Julia Louis-Dreyfus is set to return to hit television series Veep for its seventh season. Filming starts this August, but episodes will air in 2019.
According to Dreyfus' castmate Matt Walsh, the award-winning actress has already completed her chemotherapy to treat breast cancer. Walsh says she has been present at table reads in preparation for Veep's next season.
"We've known for about a month," Walsh reveals to EW. "We've seen [Julia], she's done some table reads, she's doing well, she's finished her last chemo, she's in recuperation. Her prospectives have remained excellent throughout. She's very well loved; she's a tremendous person."
Walsh also commended his costar for willingly sharing the details of her breast cancer, saying that her openness has been a big help to women who are going through similar ordeals.
Due to her battle with breast cancer, Dreyfus skipped the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards where she picked up a pair of trophies for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series" and "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" with the rest of the Veep cast.
This is a record-breaking achievement as Dreyfus now holds more SAG awards than any other actor in history. She has a total of nine SAG trophies to her name.
Presenters Mandy Moore and Connie Britton accepted the award on her behalf, but Dreyfus took to Twitter to express her gratitude for the recognition. The actress also congratulated her costars for their ensemble award.
I wish I could have been @SAGawards tonight but have to admit it's pretty fun to watch in my pj's. So honored to win. So proud to be a union member. So happy for my @VeepHBO bozos for winning ensemble award. Miss being at the table with you all. How was the chicken?
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) January 22, 2018
After their SAG Awards win, the rest of the Veep cast spoke about her backstage, praising her work ethic and good spirits even throughout her health ordeals.
In a few months, filming for Veep will begin. However, viewers have to wait until next year to get the new episodes of the HBO comedy. The network hasn't even confirmed the schedule in an official capacity.
Casey Bloys, HBO programming president, assures that the upcoming season is set to be a big one.
"They pitched it out to us, it's really funny," Bloys says. "When Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] is ready to get back we'll be shooting - I'm not sure what date we settled on — but we're waiting for her to feel well enough to get back to it."
While disappointing to some fans, Veep is not the only hit series in television that will be skipping the entire 2018 season. Some of the most highly acclaimed shows are waiting until next year to release their next episodes including Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, True Detective, Big Little Lies, Fargo, and Rick and Morty.
