--- title: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says SNL Was 'Sexist Environment' description: TV has come a long way since then, but she can’t say the same for film and politics. canonical: https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/ author: Maggie Parker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-15T18:05:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:15.844Z og:title: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says SNL Was a 'Sexist Environment' When She Was a Cast Member og:description: TV has come a long way since then, but she can’t say the same for film and politics og:url: https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa411d18340cd4b9/69888f4b3c16399aa545cdf3/julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says SNL Was a 'Sexist Environment' When She Was a Cast Member twitter:description: TV has come a long way since then, but she can’t say the same for film and politics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa411d18340cd4b9/69888f4b3c16399aa545cdf3/julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says _SNL_ Was a 'Sexist Environment' When She Was a Cast Member by [Maggie Parker](https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Apr 15, 2016 6:05 PM UTC  poses in the press room at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. poses in the press room at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.Jason Merritt/Getty Images by [Maggie Parker](https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Apr 15, 2016 6:05 PM UTC Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns to her old stomping grounds at _Saturday Night Live_ to host the show this weekend, but she says she doesn’t look back on her time there fondly—just “fondly-ish.” Women on the show in that era were not given equal treatment “at all,” Louis-Dreyfus told [The New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/arts/television/julia-louis-dreyfus-on-clinton-trump-and-anelection-year-veep.html?%5Fr=2) in an interview in the April 17 edition of the paper. “It was a very sexist environment,” the _Seinfeld_ and _Veep_ star said. “I didn’t do anything particularly great when I was there. … I did not come out of ‘S.N.L.’ as any kind of name.” The good news is that the show has come a long way since then. “Since I’ve gone back, I can tell you it’s much more of an equal-opportunity environment,” said Louis-Dreyfus. The _Veep_ star says this is indicative of an increasing number of roles for women in television: “Opportunity for women in television has increased. It’s because the landscape has widened. More women got on the playing field. … I’m certain that there’s more much more in television that can be done. And I’m trying to do it. But I’ve certainly seen it change in my lifetime.” Unfortunately, not all industries have embraced inclusiveness. “Opportunity for women in film has not increased,” said Louis-Dreyfus. “I just think it’s that simple.” She says the same for politics, where, according to the actress, “a stern, decisive man is appealing. There are those who would say a stern, decisive woman is unappealing. Need you know any more than that?” **_Read more:_** [_Taylor Swift Calls Out the Double Standard for Successful Women_](http://motto.time.com/4295191/taylor-swift-double-standards/) Louis-Dreyfus says she is going to vote for “whoever the Democrat is. Period. End of story.” But right now, she’s the one in office, as her character Selina Meyer is POTUS on HBO’s _Veep_, the new season of which premieres April 24\. “I’m certainly happy to be playing a woman in a powerful position in politics, even though she’s a buffoon,” she said. “And I don’t say that apologetically because think of all the buffoons in politics right now.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/"},"headline":"Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says SNL Was a 'Sexist Environment' When She Was a Cast Member","datePublished":"2016-04-15T18:05:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:15.844Z","description":"TV has come a long way since then, but she can’t say the same for film and politics","url":"https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa411d18340cd4b9/69888f4b3c16399aa545cdf3/julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maggie Parker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa411d18340cd4b9/69888f4b3c16399aa545cdf3/julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"julia-louis-dreyfus-sexism-snl","caption":"poses in the press room at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.","creditText":"Jason Merritt/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4295730/julia-louis-dreyfus-snl-sexism/","name":"Julia Louis-Dreyfus Says SNL Was a 'Sexist Environment' When She Was a Cast Member"}}]}] ```