Julia Louis-Dreyfus recalls ‘devastating’ weight comment from her father after first SNL appearance

‘Seinfeld’ star made her ‘Saturday Night Live’ debut aged 21

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has said that she was left “devastated” after her father commented on her weight following her first Saturday Night Live show.

The Veep star was cast in the popular weekend sketch series in 1982, making her first appearance when she was just 21. At the time, she was the youngest female cast member in the show’s history.

However, in a new interview, Julia said that she still remembered receiving a call from her billionaire father Gérard Louis-Dreyfus after her first episode aired that broke her heart.

“I remember him saying something really negative to me,” she told Variety.

“He didn’t handle it properly, and he wasn’t gentle. His complaint was that I was too big, too broad. I was devastated by that.”

Refusing to name the sketch he was referencing, Julia, 62, said that she never told her father she’d agreed with his assessment of her appearance.

“No, he was such a narcissist, I didn’t even consider that,” she said. “And I say that with love in my heart.”

French-American businessman Gérard died in 2016 aged 84. In 2006, Forbes estimated that his net worth was worth an estimated $3.4bn (£2.7bn).

In September 2017, Julia announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy and was declared cancer-free one year later.

Seinfeld star Julia can next be seen in You Hurt My Feelings, a new comedy-drama debuting at the Sundance Film Festival this month.

Written by Can You Ever Forgive Me? writer Nicole Holofcener, it sees Julia star opposite The Crown actor Tobias Menzies.