Seinfeld was legendarily about “nothing,” but really it was about the four main cast members of the show, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ending up in ridiculous situations. In a case of life imitating art, Louis-Dreyfus found herself in a very Seinfeldian situation when giving birth to her oldest son and a nurse recognized her.
While speaking to Ina Garten on Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast Wiser Than Me, the two recognizable women talked about what it was like to be confronted by fans, and how sometimes those fans, according to Louis-Dreyfus, “feel like you’re a friend.” For Louis-Dreyfus, it once happened at a most inconvenient time, just as she went into labor.
I was giving birth and, when you’re in labor, they put that monitor around your tummy. And I was in the bathroom and I was naked, and I had the thing around my tummy and I was massive, by the way. I gained like 50 pounds when I was pregnant. And I was standing there, and my water broke, and all of a sudden a nurse came into the room and I went, ‘My water broke!’ Okay, reminding you [I’m] naked. And she goes, ‘Elaine!’
It’s not a moment most people would appreciate, and honestly it’s a little shocking to me that a nurse of all people would be the one that would do something like that, during a time like that. Louis-Dreyfus wasn’t impressed, to say the least,
It was so awful. Isn’t that crazy?
Awful probably doesn’t even begin to describe it. Sure, giving birth to your child is a beautiful, amazing thing, but that doesn’t mean you’re up for joking around with the hospital staff! It’s hard enough, as Louis-Dreyfus mentions earlier in the conversation that fans always expect her to be funny, but standing naked in a bathroom about to go to labor probably isn’t a time anyone should ever be expected to be funny, even Elaine Benes!
Decades later it’s a hilarious story that feels like it could be ripped straight from the script of a great Seinfeld episode with a title like “The Obstetrics Nurse,” or “The Hospital Bathroom.” You can just picture George outside the delivery room diving to stop the nurse from entering the bathroom as Jerry stands stunned at what he’s seeing and Kramer up to a ridiculous scheme and asking the doctor if he enjoys the Salsbury Steak at the hospital cafeteria.
In this day and age of streaming everything we want, whenever we want, it’s easy for people to feel connected to their favorite TV characters, and Elaine has long been among the funniest. For the real people behind those characters, it can lead to some incredibly awkward moments. So let’s all remember not to bother any stars as they give birth, lest you get called out on a podcast years later.
Speaking of streaming, if you want to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the rest of her pals, you can stream Seinfeld with a Netflix subscription.