In The Know

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: ‘Veep’ character ‘not a Kamala Harris type’

“Veep” actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus said her character on the hit HBO show was “not a Kamala Harris type” during a Friday MSNBC appearance and instead compared the fictional vice president to former President Trump.

“I play a very, shall we say, almost narcissistic, sociopathic, mega, maniacal type of person. I am not a Kamala Harris type,” Louis-Dreyfus told anchor Ari Melber about her role as Selina Mayer. “I am possibly much more like someone from the other party whose name I shall not even utter.”

The fond reference to Harris and critique of Trump comes just days before Louis-Dreyfus will participate in a “Veep” reunion to fundraise for Wisconsin Democrats, where Harris leads Trump by 2 points. The cast will do a table read of an episode of the HBO TV show, and Stephen Colbert will host the event.

Louis-Dreyfus also hosted a panel at the Democratic National Convention last month where she was joined by eight female Democratic governors, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.) and Gov. Katie Hobbs (Ariz.).

“I played a character who was a woman but who also hated being a woman and didn’t want to define herself as a woman because she thought it wouldn’t be an asset,” Louis-Dreyfus told Melber about on Friday night. “She didn’t want to call attention to that fact. So, in other words, we were just turning it inside out and back onto itself.”


“But I think that the more women we have in government the better government might be led,” the 11-time Emmy winning actor added.

Over the past four years, the “Veep” cast has reunited several times for Democratic efforts, including a 2022 midterm election benefit and a virtual event in support of President Biden’s 2020 campaign.