Anna Maria Chlumsky (; born December 3, 1980
) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, and first became known for playing Vada Sultenfuss in the film ''
My Girl'' (1991) and its sequel, ''
My Girl 2''. Following her early roles, she went on hiatus from 1999 to 2005 to attend college.
Chlumsky returned to acting with roles in several independent films, including ''
Blood Car'' (2007) and ''
In the Loop'' (2009). She portrayed Amy Brookheimer on the
HBO television series ''
Veep'' (2012–2019), which earned her six nominations for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, among other accolades.
Early life
Chlumsky was born in Chicago, Illinois,
[ the daughter of Nancy (''née'' Zuncic), a singer, actress, and former flight attendant, and Frank Chlumsky Jr., a chef and saxophone player. She was raised in a ]Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
family. She is of Czech and Croatian descent.
Career
1989–1998: First roles
Chlumsky entered show business at an early age, modeling with her mother in an advertising campaign, though her roles in '' My Girl'' (1991) and '' My Girl 2'' (1994) brought her fame. She also starred in ''Trading Mom
''Trading Mom'', also known as ''The Mommy Market'', is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Tia Brelis, based on her mother Nancy Brelis' homonymous book. It stars Sissy Spacek, Anna Chlumsky, Aaron Michael Metchik, Maureen ...
'' (1994) with Sissy Spacek, and in '' Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain'' (1995) with Christina Ricci. In the mid- to late 1990s, she appeared and starred in several television films and series.
1999–2005: University and hiatus from acting
Chlumsky took a break from acting to attend the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in 2002. After college, she was hired as a fact-checker for the Zagat Survey and moved to New York City, which was followed by a position as an editorial assistant for a HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...
science fiction-fantasy imprint. However, she felt her career in the publishing industry was lackluster and unsatisfying, and ultimately returned to acting after she completed formal training at the Atlantic Acting School in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
.
2006–present: Return to acting
Chlumsky appeared as Mary Calvin in a season 17 episode of ''Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...
'', first airing on January 12, 2007; and as Lisa Klein in a season 20 episode, first airing on March 15, 2010. In March 2007, she appeared in the ''30 Rock
''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', ta ...
'' episode " The Fighting Irish" as Liz Lemler, a romantic rival of protagonist Liz Lemon, who receives flowers meant for Lemler. Chlumsky was in four episodes of the ABC dramedy '' Cupid'' in 2009. Later that year, she starred in the Lifetime Television movie '' 12 Men of Christmas'' as Jan Lucas.
She starred in the Off Broadway production of ''Unconditional'' by Brett C. Leonard at The Public Theater, which opened in February 2008; it was produced by the LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company is a non-profit, Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City. Led by Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz for many years, its artistic director is Ortiz. The New York Times described it in 2014 as "an ethnica ...
. She also starred in Lanford Wilson's '' Balm in Gilead'' in November 2005 at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City.
In 2009, she appeared in Armando Iannucci's BBC Films political satire '' In The Loop'', co-starring with Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), fo ...
, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, James Gandolfini, and Mimi Kennedy, a quasi-spinoff of Iannucci's BBC TV series '' The Thick of It''. She plays Liza, a State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
assistant in the movie. From 2012 to 2019, Chlumsky played Amy Brookheimer, aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character in HBO's '' Veep'', also produced by Iannucci. In June 2012, she starred in the world premiere of David Adjmi's 3C at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York.
Dan Aykroyd, who played her father in the two ''My Girl'' films, has said that a script for a third film has been in development since 2003. In April 2012, Chlumsky "put to rest" any rumors that such a film was in development. In addition to her role on ''Veep'', Chlumsky has appeared in multiple television series between 2011 and 2013, including ''White Collar White collar may refer to:
* White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...
'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and NBC's adaptation of ''Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...
''.
Chlumsky has appeared on Broadway in '' You Can't Take It with You'', and beginning in April 2015 as editor Iris Peabody in the comedy ''Living on Love'', with Renee Fleming, Jerry O'Connell and Douglas Sills.
In 2017, Chlumsky appeared in the fourth season of AMC Networks
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York.
AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC C ...
' '' Halt and Catch Fire'' as Dr. Katie Herman, the love interest of Gordon Clark ( Scoot McNairy).
In October 2019, Chlumsky was cast in a main role alongside Julia Garner in Shonda Rhimes' Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
limited drama series '' Inventing Anna''. Chlumsky will voice Charlotte Pickles in the Paramount+
Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Med ...
revival of ''Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...
''.
Personal life
In October 2007, Chlumsky announced her engagement to Army Reserve member Shaun So, who also served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. They met as students at the University of Chicago in 2000. They married on March 8, 2008 in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, New York, and have two daughters, born July 2013 and August 2016.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chlumsky, Anna
1980 births
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Chicago
American child actresses
American film actresses
American people of Czech descent
American people of Croatian descent
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
Living people
University of Chicago alumni