How Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Cancer Diagnosis Impacted The Finale Of ‘Veep’

The world was on edge in 2017 when Julia Louis-Dreyfus revealed she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, the day after she won an Emmy for her role in Veep.

But, ironically, Veep‘s creator and show runner David Mandel said it might have actually helped the life of the show.

“Nobody wanted Julia to get cancer,” he told Vulture. “That being said, I do think I’ll look back and say to myself that Julia’s cancer was the best thing that happened to the series.”

Julia is now cancer free (thank God!) but her diagnosis put production on hold in 2017. She came back in 2018 after she finished treatment. But by then American culture and politics had taken a quick nosedive. That in itself allowed writers to reevaluate the premise of the final season.

Originally, Julia’s Selina Meyer was going to be back in the Vice President spot. But instead, David reworked the ending.

“There was the question of what is the final thing she might do if she really was so desperate to get the presidency?” David explained. “And I’ll admit, for a while we did not know what that was. Well, what’s the one thing you just don’t ever expect her to do? As mean and as horrible as it is, you kill your lovable screwup of a brother, and that’s [Tony Hale’s character] Gary.”

In the series finale, Selina becomes the president after framing Gary to take the fall for the financial crimes of the Meyer Fund. Tragically, once she wins the presidency, she realizes she’s alone.

Read the full interview at Vulture.