September 17, 2017

'Veep' star Julia Louis-Dreyfus 'can't believe' historic Emmy win

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On Sunday night, "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus tied Cloris Leachman for the most individual Emmy Awards of any performer, with eight.

Six of those honors have come from her starring role as Selina Meyer on "Veep" — the most for any performer for one role — with the others from her parts in "Seinfeld" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine."

Backstage at the awards show, she expressed her delight at the honor and her respect for Leachman.

"I don't know what to say about it other than I'm sort of numb. I can't believe it," she told reporters. "I'm just incredibly honored and amazed this happened to me. It's just all very baffling and a s--- ton of good luck."

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
In this May 25, 2017, file photo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a cast member in the HBO series "Veep," poses at an Emmy For Your Consideration event for the show at the Television Academy in Los Angeles.
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Before tonight, Louis-Dreyfus, 56, won nine Emmys in total, including group honors. She has been nominated for 24 Emmys over her decadeslong career.

As she accepted tonight's award, she said the upcoming season of "Veep" has "a lot of surprises."

"We did have a whole storyline on an impeachment, but we abandoned that because we were worried" that someone "else might get to it first," she said.

Louis-Dreyfus called the part "the role of a lifetime."