Julia Louis-Dreyfus showed her support for Stand Up To Cancer Day by reading some poetry.
The 62-year-old actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2017, but just over a year later in October 2018, she announced she was cancer-free.
The Seinfeld and Veep star was one of many celebs on hand at Diesel Bookstore in Santa Monica, California on Thursday, including her Veep co-star Tony Hale, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Jason Mantzoukas, Danielle Schneider and Melissa Rauch.
They were all reading poetry from author/poet/playwright Dan O’Brien’s new book Survivor’s Notebook for the event, which was livestreamed on Scheer’s FriendZone Twitch channel.
The author was also signing copies of his three new books – Survivor’s Notebook, From Scarsdale and True Story: A Trilogy – while also raising funds for Stand Up to Cancer.
Supportive Julia: Julia Louis-Dreyfus showed her support for Stand Up To Cancer Day by reading some poetry
Reading: They were all reading poetry from author/poet/playwright Dan O’Brien’s new book Survivor’s Notebook for the event, which was livestreamed on Scheer’s FriendZone Twitch channel
Dreyfus was wearing a brown blouse with white polka dots under a black suit coat, with a gold necklace dangling from her neck.
She accessorized with a gold watch and gold rings while reading from the poetry book at the event.
The actress completed her look with black pants and black flat shoes for the event, while Tony Hale, June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer also read poetry at the event.
The outing comes a few months after Louis Dreyfus opened up about standing up to bullying Warner Bros. executives early in her career.
She appeared on the Podcrushed podcast, stating that the studio tried to take a hard tack with her around the late 80s, during a timeframe between her work on the shows Day by Day and Seinfeld.
The Manhattan native said execs threatened to sue her over a development deal she had with Warner Bros. when she was sent the material for Larry David’s The Seinfeld Chronicles, which would later become Seinfeld.
Louis-Dreyfus said that her deal had ‘a creative out based on the material that was being developed,’ which paved her way to play Elaine Benes on the iconic comedy.
Louis-Dreyfus said, ‘I was really scared because it was Warner Bros. and I was just this girl who was an actress. I felt very small – because I was.’
Julia’s look: Dreyfus was wearing a brown blouse with white polka dots under a black suit coat, with a gold necklace dangling from her neck
Accessorized: She accessorized with a gold watch and gold rings while reading from the poetry book at the event
Complete: The actress completed her look with black pants and black flat shoes for the event
Opening up: The outing comes a few months after Louis Dreyfus opened up about standing up to bullying Warner Bros. executives early in her career
Early work: She appeared on the Podcrushed podcast, stating that the studio tried to take a hard tack with her around the late 80s, during a timeframe between her work on the shows Day by Day and Seinfeld
Sue: The Manhattan native said execs threatened to sue her over a development deal she had with Warner Bros. when she was sent the material for Larry David’s The Seinfeld Chronicles, which would later become Seinfeld
June reads: June Diane Raphael read one of Dan O’Brien’s poetry books
Paul reads: Paul Scheer reads one of Dan O’Brien’s poetry books
Tony reads: Tony Hale reads one of Dan O’Brien’s poetry books
The Emmy-winning star said that she ‘did bow out’ of the development deal – which was allowed under the terms of the contract – but faced legal threats from studio execs trying to recoup the money she’d been paid.
‘I had representatives who were saying to me, “You better just give them their money back – give them their money back.”
‘And I said, “But if I give them the development money back, won’t that imply that I did something dishonest? That I broke the contract?” And they were like, “Just do it, just to get rid of the problem.”‘
Louis-Dreyfus said she felt she was being misled by her reps – ‘It didn’t sit well with me,’ she said of their advice – and contacted Day by Day creator Gary Goldberg for advice on how to proceed.
‘He was a huge force at NBC and in television specifically, and I called him and told him this story,’ she said of the late Goldberg, who had also created the 80s hit Family Ties.
Louis-Dreyfus said Goldberg told her, ‘You know what? I don’t respond well to bullying so just tell them to f*** off and don’t give them their money back.’
The Veep star said she was empowered after following Goldberg’s advice.
‘It really emboldened me to stand up for myself, and so, that’s what I did,’ she said. ‘And they just went away, that was the end of it … that was a seminal moment for me when he said that. Because it was bullying by the way.’