"I really do like to work. I will work again. But on my terms"
About this Quote
Work isn’t the point here; control is. Julia Louis-Dreyfus compresses a whole career arc into three clipped sentences that move like a negotiation. First, a preemptive defense: “I really do like to work.” In a culture that loves to punish successful women for wanting less visibility, she signals sincerity twice (“really do”) as if anticipating the cynic’s take: she’s not retiring, she’s not ungrateful, she’s not “difficult.” She’s inoculating herself against the narrative that stepping back is laziness or diva behavior.
Then comes the promise: “I will work again.” It’s future-tense reassurance aimed at the audience, the industry, and the gossip machine that treats any pause as a career obituary. There’s also a quiet flex in the certainty. Not “I hope,” not “maybe.” She’s earned the right to be definitive.
“But on my terms” is the payload. It reframes the relationship between performer and system: the schedule, the roles, the press cycle, the bodily demands, the emotional labor of being “game” all the time. Coming from a veteran comedian with nothing left to prove, it lands as both boundary-setting and cultural critique. Hollywood still runs on scarcity and compliance; the subtext is that a woman with leverage can renegotiate the contract, and a woman without it is expected to smile through the conditions.
The line works because it’s plainspoken but strategic: gratitude without submission, ambition without apology. It’s not a farewell. It’s a declaration of agency in an industry that monetizes access to you.
Then comes the promise: “I will work again.” It’s future-tense reassurance aimed at the audience, the industry, and the gossip machine that treats any pause as a career obituary. There’s also a quiet flex in the certainty. Not “I hope,” not “maybe.” She’s earned the right to be definitive.
“But on my terms” is the payload. It reframes the relationship between performer and system: the schedule, the roles, the press cycle, the bodily demands, the emotional labor of being “game” all the time. Coming from a veteran comedian with nothing left to prove, it lands as both boundary-setting and cultural critique. Hollywood still runs on scarcity and compliance; the subtext is that a woman with leverage can renegotiate the contract, and a woman without it is expected to smile through the conditions.
The line works because it’s plainspoken but strategic: gratitude without submission, ambition without apology. It’s not a farewell. It’s a declaration of agency in an industry that monetizes access to you.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work |
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