Julia Louis-Dreyfuss underwent six rounds of chemotherapy for breast cancer while working on 'Veep'
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss has revealed that she did not stop working despite undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
Even though the shooting for the show 'Veep' hadn't started when 58-year-old Julia was undergoing chemotherapy, she decided to use the time to read her lines while undergoing the treatment. "My rounds of chemotherapy were three weeks apart, so, at the end of every three weeks, I would go in and do table reads," she told PorterEdit.
Julia noted that, even though chemotherapy was tiring, her work kept her mind away from the stress it usually brings. "The effects of chemotherapy are cumulative, so I definitely felt that more towards the end, but going to work was a very joyful distraction, and I was so pleased to have the strength to do it," she said. "To be creative for a living, to make people laugh or cry, is a f***ing gift. I love it and I love hard work to that end."
Julia had opened up about her diagnosis in an Instagram post which she shared with her fans in September 2017. "1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one," Julia wrote on her Instagram. In October 2018, Julia revealed that she was cancer free and doing good. "Great doctors, great results, feeling happy and ready to rock after surgery. Hey cancer, 'F*ck you!," she had written back then.
Despite staying positive throughout her battle, the actress admitted that she was worried about how cancer would affect her ability to work. "I was very worried about would I have the brain power to get back to the hard work [of shooting]. I have to memorize a lot and I was concerned about whether I'd be able to do that. I started doing tricks, trying to memorize poems and things — I think it was mainly just comforting to me to get them in my head," she said. However, Julia admitted that her battle with cancer made her appreciate the little things in life.
"[Cancer] finally crystallized my priorities, which didn't really need that much crystallization. But I would certainly say that I have an even deeper appreciation for the good stuff. That sounds corny, but it's f***ing true," she said.
At the same time, she credited her work for giving her the strength to come forward to the world about her diagnosis. "If I hadn’t had a show that was RELYING on me, I don’t know that I would have gone so PUBLIC with [my cancer diagnosis]. But I had 200 people waiting to go BACK to work," she said.
Julia revealed that, with 'Veep', her aim was to represent powerful women while making sure that the comedic aspect of the show is still present. "My agenda was only ever to make an exceptionally funny show, but wouldn’t it be nice if it further opened up the conversation about powerful women?" she said during the interview. “Why is a powerful woman a complicated thing? Why is asserting ourselves so hard? I feel it myself; any time I assert myself in a strong way, or I feel highly opinionated about something in a work environment, there is a voice in my head that is questioning it, wondering if I should rein myself in.”
Julia also admitted that she would go on talking about healthcare because it is important for her. "Universal healthcare was an important issue to me prior to getting this diagnosis, and it certainly is even more so now," she said.
Even though the chemotherapy caused Julia to experience extreme nausea and diarrhea along with sores on her face and inside her mouth, the actress admitted that she is focusing on the good things in life.