Seinfeld And Veep Writer David Mandel Says Actors Like Julia Louis-Dreyfus Make His Job Easy
When it comes to delivering comedic hits, David Mandel knows a thing or two about making audiences laugh. While casual television viewers may not know Mandel by name, they've definitely dedicated hours to watching his punchlines hit. Best known for writing on "Saturday Night Live," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and most recently "Veep," Mandel has a CV that is the thing of dreams for would-be comedic writers.
Perhaps Mandel's most prolific gig is writing on "Seinfeld," which tops the list of best shows of all time. Mandel is responsible for writing nearly a dozen episodes on the series, per IMDB. His tenure on "Seinfeld" opened the doors to having a working relationship with show creator Larry David, who brought him on board for his satirical "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The cast and creatives of "Seinfeld" stick together, which is why Mandel eventually ended up working with Julia Louis-Dreyfus once again for her HBO political-comedy "Veep."
Mandel and Louis-Dreyfus, who have known each other for over thirty years, per The New Yorker, have a mutual admiration for one another, both on and off the set. The creative believes that actors like Louis-Dreyfus (who happens to have 12 Emmys — 10 thanks to "Veep" and "Seinfeld") make his job as a writer easy.
David Mandel and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are a successful duo
After working with one another on two different shows, David Mandel is confident that one of the keys to his success is Julia-Louis Dreyfus. "Julia makes it easy," the writer said at the 2019 Austin Film Festival (via KVUE). "It's very easy for me to look very good at my job when Julia and her ilk, if you will, are doing your lines." Mandel was appointed as the showrunner of "Veep" after original creator Armando Iannucci departed for personal reasons, per The Hollywood Reporter. Working with Louis-Drefyus on "Veep" was more hands-on, as both executive produced the HBO series together.
It wasn't lost on Mandel how he was (partly) responsible for both wrapping up "Seinfeld" and "Veep," two shows that have defined Louis-Dreyfus' career on the small screen. In an interview with Collider, Mandel opened up about how his relationship with the actress has only grown since the initial "Seinfeld" days. "It's such a wonderful partnership because I've always felt like she has had my back, from the beginning, on anything that I wanted to do with ["Veep"], and I've been able to have her back, as we started doing more and bigger and interesting other things with her character," the writer said. He previously described "Veep" as his and Louis-Dreyfus' show in an interview with the AV Club.
Like Mandel, Louis-Dreyfus is extremely versatile. While chatting with Variety, Mandel said that there are 1,000's of layers of the actress. "At any given time, she's playing 30 or 40 things in a scene, which allows her to be likable and unlikable, incompetent and very skilled," the creative said.