Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Kissing, Roasting Stephen Colbert on Late Show

Julia Louis-Dreyfus made her final visit to Stephen Colbert‘s The Late Show on Tuesday, and while there was much levity, the heaviness of the moment was not lost on the Veep star. When parent company Paramount canceled Colbert’s No. 1 show in late night, the choice shocked the industry and his industry pals, including Louis-Dreyfus. Now after 11 seasons and many visits to his couch, she talks to The Hollywood Reporter below about crafting her hilarious and touching goodbye, which included roasting the late night host in her Veep character, Selina Meyer, and even locking lips with him before he signs off the air on May 21.

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So what was it like kissing Stephen Colbert?

Awkward. It was so awkward. As we started to do this bit, I thought, “Oh no. Is this gonna work?” (Laughs.) I get very cold feet. He goes to me, “Your husband’s backstage,” and of course, Evie [Colbert] is backstage too. We were all just dying. It was AWKWARD.

How many times have you been a guest on Colbert’s Late Show?

I want to say seven or eight times.

Did you grow emotional when you were backstage for this final time?

I actually did. I went downstairs and I was with the writers beforehand, as we were going over the bit where he asks stars questions under the stars. We were going over the material. I came in early to rehearse it, and some jokes worked and some didn’t. So I came down to the writers room and we were trying new material, and Stephen introduced me to each person in the room. I was struck by the heaviness of this moment and I told them how much I appreciated what they were doing and the value that I believe this show brings to our culture, and of course they’re a part of that. So it’s definitely a great loss, and I felt it when I was in the innards of the show with those guys.

You did roast his cancellation. But to what you just said, in all seriousness, what worries you most about not having Colbert around to hold people accountable on late night TV?

Well, he holds a very powerful mirror up to our democracy. I believe that it’s the comedians who we rely on in these trying times. This is right out of the authoritarian playbook, so I’m deeply concerned as an artist. Period.

You two are very close. How do you describe your friendship, and your admiration for Colbert as a host?

My friendship with him is just easy. You know when you meet people and think, “I feel like I’ve known this person my whole life”? That’s how I feel about him. Our paths have crossed a lot. I was a little bit ahead of him at Northwestern [University], and I was a little bit ahead of him in Chicago [at Second City]. But we know a lot of the same people and we just kind of align comedically and with a way of viewing the world. We have a shared set of values. And I put [Colbert’s wife] Evie in that category, too. Because then when I got to meet and really spend time with Evie, she’s like a long lost friend. I just have a gas with those guys. We had so much fun in Italy. It’s just easy. There’s no bullshit.

When you started thinking about what you wanted to present Stephen with as a parting gift, I love that you went back to your Veep well. Did it take a while to decide how you would roast him as Selina Meyer, and how much fun did you have revisiting your character to do that?

I had so much fun. I mean, the list was long. You can ask [Veep showrunner/writer] Dave Mandel. There were 11 jokes last night out of maybe 150 pitched. You’re familiar with the Veep process. We refer to them as alts. This was nothing but alts. Alts for days. So it was just figuring out which ones to use. It was also a strange setting because it’s not a scene and I’m not bouncing it off another actor with a lot of other things going on. So the spotlight was on in a different kind of way. But I could have done it all day long. The segment could have been the entire time.

Along with David Mandel, what writers can be credited for those lines?

Lew Morton, Billy Kimball, Danny O’Keefe, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Rachel Axler, Jen Crittenden, Gabby Greenberg, Georgia Pritchett, Emilia Barrosse and Ruben Martinez.

The Veep clip that you picked was epic [screaming at Tony Hale’s Gary when he asks if she wants six almonds]. How did you decide which blooper to include?

I was talking to one of their show producers and she was asking me what my most difficult moment to get through on Veep was, and that came to mind. Then I remembered we had multiple takes of it (laughing), and Dave [Mandel] saves everything. He has everything. So I knew if anyone would have it, it would be him.

Does revisiting Veep here make you want to revisit Veep for real?

Not in these circumstances. Honestly, the Trump shit show is doing the seriously dramatic version of Veep. So not in this environment, definitely not. Everything he’s doing, if we’d done it on Veep, we would have been skewered for being too broad and not believable.

Back to Colbert, what do you hope he does next?

His bright future is so bright. I can’t wait to see what he does. This man is so intelligent and has so much to offer, he’s just going to move onto bigger and better things. This I know for sure in my heart, and I can’t wait to witness it — and who knows, maybe even be a part of it. I just love him to death. He is a machine when it comes to creativity. He’s a creative machine and I just can’t wait to see what he does.

What would you like to collaborate with him on?

Oh, I don’t know. I just like him. I just like working with him. I like being with him. I say that very off-handedly, but when you meet people you like in show business, it’s nice to keep them close. I’ve done that my whole life, and it’s worked out well. And I count Stephen and Evie as those people.

Will you celebrate, or mourn, with him when his show ends on May 21?

Sadly, I can’t be in New York next week, because I’m in Europe now [for Cannes]. I almost didn’t make the plane because the show last night went super long. They had to cut it down. So I’m in Europe for the next two weeks, otherwise I’d be at the party to celebrate him.

You are coming back to TV in your first series regular role since Veep with Nanny Squatter for Apple. What can you tease about that limited series?

It’s in development, so nothing to tease yet. But I am at Cannes right now to celebrate this movie Tangles that I’m in and produced. It’s an animated feature. I’m really excited about that.