‘Seinfeld’ Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus Was Mortified by Something Barbra Streisand Told Her

Seinfeld or Veep fans may geek out over Julia Louis-Dreyfus. However, Louis-Dreyfus herself turned into a fangirl herself when it came to Barbra Streisand. Unfortunately, her encounter with the legendary singer, actor and director did not go as well as Louis-Dreyfus had imagined it for decades. 

Louis-Dreyfus was a guest on the Smartless podcast on Jan. 18. She told hosts Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett about her embarrassing meeting with Streisand. 

Before ‘Seinfeld,’ Julia Louis-Dreyfus grew up admiring Barbra Streisand

Louis-Dreyfus joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1982 and made movies like Troll and Christmas Vacation before joining the cast of Seinfeld. She said she grew up admiring multi-talented women, including Streisand. 

“There was a period of my life when I was really young where I would watch The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and Funny Girl all the time,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “This was back before they had videotapes so you would go to the movies every weekend and I would watch these movies over and over again.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus always wanted to meet Barbra Streisand

It’s not hard to imagine Louis-Dreyfus and Streisand having a lot in common. They are both funny performers. Maybe Louis-Dreyfus can’t sing and dance like Streisand, but they could connect over shared talents and interests.

“I remember thinking when I was really little that I just had to meet Barbra Streisand,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “I knew that if we met each other that we would become such best friends, I just knew it in my heart.”

Barbra Streisand did not recognize her from ‘Seinfeld’

Both Louis-Dreyfus and Streisand would become fixtures of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner for their political work. Photos put them at the same Dinner in 2013. Streisand must not have been a Seinfeld fan because she mistook Louis-Dreyfus for a waiter.

“I had the opportunity to meet her decades later,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “We were at the White House Correspondents dinner and I saw she was over there and I was like I’ve got to say something. And I went over to her and I said, ‘Hi Barbra, I’m Julia Louis-Dreyfus and I just wanted to tell you this is such a treat to meet you.’ She said something like, ‘No, I already told them what I wanted.’”

At least Julia Louis-Dreyfus got a good story out of it

Louis-Dreyfus gave up on trying to talk to Streisand immediately. 

“Oh, I just went, ‘Great, okay, yeah,’” she said. 

It almost sounds like an Elaine Benes story. Louis-Dreyfus roles with a good embarrassing story.

“There’s nothing like humiliation,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “It just cannot be overstated how those moments stay with you. The good things don’t really have the same stickiness but humiliation is unbelievable.”