Photo by Kevin Carroll

Of the many great scenes in Armando Iannucci’s 2009 film In the Loop, there’s one moment in which Malcolm Tucker, a wonderfully profane spin doctor for the British Prime Minister played by Peter Capaldi, visits with a White House staffer while on business in Washington. The aide, in a skewering of the youthful glow of the then-new Obama administration, is all of 23 years old. Tucker is quite displeased to be meeting with someone so apparently beneath his station. Then the cherubic staffer’s even-younger assistant enters with a tray of coffee and tea.

“Oh, look,” Tucker says. “It’s the fucking vice president.”

The vice president portrayed in the new HBO series Veep is closer in age to what you’d expect for someone who is either the second-most powerful or least powerful person in Washington. Veep, which premieres April 22 stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, recently installed as the first female vice president of the United States. But don’t take that casting to rush to judgment about whether Iannucci based his lead character on a certain former vice-presidential candidate. He didn’t.

To Iannucci, the notion that the vice president can be seemingly powerless and put-upon yet always one skipped heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world is the perfect fuel for a comedy of errors. Louis-Dreyfus’ character, much like Lyndon B. Johnson, commanded the Senate, yet as vice president feels closeted away. “But it could change overnight,” Iannucci says. Who knew it was possible to draw humor from Robert Caro’s biographies?

We spoke Wednesday at the United States Institute of Peace during the Washington premiere of Veep.

It’s been about three years since you made In the Loop. In that time there’s been some changes in American politics. What have you seen since In the Loop that you’ve brought to Veep?

Well, what I’ve noticed now is that politicians tend to identify themselves with what they don’t do. What they haven’t done. The two parties will say, “Vote for us because we vetoed this. We didn’t let that happen.” It’s actually gotten more and more. This negativity has really taken over the past couple years.

Is that Selina Meyer’s outlook?

I think she tries not to think like that. And like anyone she goes into politics with a certain set of principles and values. She’s been in D.C. for about 20 years, and over those years I suspect compromises start to be made. Certain views start being dropped.

With the vice presidency, it’s easy to think of it as this put-upon position or some monster like Dick Cheney. Why make a show about the vice presidency?

I like the comedy of being so near yet so far. Especially for someone like Selina who once was quite influential in the Senate thinking she’ll be more powerful as vice president, then realizing that power is gone. But it could change overnight. Who knows? Not just that she could be president one day, but also because the president can give her power. If they get on really well, she’ll get responsibilities. If she becomes unpopular, that power goes. I just think it’s a funny position to be in. Also, someone once told me—a chief of staff to a vice president said—you know America’s always about succeeding, winning, ambition, coming first. So to have a job description more or less identifying you as No. 2, is slightly demeaning. And you have to try to carry that all with dignity.

One of the things I loved about In the Loop is that it really skewered this kind of youthful ambition that American politics was full of then. And the cast of this is still pretty young. Do you think these people are a little more hardened now?

Yeah. I’m sure D.C. is still full of very ambitious 24-year-olds. We do have one member of the cast, Dan (played by Reid Scott), as the guy who comes in as being quite young but having read all the books about how Nixon did it and Johnson did it. He’s the guy who walks into the room and tries to work out who’s most influential. Like in Terminator, assessing the value of every person.

You’ve said you’re not really basing this on any one vice president, although are there any examples that you did draw from?

We deliberately didn’t dig around with specifics. I think though in terms of the type of vice president she is, I think maybe Al Gore had the relationship with Clinton that was more than just a figurehead No. 2. And I think that’s probably how Selina sees herself.

Actually, I think the situation you described her as being in sounds a lot of Lyndon Johnson being this very powerful senator.

Well, yes. I’m a big fan of the Robert Caro biographies, which are only just getting to the vice presidency. But that’s a prime example of someone who was very powerful—a very macho figure—in the Senate and then suddenly became vice president sitting by a desk strumming his fingers wondering what was going to happen next.