Julia Louis-Dreyfus discusses her new show, "Watching Ellie," which highlights her talent for physical comedy. She talks about how physical comedy requires skill, though it often appears natural for her. Julia shares amusing personal anecdotes, including an incident where she walked into a pole while being recognized by admirers. She reflects on the challenges and humor of being a well-known public figure.

During the interview, Julia touches on her experiences with live audiences and how they impact her performances. She explains the contrasting energy levels between filming with a live audience versus without one, acknowledging the boost of energy she receives from audience reactions. Julia also recalls a particularly challenging day on the set of "Seinfeld" when an on-set accident occurred.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. ebullient [ɪˈbʊliənt] - (adjective) - Cheerful and full of energy. - Synonyms: (exuberant, enthusiastic, lively)

And they were incredibly nice, but very sort of ebullient, if I could use an sat word.

2. filmic [ˈfɪlmɪk] - (adjective) - Having qualities characteristic of a film. - Synonyms: (cinematic, movie-like, visual)

It's very filmic and everything, but the truth is, when you're trying to tell a joke, it's really nice to have people there to respond to it.

3. ebullient [ɪˈbʊliənt] - (adjective) - Cheerful and full of energy. - Synonyms: (exuberant, enthusiastic, lively)

And they were incredibly nice, but very sort of ebullient, if I could use an sat word.

4. sustainability [səˌsteɪnəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - Ability to maintain or support an activity or process over the long term. - Synonyms: (durability, viability, endurance)

Julia is committed to environmental sustainability, as demonstrated by her choice to drive an electric car.

5. eco-friendly [ˈiːkoʊ-ˈfrɛndli] - (adjective) - Not harmful to the environment. - Synonyms: (environmentally friendly, green, sustainable)

No, it's a very cool, fast, fabulous, environmentally correct, not dependent on foreign oil kind of vehicles.

6. comedy [ˈkɒmədi] - (noun) - A genre of dramatic performance intended to make an audience laugh. - Synonyms: (humor, satire, farce)

This show you show once again, because you did it so well on Seinfeld, you show that you just, you have this gift for physical comedy.

7. profound [prəˈfaʊnd] - (adjective) - Having deep insight or understanding. - Synonyms: (deep, thoughtful, insightful)

I'm a very profound person

8. comedy [ˈkɒmədi] - (noun) - A genre of dramatic performance intended to make an audience laugh. - Synonyms: (humor, satire, farce)

Physical comedy is much harder than it looks.

9. audience [ˈɔːdiəns] - (noun) - A group of people watching or listening to a performance. - Synonyms: (spectators, viewers, listeners)

Watching Ellie this season, you decided you want to bring in an audience

10. comedic timing [kəˈmiːdɪk ˈtaɪmɪŋ] - (noun phrase) - The use of rhythm, tempo, and pacing to enhance comedic effect. - Synonyms: (comic timing, rhythm, tempo)

The presence of a live audience is vital, providing energy and enhancing comedic timing during show performances.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Awkward Encounter at a Nude Spa - Late Night with Conan O’Brien

It's my Wilma Flintstone 2003 outfit. Very nice. You look so good yourself. In fact, I noticed you looking at yourself on the monitor doing your. Oh my God, there I am again. Don't you look. You're so pretty. So don't you lean into my shot. I'm sorry? You just leaned into my shot. Thank you for being here. Well, it's my pleasure.

I was thinking this the other day, I was watching you gave you this new show, watching, yelling up. I do, yeah. And it's, well, new show. We had a season, now we're back for another half season. Exactly. And this show you show once again, because you did it so well on Seinfeld, you show that you just, you have this gift for physical comedy. Oh, how nice of you to do it. Well, it's very hard to find people who do it. People think, is that some kind of put down? Yeah. No, you have. It's very hard to find people that can do that. Physical comedy is much harder than it looks.

Is this something that comes naturally to you? Did you, like you practice? Is it something that you know. Yes, I practice. It doesn't. It comes naturally. Sometimes more naturally than I would care to admit. Oh. I mean, you're not intending to do physical comedy. It just comes out that way. Well, I consider myself to be a dramatic actress. Yes, exactly.

I was, I was recently in LA and I was coming down these stairs of a parking garage and I was on a cell phone and these two guys were walking towards me and I could see that they recognized who I was because they were sort of like that. And I sort of, you know, by myself. And I walk, walk, walk, bang, right into a pole. But I have to tell you something. It was a really, really hard thing. Into the polls, like, you walked into it fast. Yeah, fast, hard. And fell over. Okay. Well, these guys witnessed it all and they started laughing.

It was terrible story. And then what I did was I just pretended as if it had hadn't happened. Right. Just denial set in. Yeah, well, I just pretended. I just sort of just sort of got up and tried not to cry and pretended as if that just didn't happen. I didn't acknowledge it. And it was grotesque.

That's the tough thing, though, is that, you know, you're so recognizable when something like that happens to you, you're not allowed for it just to be your own private embarrassment. Probably. People are always seeing, you know, anytime you make any kind of mistake at all. Yeah. You know, people recognize you and they know that it's happened. But it was a strange thing. It was a strange instinct I had to pretend as if it hadn't happened.

There was a boy I was once in. I took dance school when I was a little girl. You know, those cotillion things that are so grotesque? And I was. And I was dancing with this boy, and we were sort of twirling around, and all of a sudden he kissed me. It was in 6th grade. And then he pulled back and he went, who did that? Oh, my God. Wait a minute. It had through the same flavor. Oh, my God.

Do people. You know, I was thinking about this today because in preparation for this interview, there's, I can tell you, prepared. I prepare both body and mind for every interview. Yes, I do. You don't even want to know what I do. Right? Well, you keep it private. That's right. Yes, I keep it private. That's my thing. It's my process.

But you are so known, I'm curious. People must just think, oh, I know her. And go up to you and start talking to you all the time just because they know you from tv. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you're in their house and stuff and their little television, so. Yeah, they do. We had. I was in a restaurant once of this spa place that we were at, and this whole family came up and said, oh, my God, it's you. And up and up and up.

And they were incredibly nice, but very sort of ebullient, if I could use an sat word. Okay, so you were feverish. I have no idea what you just. Yeah, exactly. I'm a Boolean sometimes, too. So, anyway, so you were. So, anyway, so they were very nice, blah, blah, blah. And so later, I was in the spa, and so I was gonna go take a jacuzzi, and I was in the women's section, and I'm about to walk down to the jacuzzi. So I didn't have any clothes on. And they happened to walk in right at that moment, and they went, now we know what you look like naked? Who says that?

Now, this. Watching Ellie this season, you decided you want to bring in an audience. Yes. And that. That helped you like that much better, don't you? I do. I do like it better. I mean, do you like having these guys here? I find now you put me on the spot. Cause there's only one answer to that question. No, I despise them and loathe them. It's a double edged sword.

95% of the time, an audience gives you energy, and they give you. They give you all this power. 5% of the time, they suck the marrow out of your bones and leave you going home sad and depressed. Well, I think for me, you know, we did this all single camera the first season, which is great because it looks fabulous. It's very filmic and everything, but the truth is, when you're trying to tell a joke, it's really nice to have people there to respond to it, and then you can sort of gauge your performance and everything like that. I've loved it.

I will say that there are a lot of days when I don't feel like I have the energy to go do a show. I'm not feeling great. And I come out for the warmup, and the audience is really happy, and I suddenly have all this energy that I would not have had, you know, if we didn't have an audience. So I think it does make a huge difference.

Did you know I did a show once? I had 102 fever. No, I did. And in that same show, it was a Seinfeld episode. In that same Seinfeld episode, Michael Richards had to do a sort of a move with a golf clubs, and he hit me in the head with a bag of golf clubs. Split my eye. Oh, my God. One of those situations. Yeah.

Before we go, I wanted to ask you about something, which is you drive, and I don't own one, and I don't actually have any friends who own one. You drive an electric car. I do. Because you're very echo responsible. I'm an environmental activist, wacko type. Well, I don't think it's wacko. I think it's a very good thing.

Tell us, is this. Can this thing. No, that's a good thing. People are happy about it. Yeah. I've always had this prejudice against these cars, which is, I've always thought if I went and got one and you were in trouble and you had to lean on the gas pedal, they'd go like 9 miles an hour. No. And flowers would come out the exhaust pipe. Is that the case or is that not changing? Yeah, right. Exactly.

No, it goes fast. I mean, yeah, my husband got a speeding ticket in ithemenous 85. He's probably bragging to the officer, you know, I was doing 85 in my eco friendly car. It runs on fertilizer. Yeah, completely. No, it's a very. It's a very cool, fast, fabulous, environmentally correct, not dependent on foreign oil kind of vehicles. This is a good thing. People should have more of these.

Is it sexy looking? Well, I think it's sexy to make a political decision, and I think so, too. Integrated into your life. But don't you, Conan? I agree, but they've got to start making them look like Lamborghinis. Then every jerk will and get one. Yeah, perhaps they will. When they make it look like Porsches and Lamborghinis, everyone will go get one, and then the world would be a better place. It would be awesome. That's the kind of world I want to live in, where everyone has a Porsche Lamborghini.

See, I stand for things. I see that. I'm a very profound person. Yeah. I am. Watching Ellie airs Tuesday nights at 930 right here on NBC.

Comedy, Television, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Entertainment, Humor, Technology, Conan O'Brien