Formative Performances: Julia Louis-Dreyfus in “Seinfeld”

It’s Day 2 of Women’s History Month, and I need to talk about Elaine Benes.

Comedy was (and still is) widely considered a boys’ club, but that never stopped Julia Louis-Dreyfus from making a splash on Seinfeld. The only woman in the highest-rated show on television, she proved over and over again to be as good as, if not better than, her male cast members. With perfect timing, dry wit, and a great sense of physical comedy when needed, she created one of the most iconic female characters in television history (and only won one Emmy? Nonsense!) Elaine is smarter than the rest of the gang and prides herself on it, but just as shallow and just as much of a jerk as her friends. She’s no “token female cast member.” While George Constanza is the Seinfeld character I find myself quoting most often in real life, I always thought Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the most talented performer – and looking at her career post-Seinfeld, I think I can safely say that I’m correct in my judgment.

The clip I wanted to use of Elaine isn’t available for embedding on YouTube, so I’m going to include a few smaller clips instead. There is very little that amuses me more about Elaine than her hatred for The English Patient. Even her dancing and taking down of the Soup Nazi can’t compete with her disdain for this movie.