Julia Louis-Dreyfus Explains How Beyoncé Helped Lift Spirits When Filming Veep's Final Season
Julia Louis-Dreyfus says there was not a dry eye on set when the cast of Veep shot their seventh and final season of the HBO political satire.
“When it was each character’s last scene, everyone was a wreck,” Louis-Dreyfus, 58, who has won six Emmy Awards for her portrayal of President Selina Meyer and is nominated again this year, tells PEOPLE.
Luckily, her costar, Matt Walsh, had a trick up his sleeve to cheer everyone up — and it involved a hit song by Beyoncé.
For more on Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
“[He] grabbed the mic and sang ‘Single Ladies.’ It was very bizarre, but he explained he was doing that so he wouldn’t cry,” she says.
Tony Hale, who plays Selina’s beleaguered assistant, Gary, and is also nominated for an Emmy, says the singing and crying combo made for an interesting dynamic on set.
“Of course we were all crying while he was dancing,” he says.
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Hale, 48, adds that the friendships he made with his fellow castmates is something he will cherish forever.
“Our characters are so awful to each other that we balance it by being crazy in love off-set,” he says.
Adds Louis-Dreyfus: “It’s a gorgeous thing for this show to be feted, but the real gift has been the actual
work itself and forming these relationships.”
The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
