Long before she became Elaine Benes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a Northwestern University freshman chasing every stage opportunity she could find. One of those auditions changed her life.
A Campus Audition
She has said she met her future husband, writer and performer Brad Hall, when she auditioned for a production he was staging with the Practical Theatre Company on campus in the early 1980s.
She joined the troupe, sharpened her skills in Chicago’s busy comedy scene and later followed Hall to Saturday Night Live, where both became cast members. Louis-Dreyfus joined the show at just 21.
“The One”
On The Late Late Show in 2013, Louis-Dreyfus told Craig Ferguson she knew Hall was “the one” almost immediately, though she joked that some details would stay private.
A Long Hollywood Marriage
The couple married on June 25, 1987, in Santa Barbara, California, where Hall grew up. They have two sons and remain one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting partnerships.
Their careers have stayed intertwined, too. Hall went on to create the sitcom Watching Ellie, which starred Louis-Dreyfus, and the two have worked together on other projects over the years.
From Evanston to Network Television
Northwestern’s alumni magazine has highlighted their shared journey from Evanston sketch comedy to network television.
It’s a path that took Louis-Dreyfus from a college stage to Saturday Night Live, then to Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Veep, where she won a record-setting run of Emmys.
Through all of it, the person who was with her from that first audition has stayed by her side. Proof that some of the best comedy duos happen off screen.