Julie Louis-Dreyfus Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis, Family

Published: June 14, 2023

Julie Louis-Dreyfus Opens Up About Cancer Diagnosis, Family

By Movieguide® Contributor

SEINFELD actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus says her cancer diagnosis in 2017 changed her relationship with her family for the better.

“You hear it all the time, but the people that I relied on the most, besides the very capable doctors and nurses who took care of me, were my family and my close friends,” MSN reported of Louis-Dreyfus after she announced her diagnosis.

Louis-Dreyfus initially announced the news of her breast cancer on Twitter.

"1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I'm the one."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus just announced that she has breast cancer https://t.co/X9N866fuB7 pic.twitter.com/5Wkm3gQHY7

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 28, 2017

She wrote, “1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I’m the one. The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality.”

Although the scary diagnosis, Louis-Dreyfus relied on her family and friends to get her though which caused her relationship with her husband, Brad Hall and her sons, to flourish.

In an interview with The New Yorker Louis-Dreyfus stated that it was “The old cliché about laughter being the best medicine turns out to be true: when I was getting my hideous chemotherapy, I’d cram a bunch of friends and family into the tiny treatment room with me… We really did have some great laughs.”

“Of course, I was heavily medicated and slipping in and out of consciousness, so I was a pretty easy audience,” she added while wiping away tears. “My point is that laughter is a basic human need along with… love, and an HBO subscription,” she joked. “That would have worked better if I weren’t weeping.”

After a double mastectomy, Louis-Dreyfus announced that she was cancer free.

Louis-Dreyfus told PEOPLE “I was surrounded by people who were supporting me. That was hugely meaningful, and I needed it. It helped me to believe I was going to get through.”