This was no laughing matter.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus recalled a heated argument between Seinfeld co-creator Larry David and executives at production company Castle Rock Entertainment during the filming of a season two episode of the sitcom.
In the ninth episode of that season, titled “The Deal,” Elaine Benez, played by Louis-Dreyfus, and her best friend Jerry Seinfeld sleep together.
However, the duo vow to remain friends strictly for benefits.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Louis-Dreyfus revealed on Thursday’s episode of the Awards Chatter podcast, “In that episode, Jerry and Elaine were sleeping together and they were kind of making a deal about it, so there was a big fight on set about it.”
The actress said there was “tension between David, 78, and Castle Rock about whether or not this should be in his will.”
Louis-Dreyfus added: “Larry was furious. He didn’t want anything to do with romance, anything cute, anything sexy.”
Over the course of the show’s nine-season run from 1989 to 1998, Elaine and Jerry remained good friends throughout, so David finally got his way.
Meanwhile, Louis-Dreyfus, 65, had her own frustrations early on in the series.
It turned out that her character, Elaine, was “not included in the pilot” and the project almost never aired.
“NBC didn’t want to do the show, but then a guy named Rick Ludwin, who was in charge of specials at NBC, decided he was going to try to keep it going and put the late-night budget into these four episodes,” she said. “Love Rick Ludwin. He has passed away, but he was an incredible man. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude.”
When Louis-Dreyfus began filming, she knew she had stumbled upon something special.
“There was a familiar rhythm to comedy on TV, and I’m not saying that in a negative way, it just happened,” she mused. “This show wasn’t like that. This show was almost an anti-joke in a way.”
The “Veep” actress said, “I noticed the difference in the pages and thought, wow, this is crazy. It’s like my friend is hacking into the system and fooling everyone.”
The sitcom starred Louis-Dreyfus and Seinfeld, 72, as well as Michael Richards and Jason Alexander as four friends navigating life in New York City.
This sitcom, co-created by Seinfeld and David, received many accolades during its run.
In 1996, Louis-Dreyfus won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
