

[Pete Holmes]

And you guys, we just watched it for pleasure. I was like, julia's doing it this week. We just threw it on because we love it. Please tell me that it was as much of a joy as it seemed to be.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It really was. And that's really what he was like.

[Pete Holmes]

I believe it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He was very much a dear, kind of tender guy with a lot of insecurity.

[Pete Holmes]

Interesting.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Quiet, like, kind of soft spoken.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And a little bit he could be a little combative, like with material.

[Pete Holmes]

You mean creatively combative?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I don't mean he was misbehaved, but I do mean he was resistant.

[Pete Holmes]

That's the word term that he was misbehaved.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no. But he was resistant to sometimes to direction that Nicole Hollifsson wrote and directed that movie. And sometimes he would be resistant to trying her suggestion directorially or a particular line change or whatever.

[Pete Holmes]

And that sensitivity, too. Right?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's, that's, Yeah, I think, I think so. And it came from a. I think it did come from a place of insecurity. And I would just badger him into it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But I really was fond of him.

[Pete Holmes]

I, I, that movie is a treasure, especially since we've lost him watching it. It's like this time capsule of. And I, I'm just glad I have the chills that you confirmed. I'm like, I feel like this is.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And as a matter of fact, when I, I was at the Emmys and this is after he had passed, and Edie Falco came up to me and she was like, I'm so glad you made that movie, because that's really who he was. And I said, I know, I know. It was nice. It was nice for her to say that.

[Pete Holmes]

That's the perfect. That's like a bronzeable compliment.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, it really was.

[Pete Holmes]

It is. It's a gift.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

It's so great. And that chemistry, which is kind of hard to do in general when you're trying to make chemistry with somebody. Is that efforting, or do you just hope it works on the day? Do you, like, hang out beforehand?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

We did a little hangout. We did rehearsing and stuff like that. But you know how you can sort of. You get a sense of somebody pretty quickly as to whether or not. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I. I knew it would work with him.

[Pete Holmes]

That's so fun.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. He's a really nice guy.

[Pete Holmes]

Glad I thought to ask that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I. Okay. This is another very specific question.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

All right.

[Pete Holmes]

I was doing a guest spot on a multicam recently, and I was like, I'm gonna do a voice. I'm just. I feel like this guy's. I know. I'm gonna try a voice. I'm just gonna give it a little. Because I talk very fast. I'm high processing. Right. So I talk fast. And that's an indication of a character. It's a character trait that somebody talks fast.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, totally.

[Pete Holmes]

This guy's dumb. He doesn't talk fast. So I was like, how do. How do I sound when I talk slow, and I kind of am playing with it, it starts getting a little Keanu. Just a little Keanu is creeping in.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Can I hear it?

[Pete Holmes]

It's probably like. Hi, What's. Hey. Hey, Julia. Subtle.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yep.

[Pete Holmes]

But still. Still a swing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay. I'm not sure it's subtle. I'm not sure it's subtle.

[Pete Holmes]

I Krasinski to the camera and feelings hurt. No, no, no, no, no.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Wait a minute. I have based a career on not subtle. So don't take it as. I'm not knocking you in any way.

[Pete Holmes]

Julia, I've never felt closer to you than when you said, I don't know if it was subtle. Kind of like when I said, no one cares about your podcast and you. The best moment for both of us, and we loved it. What I'm saying is you live in that tension. And, oh, to finish the story, Betsy, the director. I do take one. Take two, even. And I'm doing it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And she comes over and she just goes.

[Pete Holmes]

She's a pal of mine. And she just goes like, it's getting a little Bill and Ted's. That's what she said. And I just dropped it. I wonder how many. Your job is to take risks.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And it's fucking embarrassing. And it's difficult. And does that bring anything to mind? A time when you made a move that you weren't sure about, like, is it going to play? Did someone ever have to correct you? Course correct you to protect you from doing something that was dumb.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, I'm certain of it. I have. I'm trying to remember. I wish I could give you an actual story here, but all I was ever doing was trying weird, bizarre things with the hope, of course, that they would land. But, you know, a course correction.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll take you off the hook for an anecdote. It's more like you relate to the feeling of, like, do you get a little nervous? You're like, I'm gonna do this thing, and the writers are here. What if it's the wrong play?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, my God, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Cause you seem so forged in steel. I'll give you a specific.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, I'm not.

[Pete Holmes]

Not. I love it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm definitely not. I'm definitely not.

[Pete Holmes]

I don't think people know that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I mean, I have a lot of experience now under my belt, so there's certain things I do sort of have a sense of. But when you're trying, you know, new out there.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. It can be a little Bill intense.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Ooh.

[Pete Holmes]

I just put us in the same category.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But it can't be.

[Pete Holmes]

We're the same.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, it can't be.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, no, I can. What. What I think is funny is if you go back 21 years old, SNL, youngest female or just youngest all time?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm not sure. I think I heard youngest. Oh, no, not youngest of all time, because I think Eddie Murphy was in utero. No, I can't remember the guy's name. But anyway, the guy who was dating all those girls.

[Pete Holmes]

Pete Davidson.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I think he's the youngest.

[Pete Holmes]

The guy who is dating all those girls. I love that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Can you cut that out?

[Pete Holmes]

You cannot. I forbid. What's wrong with the guy that was dating all those girls. That is the best. Neil Brennan. Somebody asked Neil Brennan. They were like, are comedians in trouble? And they're like, colin Jost is dating Scarlett Johansson. Pete Davidson's dating Kim Kardashian. I think they're doing fine. Like, can we stop acting like they're an endangered species? But, yes, we'll take it out if.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You want, and whatever. Anyway, I don't know.

[Pete Holmes]

Here's my question. Yes, you're 21 years old. I watched you on SNL just to, you know, remember. And what I really. What's up?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I just already. That you're just watching it. I just am dying on the inside. But really, carry. No, no, carry On Here it comes.

[Pete Holmes]

You're gonna love it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, you're.

[Pete Holmes]

I think you're gonna like the area.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, let's go. Go.

[Pete Holmes]

I was struck that your voice, literally, your voice, the way that you talk on Veep now as I'm talking to you, which is a very funny way of talking. You know what I mean by that? I don't mean it's like a joke. I mean, like, there's a musicality to it. It's engaging, it's interesting, and it's unique. Just like your heroes, Lucille Ball, just to make it less exotic. I am also speaking in my comedic affectation, which is based on research. This is how you get people to listen to you. You have to modulate. You have to change. But you have a very. I know I sound like Tony Robbins, but you. 21. I'm. I'm like, surely she had a lot to learn. But there you were. I. I saw the Julia that's here today, Even at that age.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Really?

[Pete Holmes]

I did. I. Meaning anyone listening to it would go, that's. That's Julia Louis Dreyfus, Even if they didn't know you were on SNL. And there you are, 21. Tell me a little bit bit about where are you putting that together and where are you trying it out? I know you have your heroes, but where were you building that voice before you got snl?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I was never. I don't even. I never thought about a voice.

[Pete Holmes]

I just mean your artistic voice. Not lit. I know. He's talking about literally your voice.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh. I mean, are you kidding me? I was doing it from the. From the earliest age possible.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, for your friends and family.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Totally. We did shows in the basement. We charged my parents to come down to watch. And they were excellent productions, by the way. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

What are these shows?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I had a theater troupe. We called ourselves the University Players. This was with my neighbors.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Oh, you cast a wide net for the talent.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Totally. It was a massive casting call. And we had. And also I had a modern dance troupe called Julia and the Umbrella People. And we.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, why umbrella People?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know. I thought it sounded pretty groovy.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And you know, it does.

[Pete Holmes]

You're very close to, like, what they would call something off Broadway. You know what I mean? Like, you nailed it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Thank you. And so the. But the. Our. Our big claim to fame was a production of Sorry, Wrong Number, which was a. Yeah, right. Which was sort of a thriller.

[Pete Holmes]

Did you get From My Face that you said, yeah, right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Only delight.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay, well, Anyway, Sorry, Wrong Number. No, no, it was. Sorry. Wrong Number was a play. And actually. And also a film that was from the mid. Early 1950s, I believe. And our team over here is going to be Googling that for us as we. As I'm talking to you. And they'll get back to us shortly with the correct information. And I played Mrs. Stevenson, who was the lead, who is trying. Someone's breaking into her apartment. She's an invalid, and she is trying to get help. And so that was the play that we did.

[Pete Holmes]

That's heavy material for.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No kidding. It's super heavy. But I had five and six year olds in it. I swear to you, I did. I did. And they were fucking their lines up and it really pissed me off.

[Pete Holmes]

You were into it?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah. Can I. I mean, for real. I remember this one kid, he didn't say the line right. And I was like, God damn it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And he was 5.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, my God. And that boy grew up.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

He's actually quite fine.

[Pete Holmes]

I relate so hard. Do we have the year? No. Oh, I'm sorry.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

The movie was 1948. 48. So it's the 40s.

[Pete Holmes]

Let my employee look it up for you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's okay.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. Whatever meme you're sharing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No. They're going to Barbara Strom face cream, which is what I need. At least they better be.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes. That's just a reminder that she wants the light. Is it the light classic, which is another word for light, I believe.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. Felt like that could have been delivered with less attitude. Can we do another take on that?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's the only one I got.

[Pete Holmes]

I relate so hard. I made little VHS camcorder movies and took them very seriously. We made a movie called the Kerminator, which was Kermit the Frog in a Terminator 2 jacket. Because Terminator 2 was out.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Perfect.

[Pete Holmes]

And my friend Earn, I still make fun of him for it. His name's Aaron. We call him Earn. One of the lines was, let's just say I watch a lot of MacGyver. And I didn't know the term, but I wanted him to throw it away. Motherfucker does it to the camera, ruins the joke. He goes, let's just say I watch a lot of MacGyver. I'm like that. But we didn't do takes. It was it. We had it. You couldn't go back. Like, I guess you could.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You could have, but you didn't think to do it. Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

And I was livid. I was like, you just ruined it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I was like, that would have played if you hadn't done it the absolute worst way possible.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Let me tell you something. All this play business, it's serious. It's a serious business.

[Pete Holmes]

It's a serious business.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It is.

[Pete Holmes]

And it mattered.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It mattered.

[Pete Holmes]

Like laughs mattered and acting mattered. Drama mattered.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm surprised that it wasn't a comedy, though. When did it, when did your, when did you hone in that? You were like. I think it's more the hahas.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I gotta tell you something. It. It was just sort of the jobs I got because I did dramatic stuff. Like when I was in college, I did Threepenny Opera and, and Joe Egg. I remember I did that play. These are all the dramas and. But then when I got hired professionally, seemed to always be in comedy, so it wasn't like I was gunning for comedy stuff, you know.

[Pete Holmes]

Interesting. We won't dwell on Seinfeld because I don't want to dwell on the obvious, but here's. That's. Other than snl, that's your most regular long running comedy thing. Were you like trying to pick up tricks and techniques or was it just kind of like this is, this is a character. This is a scene, you know, where you're trying to be bright and tight, like certain words.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know what you mean. I don't understand the question. I'm not kidding.

[Pete Holmes]

Were you looking at it like just another job or were you like, let me really learn about comedy now. Let me study the techniques and the moves and the tricks really of the great. So that I can like hack my way into a better comedic performance.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, I think I was studying without realizing I was studying. I mean, because I grew up watching, you know, Lucy and, and fucking all in the Family. And that was an, you know, and, and Mary and, and films. I mean, I was. All I was about was watching these things. So that when I think in addition to just the experience of being an actor, by the time I got to set, it was like that was just sort of baked in all that stuff, you know. Doesn't mean I knew it all, but.

[Pete Holmes]

But it was in there. There.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh yeah. And it was really about. Not so much. Oh, and I'd also done a lot of improvisational work when I was in Chicago. That was, that's a huge skill set to bring to any work, scripted work. I did Second City, I did Practical Theater Company in Chicago. And so that, that's just like a major, major skill set to bring to work to any work as a character, drama or comedy, by the way. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

You were in a main stage review at Second City.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I wasn't. I was in the touring company.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, the Torco?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Were you?

[Pete Holmes]

No, I. I was summarily rejected.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's all right.

[Pete Holmes]

It's okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It wasn't that much fun for me, actually. I didn't love it. I loved working with another theater company called Practical Theater Company, which was my husband's theater company back then. And we had. We did shows that were. Which were a ton of fun and successful, too.

[Pete Holmes]

A better fit. Yeah. I didn't know what I was getting into. Like, had I booked it. I was new. This is weird. I was. I got married when I was 22 and our honeymoon was driving to Chicago. That's how obsessed I was with comedy.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Got it.

[Pete Holmes]

I was like, I'm gonna audition for Second City.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I didn't get it, but had I gotten it. It's. I'm not saying you need to be single, but it helps if you're gonna, like, tour around and, like, leave or what. If I had gotten the improv Olympic that they do in Amsterdam. You know what I mean? It's just like, I guess we're gonna live in Amsterdam for three months. The weird 22 year old with a wife, like, it just didn't. I didn't understand how much being a free agent, being a young person that could kind of move anywhere would have been an asset.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

I was trying to be a little husband.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Got it.

[Pete Holmes]

Which was super weird. Yeah, you got in. Did. Is that what you didn't love about it was all the travel, I'm assuming?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, it wasn't. It wasn't well run. And we were doing other people's material and everybody was insanely high, and there were a lot of drugs and it was a lot of people with. There was a lot of bitterness and in fighting and competition, it was not my cup of tea. I much preferred where I'd come from and then where I ultimately went to. I mean, and that's what. By the time I started working on Seinfeld, the beauty of it was that it was a proper ensemble and everybody was very much just trying to work together to elevate what was phenomenal material but enhance it even further. And it was teamwork, and that was just sublime.

[Pete Holmes]

Of course, I shot something last year on Stage nine at Radford.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, you did?

[Pete Holmes]

And the dp, Wayne was your dp.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, really? Wayne was there?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Wow. I would ask him a lot of Seinfeld questions. I won't ask you, but one Thing that stood out was that you guys didn't improvise, which I didn't do Alts even. I mean, like, I thought.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

It was like kind of 1, 2, 3. That's what he said.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I mean, we would play around during rehearsal and things would happen that would. If they worked, they would get folded into the script. But it wasn't improvising like we did on Veep, which was a lot. But again, we had a script on Veep, but a lot of improvising that was sort of folded back into the. The stew of the material.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But on that show, you know. But I mean, these evenings would go late, the shooting. I can't fucking remember what we were. Why it would go so late. I guess because sometimes, maybe sometimes scenes weren't quite working and then there would be rewriting there on the fly.

[Pete Holmes]

The sea was angry. That Day, My Friends was written like 20 minutes before.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

And I remember that. That story that. Did that ever happen? Did you ever have to learn something very, very quickly?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah, I'm sure. But I can't remember a detail like that. That was an amazing moment.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. No, I didn't know anyone could learn a monologue that quickly from the story. Apparently you just read it through a couple times and just.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, so. Well, it helps when something's really well written, which that was. And if it's very well written, sometimes it's pretty easy to memorize.

[Pete Holmes]

That's right. The lines are sort of linked, very clear together.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

The other sort of synchronicity. So Jason was on Pyramid Y. So was Rosie o', Donnell, who I didn't know also auditioned for Elaine. I just kind of thought that was an interesting. Isn't that wild?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Would you tell me about the audition process? Do you remember. I mean, if.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. It was not really an audition because what happened was. I mean, it was and it wasn't. I. I had been on SNL and I. I was on it for three years, and in my third year, Larry David was on it and he. Yeah. And Lair and I became friends because we were really both pretty unhappy at snl and he wasn't getting his material on and they weren't using me, and I was, you know, it was. It was a relatively miserable experience and we sort of shared that, you know, together.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Anyway, so then.

[Pete Holmes]

Which, by the way, can I just say, the chances. It doesn't even seem to have everything to do with talent. Meaning can you be talented in this environment, in this kind of structure, in this kind of, like, it's like a machine that some people gel with and some people don't. So it doesn't surprise me that you guys were like feeling like outcasts.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And anyway. And so then he went off. I, you know, we really weren't in touch for a couple of years. I did a few. What was I. Oh yeah, I did, I did a series or whatever in la. In la. Can moved here and did that and then all of a sudden got picked up. It was, it was like. It had two. It was with Gary Goldberg's company. It was called Day by Day. I did that for two years. I believe we did it anyway. Whatever. And so what kind of show was it? I'm sorry, it was a sitcom. It was a sitcom about a daycare center and I was the snarky neighbor.

[Pete Holmes]

No way.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

So you were kind of in the system.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You were in a little. I was in the system. That's right. And actually had a lot of fun doing that show. And so anyway, and then that show ended and, and then my agent called and said Larry David's written these scripts and you know, they'd love for you to give, read, blah, blah, four scripts. They'd already shot the pilot. I wasn't in the pilot.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I remember.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And so.

[Pete Holmes]

And Kramer has a dog and his name's Kessler.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And so I read those four scripts and I was blown away by the material. But I didn't have a lot to do in two of the four scripts. But the material was so like fucking weird and out there and so unlike anything that was on television at the time. That. And of course I knew lar. So I went in to see Larry and Jared was there and I kind of recognized Jerry. Cause he was doing. He was a stand up, like he had done Carson and stuff. But I, I, you know, I don't know the stand. I didn't know the stand up world at all. But you know, anyway, we just hung out. He was eating cereal. We were just hanging out. And then.

[Pete Holmes]

Jerry, it sounds like you're making it up now. No, but I swear to you, Larry's complaining.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right? But I mean, it did have that vibe. It was like a.

[Pete Holmes]

They were being who they are.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They were being who they are. It wasn't like, you know, executives that you're going in front of. La la la la. And so then Jerry and I went into an office and we read first scene of the. I don't know what, I can't remember what episode it is. Maybe it's a stakeout. I Don't know. Anyway, we just sat on the couch and read this scene then. And we were joking around and laughing and that was the end of it. And so then I, then I left the offices and Larry came running out and he said, what do you think? Do you want to do it? And I said, yeah, but I was actually.

[Pete Holmes]

Wait, they didn't let you leave?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They didn't what?

[Pete Holmes]

They didn't let you leave. You're trying to leave? And he runs.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, no. I was walking down the sidewalk. He came out after me. Yeah. And he said, what do you think? And I said, I hope we can make it work. I actually had another. It was a long story.

[Pete Holmes]

But anyway, sidewalk offer.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It wasn't even an offer. It was just like, I mean, it felt like a. I don't know how to say this. I know it has this, all this import the show and everything. But then it was just like a friend of mine was doing a show. You understand what I'm saying?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And so, and I was like, yeah, I mean, I really like it. It's really fun. Let's, you know. Anyway, they made a deal over the weekend. We shot the following week.

[Pete Holmes]

Wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I mean, I had to make the deal lickety split because they were on and I didn't have to go test that. You know, they do these test deals in show business and I didn't have to do that because NBC already knew me from SNL and from this, from.

[Pete Holmes]

Day by Day, which helped.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It did help, actually.

[Pete Holmes]

You and Jerry must have had chemistry. I mean, you must have been laughing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, we did. Oh, yeah. We were howling, laughing. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Really?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And the director, Tom Sheronis, was in that room, so he was sort of watching us do the scene together. It was the scene in which he says, you want to go out to eat? And I say, and he, and I say, sure. And he says, where do you want to go? And I say, I don't care, I'm not hungry. It was that scene. Yeah, but even that line that I don't care, I'm not hungry. It was like, huh, Is that a joke or not? It was like, like, it's just weird. And it was. I, I really, I, I, I cotton to that.

[Pete Holmes]

I cotton to that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I caught. I, I, I like it.

[Pete Holmes]

I love, I just, I'm admiring your eloquence.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm, I'm surprised I just used that as a verb.

[Pete Holmes]

Were you making each other laugh in the scene or was it an off page chemistry or both?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I think it was both.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'd be curious to ask Jerry what his memory is of that.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, that's very fun. But at the time, obviously nobody. It's just a show. It's just your friends. It's a small pickup. It's a six episode four, My Friend. Season was four.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Four. It was like this show's going nowhere.

[Pete Holmes]

It's going nowhere. It's a replacement. It's a mid season kind of.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They snuck it in through late night programming, I'm telling you.

[Pete Holmes]

And never would have.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And I thought after we made those four, I thought, oh, my God, this show's so good. They're too stupid to pick it up. Because I thought it's just so unusual. They'll never ever pick it up.

[Pete Holmes]

And I think it only got picked up on like a flute, kind of like they didn't have anything else.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They picked it up as a mid season.

[Pete Holmes]

Right? Oh, you mean after the four.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Then we did 13 episodes.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay, so you had a time off of an uncertainty.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I don't really remember it very well.

[Pete Holmes]

Neither do I. And I really. It's on me to have done that research. So I'm embarrassed.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, well. But it's on me. It's my life. I can't remember it.

[Pete Holmes]

All I know is Seinfeld has been used as the example of no one gives shows a chance anymore. And everyone always says Seinfeld would have been canceled based on numbers. After the first four. After the first season.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

That it wasn't a hit. But somebody sort of unheard of in the biz now went on their gut. They were just sort of like, I don't know, I like it. You know what I mean? Just doesn't seem to happen anymore. This is why we're seeing reboots.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

You know, they're going to do. Everything's going to be reimagined and resold because they just want. What is it called? Engagement. They don't. They don't want an ensemble that has chemistry. They want something that go like, we have the numbers. People like Tetris. Make a movie about Tetris. I actually enjoyed that movie. I'm just saying that's kind of how things seem to be getting made these days.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Just a shame. Shame.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It is a shame. On the other hand, there are all these opportunities to make material in so many different. I mean.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right. So there's that.

[Pete Holmes]

You could make the pilot of Seinfeld with iPhones now. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

Which is. We take it for granted, but you have. I Mean, you could edit it in your phone and, and get it at a similar quality.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

As a pilot in the 90s.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. It's just a question of somehow breaking through the noise.

[Pete Holmes]

When did it start to feel clear that it was a hit for you? Is there a moment when you were like, I think we're onto something?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I'll tell you the, I mean, it sort of slowly, it sort of slowly crept up on us. But I will say also, by the way, I had both of my children during this time, so my focus was majorly split. It really was. You know, and I had these, and I brought the babies to work with me and I had a nursery set up. And so my, I had a foot in both worlds very firmly planted.

[Pete Holmes]

Was that helpful? Because here's a kind of a skyrockety.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, I think in retrospect it was, Yes, I think it was, it was a grand reminder of the significance of, of, of the priorities of life.

[Pete Holmes]

That's right. Don't believe this. I mean, isn't that a risk? I, I, I've, I've heard your perspective on work and I think it's beautiful. It's just what I do. Get over. It's okay. We're, it's a privilege, it's a joy, but let's not take ourselves too seriously.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. Would you, I mean, is that how I feel? I do, yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Wouldn't you? I mean, I, I see it eating at people. You mentioned substance abuse. I mean, like, there's a lot of, like, the only good feeling is being at the top and anything else is death. So we're gonna bang out the best and keep delivering. And then if, and in the between times, we're gonna do cocaine. Like, I think those things are related. It's intolerable. So having children, I can say for me was like this beautiful wake up call to go. Like, oh, I've been under a spell.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I see. Oh, that's the meaning of life. Got it.

[Pete Holmes]

Because they don't have any, they don't have any of that. We've learned that being sparkly and special and, and shiny and funny, these are, these are valuable things.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I remember when we were doing the final, very final episode of Seinfeld and they had to, they had to put, what are those things called, like big walls up on the, on Bradford at the gates of the studio, because there were, there were paparazzi and all sorts of people trying to get, with a long lens, pictures and video of who was coming onto the soundstage, who was going to be in the final episode. And I remember being shocked by that.

[Pete Holmes]

Wow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I was like, seriously, does anybody really give that much of a shit? And I will. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

So much better than you being like, of course. Dress like Carmen Sandiego. Of course. This is normal.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, no. I mean, I was. I. I do remember thinking that. And then one time we were. One time we were in New York. This is me and Jerry and Jason and Michael. We were all there. And because we had to shoot that Rolling Stone, we did a cover of Rolling Stone in which we were dressed like rock stars or whatever. And so then we thought after the shoot, we'd all go out to dinner and we'd go and we would sit on the. Sit on the sidewalk out there, outdoor seating at this one place on Columbus. And thought, oh, we're gonna blow everybody's mind. Four of us all together. It's gonna be crazy. Not one person said anything or stopped. Except a homeless man, God love him, who was completely out of his mind and was just babbling about something. It was a very nice reality check. I remember it vividly.

[Pete Holmes]

It's important, though. I mean, you see people go off the reservation. I don't know if we're still saying that, but, like, going out of their minds a little bit.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Going out of their minds, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And it's good to stay balanced and the family. And your husband is in show business. Yes, yes. But not in front of the camera, is that correct?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Although he's been in front of the camera recently. He's been in a couple things. He was in. What is the. American Auto. American Auto with auto.

[Pete Holmes]

American Idol?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, no. American Auto with Anna Gostyer. And he's in a movie and stuff coming out, so he does a little.

[Pete Holmes]

Bit of everything, but staying balanced. It's not a cuckoo bananas household. That's really nice. I wonder, is there any spiritual life to speak of? Let me preface it with this.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

We're going to church afterwards. Words.

[Pete Holmes]

We're gonna pray.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

Who's your God? Real quick, who's your God? The guy that's gonna pray. Who do you worship? Elohim.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I was at an Eckhart Tolle retreat in Rhinebeck, New York. Have you been to Rhinebeck?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Pete Holmes]

Beautiful.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

I just feel like you're a classy lady. You're gonna love Rhinebeck, New York.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

All right. Get me a real estate agent right now. I'm buying property.

[Pete Holmes]

If you go to Rhinebeck, I'll make a wager you're gonna buy property. You're gonna find a way to. It's the most quaint off the Metro north little town, but classy. Some of the best restaurants in the world.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

How long's the train ride out of the city?

[Pete Holmes]

I think it's about 90.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's about 90 minutes.

[Pete Holmes]

Maybe two. Maybe two hours. It's not Woodstock.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

It's doable.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Pull it up on Zillow right now.

[Pete Holmes]

It's gorgeous. You'll feel like Mary Oliver. You'll write around. We walk around and write poems.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, it's.

[Pete Holmes]

When Val and I were there.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

We can't go there. It's not in our. In our means. And we were like, we're living here. You'll be a poet and I'll open a restaurant. Like, I'll burn it all to the ground. It's that enchanting.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Okay.

[Pete Holmes]

Our daughter will work at the movie theater. It's like that anyway, so we're going to see. It probably helped that we were there to be with Eckhart Tolle. Do you know who Eckhart Tolle is?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

You mean to me?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. Is that what you're gonna say?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. But I have an. Like, followed him. Followed him.

[Pete Holmes]

I'm not gonna. There's no quiz.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, all right, fine.

[Pete Holmes]

But, you know, he's. He's. He's incredible. He's. He's one of the. He's changed my life. And we're sitting there, and on the last night, he's like, we're going to do a surprise evening. This is, after all, just talks about reality and consciousness and love and compassion and all this stuff. He's like, for the last night, I want to do something special, and we're going to have some laughs. And he. Julia, he played clips from Seinfeld and talked about them. Can you. And the clip that he played was you on the train when you're.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Are you kidding me?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. No. He play and he goes, so it's you, and, you know, the lights go off and it's your inner monologue.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And he goes, this just shows the insanity of the ego. And it's true. It helps us laugh at what our minds are doing to us. They're torturing us. Us. Is this. Am I ever gonna get out of this situation? Am I ever gonna eat? What if I have to pee? Like, they're not your friends. And he was like, this is what good comedy can do, is it helps us laugh and put some distance instead of identifying with that voice that you so beautifully play as the actor, but also the Voiceover. It's showing us, it's giving. Do you know what I mean when I say it puts the distance between.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, sure.

[Pete Holmes]

When you're laughing at it, it's not you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Somehow you're. I'm gonna say you're in the observer place. You're just kind of dispassionately going, like, what a trip to be a human. So I thought maybe you would enjoy.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I love that. I can't. Yeah, I can't believe it. Actually, I couldn't either. I was. I was pregnant in that scene. I was very pregnant with my first son. Yeah. Because I was really sick.

[Pete Holmes]

Did he get paid? Yeah, yeah. He's in Sagna.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. He's actually. He owns a piece of the show, unlike me.

[Pete Holmes]

So without forcing it, maybe the answer is no. But is there a spiritual side to you to frame you? You're in the safest place to believe whatever you want.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. I would say that I'm a believer in the mystery of all of this, but I don't have a. A God per se that I pray to. The mystery is the God, the mystery of. Yes. I am in awe of the mystery of it all.

[Pete Holmes]

Can I give you one of my favorite quotes?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Go.

[Pete Holmes]

And then I die. Barry Taylor, the road manager for acdc, of all people, said that God is the name of the blanket we put over the mystery to give it a shape. So. Oh, isn't that beautiful? We're all trying to find a way to talk about this phenomenon that most of us aren't talking about. Like, you and I are on a space rock. You and I are independent, seemingly independent, conscious beings that woke up in this situation. And most people's strategies, it seems to me, is don't talk about it. Let's get some ice cream. Look, I get it. I take days where I just eat ice cream. Wait a day.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Watch the iceberg down. You can't live in that world old forever.

[Pete Holmes]

It'll literally depress me. It'll make me go a little bit off my thing. But I find great solace in going, like, isn't that. I mean, here we are. We're here right now.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And we don't know how we got here. We don't know where we're going.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

But having even the word mystery is a way for you to participate with it. I'm going to put this to you, see if you agree, because you might not understand it, but you can experience it. Is that right?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. And I'm in awe of what I don't know.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. And I. Is a feeling.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I mean, it's like I was watching something on the TV about. They were talking about the Hubble telescope and everything that they have discovered, which is that there are all of these. What am I trying to say? God damn it.

[Pete Holmes]

Clusters, usually. Clusters.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

There's so much more out there than anybody had ever known. Okay. So much more.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And all of these universes well beyond other universes, everywhere.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And I'm just like, huh?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. And that there was an amount of glass. Glass, question mark. And mirrors. Question mark.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I know.

[Pete Holmes]

You know what I mean? Like, what are we doing that we're seeing that far? There's certain things in life that I've had conversations with scientists where I'm like, oh, I just saw the look on your face where, you know, there's no way to explain this to me. Like, you see that I'm missing the reading required to just begin this conversation.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

That's how I feel about the Hubble telescope.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Cause I'm just over here going, mirrors.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's like having another limb. It's like some people have that limb and you don't have it.

[Pete Holmes]

That's right. Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't, I don't have.

[Pete Holmes]

Right. Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But I am in awe of what it is this is telling us.

[Pete Holmes]

Does it increase your anxiety or reduce your anxiety or a little bit of both?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I would say it's a little bit of both. I'm. But you know, I, it makes me concerned about our insignificance.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes. Interesting. Yeah. Because that, that is what that question was getting at. It's like on one hand it's almost like, what are you worried about? That's anxiety reduction. And then on the other hand, it's like, oh my God, we're, it's, we're nothing. Like, we're just a drop.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And I think about that with the climate crisis, it's, you know.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

The planet's gonna be just fine, guys.

[Pete Holmes]

You know that. So we met at that stand up show and I. Oh, that's right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, yes.

[Pete Holmes]

I got off stage and I was like, I have a climate change bit where. And I didn't do it. And it was. I've just forgot. Driving home, I was like, like, all right. And it's that premise. You just nailed it. As I go, life will be okay. I don't know if will be okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

But like the.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, we won't be okay. But. But the planet will carry on in some form and as it has before. Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Extinctions and it's gonna. It's gonna be okay. And even after. No, I'm not saying we're gonna be okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I know.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I'm like.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, I just know. You're. You're. We met at the RNDC thing, and our.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Dc. Dc. You did an incredible. That's the Natural Resources Defense Council for.

[Pete Holmes]

Those who Don't Stand for.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

That was such a fun show, but you and Tony were the only people that. Tony Hale were the. And my wife. I was only playing to you guys. Do you remember?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Of course I do. You were so fucking funny.

[Pete Holmes]

That is so touching because.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, it's not touching. It's true. You were hilarious.

[Pete Holmes]

I got off stage and I was like, I don't. I went into a fugue state because it wasn't an ideal setup for comedy. It was outside.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, it was a bad setup.

[Pete Holmes]

It was a lot of very, very leisured, rid. Powerful people in couches.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

In couches. It's not.

[Pete Holmes]

And I go out and I say, like, one of the. A line that as a spoiled performer, I'm like, wait till they hear this line. I say it. It gets nothing. It gets beyond nothing. I'm being heckled by police sirens and, like, spotlights going on buildings, but I start losing it and making fun of the show. And you and Tony, it's a career highlight. We're falling out of your seat like the Apollo. It was one of my favorite memories. But no one else was laughing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's not true, by the way. Other people were laughing. Has Tony been on your podcast?

[Pete Holmes]

He has, yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, good.

[Pete Holmes]

Isn't he fun? And he's a spiritual person.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Very.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, yeah. And a beautiful person.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Wonderful man. I just. I just face FaceTime with him the other day because he's doing a show in Rome and feeling a little. I know. Feeling a little homesick. And I love him so much. So I was happy to talk to him.

[Pete Holmes]

We read our daughter his book, which every time I mention it, Archibald.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Archibald saves the song.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, Archbald's next big thing.

[Pete Holmes]

Thank you. Sorry. Yeah, I'm embarrassed. But that message has a very Eckhart Tolle message. Remember, the lesson is just be.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Just be.

[Pete Holmes]

Are you in your mystery appreciation space?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Because even as I just said it, I was like, right, we can do it right now. No one needs to know. You can just settle into yourself and just be like. When I talk to Val, my very wise wife, I'll be like. Like, oh. Sometimes I worry that I'm just stringing along crumbs like, of pleasure or an accolade or some sort of high. And there's these long moments of string in between them. And all of us are just trying to maximize the good and minimize the bad. And sometimes I feel like a mouse scurrying on the ground looking for breadcrumbs instead of, I think, potentially sitting at the banquet table. And the banquet table is the present moment and just going, like. Cause that's what she brought me back into. She goes, pete, are you doing that right now? Like, is that happening right now? It's Elaine on the train. I'm not trying to be funny. It's my brain going. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. None of this matters. You're just trying to feel good. Oh, brav. Fucking. Oh. Everyone's just trying to feel good. But when you go, will you relax, brain? And I always say, drop anchor into the present moment and just go like.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Wait, are you a meditator?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Good.

[Pete Holmes]

Are you?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

What flavor tm. Julia, you gotta do the tm. Do it. My voice is a little thrown. It's usually better.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

What's your mantra? I'm just kidding. It's a secret. How long have you been doing tm?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

A couple years.

[Pete Holmes]

It's a new thing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I haven't been. Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Did you tell Jerome?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Jerome was the one who put me in touch with my TM teacher.

[Pete Holmes]

What's her name?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

His.

[Pete Holmes]

His name. Okay. I wondered if we had the same one.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Who's your.

[Pete Holmes]

The David lynch people here in la. Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Same.

[Pete Holmes]

Does your mantra start with an S?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Pete Holmes]

Sh. I'm just kidding. Like, I keep spelling it. And what is yours?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's atm.

[Pete Holmes]

Atm. Yes. You are the queen. You know you are. Do you. What's your experience been with it? Is it. Is it helping you?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's helpful. It's hard for me to remember to do it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm not. I'm not as on it as I should be. The routine of it comes and goes.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. And you have to.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But it is something I can go to, and sometimes I need to go to it.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But the other thing too, I think is, you know, getting out into the natural world has been a. Has been a huge source of comfort to me. You know, get nature. Yeah. Just getting outside. Getting outside. And, you know, there's a. I think it's. The Japanese have an expression called forest bathing, which you. I know. Doesn't that tell you everything? And so just getting out there and being in nature and moving in nature, it's. It's a very good idea for the brain, something.

[Pete Holmes]

You're smaller than things. See, Leila, our daughter, loves to watch TV first thing in the morning because it happened during the lockdown, and now it's a habit we're trying to break. So we go, you can watch tv, but we have to do one thing outside first. And what I notice is when you're under the canopy of the sky and a tree that's bigger than you, it's just. That's the spirit. You should be going into your day. It's like you in the Hubble. You're small, actually, Right. You think if you can put a TV show into your awareness, that's all that's happening. At least you're being titillated.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

Actually, you're a part of a thing, right? You're. You're a tile in a mosaic. So going outside does that. The color green, also, they say it just lowers your blood pressure and all that. So that is. We can say that's, like, part of your.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, that's interesting. I'm sure you're right about that, right?

[Pete Holmes]

In the way that red and yellow, they say, makes you hungry, which is why McDonald's is red and yellow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Jesus Christ.

[Pete Holmes]

I know.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Really?

[Pete Holmes]

I know. I know.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That explains why I'm hungry because I'm looking at these two things behind your head.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Bam.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, my God. Red and yellow.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm going to McDonald's after this.

[Pete Holmes]

Don't do it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Environmentally speaking, I promise you I won't set foot in that place.

[Pete Holmes]

I know this is a tricky thing, and I'm certainly not hanging it on you, but environmentally speaking. And I actually just started eating chicken again. I was vegan for a long time, and I just started eating chicken again because I fucking hate chickens. No, I'm just kidding. But I just wanted to simplify my diet. I was noticing I was eating a lot of processed stuff, and I was like, I'm going to give in. I was already eating fish, which I know environmentally isn't great. So what I'm saying is I'm. I'm in the problem as well. So I'm not saying. It's just interesting to me that what is the attitude of the environmental groups when it comes to the huge impact that that animal plants and processing does to the earth when we go. Like when you're going against someone's stomach and their culture. You know what I mean?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

It's so hard when we all know. I think it's worse than planes, trains, cars combined.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I think food waste is our big problem in terms of. In terms of emissions and contributing to the climate crisis. But, yeah, the world. I mean, I am not a vegan. I should be. The world would be a better place if we all were. Period. End of story.

[Pete Holmes]

Right?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I mean, that's just a fact.

[Pete Holmes]

Psychologically, to unpack it as someone who was vegan, the threat of that, of the vegan at the table, it's. It's uncomfortable. It's. It's like. Because, like, it's not just a piece of chicken. It's literally your mother's love. Like, that's what you think it is. Like, my mom made roast chicken.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What are you talking about?

[Pete Holmes]

I'm saying, symbolically, my mom would cook me roast chicken. So if I say stop eating roast chicken, you're saying, is that the only.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Food she made you?

[Pete Holmes]

It's the one that I stick up with most fondly. Yeah, but that's what I mean. Or her apple pie has eggs in it, has milk in it. Like, these things are way more complicated. Meaning you can't go at it in a headway. I mean, it has to address the heart. It's almost like the only way to do it would be a reboot. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, wipe everybody's memory and then be like, we've been vegan the whole time. And then be like, oh, your mom used to make you Satan, or whatever it is. Right. I mean, I just. I'm sharing my own overwhelm, because that seems like such a good solution. But at the same time, here we are. Have you ever almost died?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. I mean, I had cancer, so. And I survived it.

[Pete Holmes]

I wasn't trying to be distasteful. I ask everybody that question.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah. But I'm answering it. I'm not being distasteful either. I'm just.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. In that moment, I was like, oh, I probably should have been sensitive about that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You don't need to be. It's fun.

[Pete Holmes]

Tell me. Tell me about it. What did you learn?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I learned. What did I learn? That I'm very grateful to be here. And I don't know what I learned. I. It was.

[Pete Holmes]

Was it harder than you thought it would be?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah, yeah. It was a bear and a half.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, in what. In what way?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I. I had to go through chemotherapy, and it was a wicked chemotherapy that made me really, really sick.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. And then I had to have a lot of surgery, and it was. You know, I didn't. It was like getting hit from behind, like a speed Train speeding, coming at me from behind. That's. The whole thing was just like, what the are you talking about? You know? But. But I got through it.

[Pete Holmes]

Did you? How did you feel about all of the other. I sometimes feel like when I go to the hospital, you present them with a pass, and they either stamp it and you can leave and your freedom pass is renewed, or they don't stamp it, and now you're in that side of things. You were on that side of things. You were held. You had a disease. You had to deal with it. How did you feel? And how did you deal with the rest of us carpenter ants going around being like, I TiVo'd American auto, my favorite show, and it deleted it. And you're like, I might not be here.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I didn't think. I.

[Pete Holmes]

It wasn't like that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That was not my approach. No, I. My point of view was not like that at all. I was very much just on getting. Getting through one day after another because I really was quite ill, and so I was not. I was very, you know, I was just laser focused on getting better.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I mean, for real, right? Yeah. And. And accepting kindnesses from other people. That was, you know, my. My. My circle of friends, you know, they. They circled around me in a way that was very comforting.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, beautiful too.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, it's.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Including our friend Tony Hell, who was a dear heart.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, of course.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Of course. Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Laughs. Hospital laughs always. Really?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Sure.

[Pete Holmes]

I mean, can you imagine?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

There's something so human about what you're saying right now. You know what I mean? It's like we're all cancer. No. We're all in a tight spot.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And laughing is such a gift. So I'm just.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's the only way out.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, it's right. It really is what takes you out, doesn't it?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, it takes you out.

[Pete Holmes]

It takes you out of your situation.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And it's a joyful experience.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Just to laugh.

[Pete Holmes]

Seinfeld told that story about visiting a friend in the hospital and he was dying, and he hocked something up. Like, it just had to be addressed. And he was talking about how he's going to the Comedy Cellar, and he goes, I'll tell you, I'm really looking forward to the hummus tonight. And like he said, they both died laughing, which is just the best. Cause it's a risk. It's a little Bill and Ted's. It's a risk. Like, can I make fun just a little bit of how gross that was?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Right.

[Pete Holmes]

But the person is there Too. I mean, you're not the disease. The disease is happening to you. You're not the phlegm. I mean, you had to experience that, too. You were still Julia. You were there. It's not like you were comfortable with the weird things or the valve that they got on you or whatever it might be. But did people just. I mean, I guess I'm looking for a comment on that, but. But really, it doesn't really need one.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. It just is. And I got through it and it was thankfully. And I was very. Talk about happy, you know, talk about getting back to work was just about the most joyful thing ever after that experience, because we had to shut down our show. I was making Veep at the time. We had to shut it down for practically a year while I went through this thing. And then. But then I came back, and the experience of being on set and making really good fucking stuff again was just about as elevated as it gets. Talk about gratitude.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

My God in heaven, I have never been happier to get back on set.

[Pete Holmes]

Incredible.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And it's almost like you did a year. The quarantine, too. I mean, you. You kind of had an experience of that. It's like sometimes life gets shut down. Down.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's right.

[Pete Holmes]

And did that help you roll with.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That a little bit with the quarantine?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I took that quarantine seriously.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

You know, I was not. I was like, I think I'm not going to be arrogant about this at all.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And strangely, good for the environment turned out.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Pete Holmes]

Have you ever seen a ghost? You seem like a lady who's seen a ghost.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No. Have you?

[Pete Holmes]

Think harder. Because you really seem like a little.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Look behind you right now. Have you?

[Pete Holmes]

No. The ghost of my cat jumps up on my bed reliably. Meaning if I go and stay at my mom's house and sleep in my old bed, in the morning, I'll wake up by the ghost of my cat jumping on the bed. And I'm not. I'm hungry for that stuff. I love the unexplainable. But when I say it happens every time, it's bizarre. It's really bizarre.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Really?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah. And I feel it. It curls up on me. And I'm like, hi, Clem. It's Clem. It's not Marm.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It's Clem as in Clementine.

[Pete Holmes]

Clementine who died in the house. And Marm snuggled right up on him and purred. It was beautiful. So I think Clem's still rocking or just like it could. Look, it doesn't seem the flavor of our conversation, but it could just be like some weird, confusing. All time is happening simultaneously. So Clem is just kind of in the house, not as a spirit, but just a glitch.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

What about a ufo? Anything unexplainable? A psychic ever blow your mind? You seem like a lady.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, I've been to psychics and they were, she was mind blowing. But I can't remember anything she said.

[Pete Holmes]

Except that she knew stuff she couldn't have known.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, and, but I can't. I don't remember what it was.

[Pete Holmes]

That's okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm sorry.

[Pete Holmes]

Facing cancer and thinking about the end. Did you think it was the end, do you think?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No. No.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh. When we die, it's everyone's death.

[Pete Holmes]

Is that the end? Is that lights out or are you open? Is that a mystery?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's a mystery. And it's. You know, my father passed about. I actually lost my dad and I also lost my sister within a year of each other. And I think I'm very much thinking that I'm not going to say they're around, but I, I, I, they're in me. I don't know how to say it. You know the, that I mean I believe in the. Somehow the spirit, but I don't know what, what I'm talking about. But I'm going to start a church and it's based on what I just said and donations. And donations. It's mainly about donations called the atm Church estiml.

[Pete Holmes]

I knew because of your VP Ness that that would be. Okay, here's, here's my question. Here's a 15 second and a perfect time to take a sip. I think aware there's only one awareness and we share it. And so therefore your father and your sister, I'm so sorry, by the way, are literally with you. Meaning that awareness contains all. Everything. All things. So when I say to my daughter, for example, I'm always with you, I sort of mean that literally. I don't mean physically, but like we are connected. And I think most of the better, more mystical leaning spiritual practices from Judaism and Kabbalah to mystical Christianity, certainly to Hinduism, Buddhism would say awareness is awareness. And it's one awareness that's having a dream.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

And in the dream I'm this and you're that. But behind it there's only one. When you really meditate, next time you're doing your TM with your non SH mantra, try and think about like it's just this. There's Just one sensation of being like the Old Testament God. I am that. I am. I am Amnes. And we're all sharing that m ness. So, of course, your father, I'm. I'm one of those people that would be like. Like, where could they go?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, but have you lost anybody really important to you in your life?

[Pete Holmes]

I don't mean physically where they could go. I'm not trying to negate the loss. I'm saying. Speaking.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I haven't yet. No.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Good. Well, I mean, eventually it's all going to happen to everybody, but.

[Pete Holmes]

Right.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, but.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, tell me what that made you think. What? What? What? Give me the wiser. Wiser than me?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, I thought you were about to.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, I wasn't.

[Pete Holmes]

I thought I was talking like someone who hasn't lost someone. I thought that's maybe what I stepped in.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was wondering. I was asking. Never mind. I was asking you because I thought maybe you'd lost someone and that you weren't feeling okay. No, never mind, never mind.

[Pete Holmes]

I love it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No wisdom here. Nothing.

[Pete Holmes]

Zero.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Nah fucking thing.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay, let's. Let's do a speed round and we'll get you out of here. It's a little toasty in here. I think it's these extra bodies.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I am warm.

[Pete Holmes]

Can you turn the air on, Katie, please?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah. Isn't that fuck up the sound?

[Pete Holmes]

It's quiet. It's whisper quiet. This is a fun part of the show. When I watch Comedians and Cards, the only thing I care about is what they order and how they order it. So these moments, how we are as we're turning on the air, as interesting. There you go. Put on 69. It's the only funny one. Can you tell me a great lesson you've learned about motherhood? Just a quick one. Something someone told you. A perspective, an attitude, a little line.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Hold on.

[Pete Holmes]

Are you holding for sound? Because a plane is going by.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, I can tell you this. I can tell you that if I were giving myself advice as a young mother, I would. The advice I would say is, please relax. It's going to be fine.

[Pete Holmes]

We need to hear. I'm going to tell Val that you said that.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Because we're over here going like, yeah, I know.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh my God.

[Pete Holmes]

Because Lila loses her a lot. She had a melt, a full meltdown. Because one kid said that swing is higher than that one and she said, no, it's not.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I'm with her, by the way. That kid's wrong.

[Pete Holmes]

What about show business. Is there a mantra that's carried you through show business that did you. Well, it doesn't even have to be a clean line. Just the greatest lesson you've learned or a lesson that you've learned about navigating this. It could even be what we've already said.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I would say it would be to.

[Pete Holmes]

Trust your instincts, trust you in when you're performing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Generally speaking.

[Pete Holmes]

Generally speaking. Because that brings me to acting. What's a great. What's something you try to hold in your mind or not hold in your mind when you're acting? Is there a great lesson someone's taught you about how to perform?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Listen.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, you gotta listen hard to beat the great.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But you really do have. And a lot of actors make that mistake.

[Pete Holmes]

I've. Look, I've not listened. And there have been a lot of times where I'd had to go like, can you just, can you just be here? Just please.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

Because, you know, sometimes we're just trying to remember our lines and it can be a real bummer.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

But that's where my wound so feel. Growing up in a household where I didn't necessarily feel recognized helps because I'm going like, that's. And it helps in stand up. It's like, I need everyone, let's lock in. And that's the gift.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

You know what I mean?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes, yes.

[Pete Holmes]

What about. And acting, comedy. And I know you don't believe in a God, but some mystery. The great lesson you've learned about the mystery. I mean, we're both doing it right now. What do you carry with you when it comes to not freaking out that we're. That we're here and we don't know what's going on?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Well, sometimes when I'm feeling particularly anxious about something. This is so bad.

[Pete Holmes]

But anyway, I love it already. No, love the area.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But I made me think legitimately. I think to myself, well, at least I can still breathe. And I. And I do, actually. I know that sounds so, so simple minded, but I just think, okay, I can breathe. I can still get air into my lungs.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll always remember that answer. Why did you put down that answer?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know.

[Pete Holmes]

Great answer.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Sort of. Oh, is that. That's your Jerry impression.

[Pete Holmes]

No, that was my Michael Richards. No, no, wrong one. Wrong last question. Because it is just too warm in here.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And you've got that movie coming out.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I got a lot to do.

[Pete Holmes]

These guys have to pee.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

They've got to get my face cream is what they've got to do.

[Pete Holmes]

Here's you leave the room. And this is my real Jerry impression. You just did your audition. He goes, that was fantastic. That was her. Go get her.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, that. Wait, do it again.

[Pete Holmes]

That was fantastic. That's her. Go get her.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, it's not bad.

[Pete Holmes]

It's not bad. It's. I wouldn't do it for him. Why? I met Jerry once and I. And he complimented something of mine. And I went like this. And I could tell from his face. I blew it. Like I. I was too big.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, you don't think. No, I'm sure not.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I was just like. That just seemed like something he'd be like. He did the mind. Mind explode? Do we need the mind explode?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah, that's good.

[Pete Holmes]

Okay. All right, well. Got my little key bump of validation for the day. You're fabulous.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you, kind.

[Pete Holmes]

You're true talent.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you for having me.

[Pete Holmes]

Thank you for doing it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Very, very charming to be here.

[Pete Holmes]

One final question.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Go.

[Pete Holmes]

You're gonna love it, though. I hope. Can you tell me the time in your life you laughed harder than you've ever laughed? Here's the caveat, though. It doesn't have to be a good story. Maybe you were a kid. Maybe someone fell. Maybe someone farted. These usually get people there. I just want you. You're crying, laughing. Where are you? How old are you? Who are you with?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, geez, I gotta think. I was in the glee club in fifth grade. Or maybe it was seventh grade. No, it had to have been seventh grade. And we had to sing this stupid song which was called. What was it called? Turn around and you're one. Turn around and you're two. Do you know this song? Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

[Pete Holmes]

Is that Drake?

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I can't remember what it was, but it was like singing about children aging and. Turn around and you're a young woman walking out of the door. Or something like that.

[Pete Holmes]

A reimagining of sunrise.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

So it sort of. And I was standing next to my friend and we were supposed to sing in straight. And I. We got into so much trouble because I was doubled over. It was the stupidest song. We just sing for this huge recital with all the parents. And I couldn't get through it. And it was really bad.

[Pete Holmes]

Because of the stupidness of the song or just the pressure or just the, like, forbidden.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, the forbidden. First of all, it was stupid. I didn't want to sing it. She didn't either. It was. It was just an asshole song. And then we had to sing it seriously in front of all the parents and the teachers, and we were forbidden from laughing. Please.

[Pete Holmes]

That's all you need.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

That's all you need to be forbidden is unbelievable.

[Pete Holmes]

Singing and forbidden are often in the answer. It's often like church.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, really?

[Pete Holmes]

Yes. It has to be forbidden. We Val. It reminds me of one where Val and I. I did this corporate gig. It was actually worse than a corporate. It was a private birthday party, very sweet people. And the woman asked. The guy asked if I would stay and listen to his wife sing.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No, you didn't.

[Pete Holmes]

Yes, and I stayed.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

And look, what kind of music was she.

[Pete Holmes]

She wanted to sing I will always love you. And in her defense. Yes, that's it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

They played the Dolly Parton version. The band played the wrong version. So in her defense. But Val and I are sitting there with this woman's family, and she's up there being like. Like, just kind of uncomfortable and off. And I was like, I can't wait to fart in the car. Not fart, but, like, laugh about this. But it's gonna be incredible.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

But were you able to keep your shit together?

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, I kept it together, yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, good on you.

[Pete Holmes]

Thank you. Yeah. It's the best acting I've ever done. It's like. That was good. That's very good. Because you know what? Even as I'm telling it, I like singing poorly, singing, so vulnerable. I. I don't really, like. I can't fully get behind just, like, massacring this woman, because I get it. I feel the same way about stuttering. I've never laughed at someone stuttering, making fun of a stutter. It's just too vulnerable.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

You know what I mean? Yeah. I'm not alone on that completely. Julia Louis.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes.

[Pete Holmes]

Thank you.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you, Pete. Thank you so much for having me.

[Pete Holmes]

Would you please. Keep it crispy is how we end. The guest says, keep it crispy. All I can say, it doesn't mean anything. It's not a trap. It's just how we say it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

It feels like a trap.

[Pete Holmes]

It's a trap. It's kind of a.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Keep it crispy. Did I do it?

[Pete Holmes]

You did it perfectly.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What are these drinks?

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, this is called Magic Mind. That was for you. Are you working today? Yeah.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Drink this mean. I'm working right now, aren't I?

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, for sure. You should have drank it before the interview. To be honest, it was a little lackluster.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

What is.

[Pete Holmes]

Has a little bit of caffeine, 35 milligrams of caffeine. So it's Got matcha nootropics, you know, vitamins that help you think.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

And it has adaptogens that help you cope with stress. So the mix of the caffeine and the adaptogens give you this very even flow state. I love it.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Real.

[Pete Holmes]

I'll give you a bunch. You can take both of these. But if you're doing emails or work or tomorrow for your photo shoot, even just to, like, kind of stay alert. Yeah, I'll give you a bunch.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Oh, how fabulous.

[Pete Holmes]

It's. I just sent a name drop. Just send a bunch to Anne Lamott. Like, it's my thing. Who'd be great on your pod.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yes. As a matter of fact. Yes. And who was quoted by Jane Fonda in my podcast.

[Pete Holmes]

Believe it I. This is. I'm not just flattering.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

No is a complete sentence.

[Pete Holmes]

I know. If they wanted us to talk about them more better in our writing, they should have behaved better. Better. That's one of my favorite. I just butchered it. But when you write. I wrote a book. You write about your family and you tell the truth and you're like, do I have to ask their permission? And Anne Lamont says if they wanted you to write better about them, they should behave differently.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Nice.

[Pete Holmes]

And I'm like, oh, she's badass.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Yeah.

[Pete Holmes]

I was just gonna say I don't know if she's old enough, but wait until she's. I don't know.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

I don't know how old age.

[Pete Holmes]

Yeah, I think so. You might have to wait.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

She has to make me have to wait. But do more stress less. I like that.

[Pete Holmes]

Us.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you so much.

[Pete Holmes]

You want Magic Mind? And thank you so much.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Thank you for having me.

[Pete Holmes]

What a pleasure.

[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]

Pleasure. Let me give you a hug.

[Pete Holmes]

Oh, yes, please.