When the political satire comedy television seriesVeepdebuted on HBO in 2012, one of the most pleasant surprises from the show was the engaging, funny performance ofAnna Chlumskyas Amy Brookheimer, the driven, no-nonsense, and witty chief of staff for the show’s fictional Vice President of the United States, Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
While Chlumsky’s debut onVeepmarked her introduction to some of the show’s viewers, for those viewers who recall her endearing, touching star-making performance as Vada Sultenfuss in the 1991 coming-of-age comedy-drama filmMy Girl,seeing her triumphant reemergence onVeepwas like being reunited with a long-lost childhood classmateor friend whose later life has been full of twists and turns.
Like otherformer child starswho have been able to transcend their child stardom and become successful adult performers, Chlumsky’s success seems to be grounded in her own successful transition into adulthood, as evidenced by the fact that she stopped acting in the late 1990s to attend university and ostensibly lead a normal life. Moreover, amid the legion of tragic former child-star and teen idol stories throughout history,Chlumsky’s successful career comebackserves as an inspiring antidote to the enduring perception that former child and teen stars are inevitably doomed to failure and misery in their adult lives.
Anna Chlumsky Escaped Her Child-Star Past
Anna Chlumsky was only 10 years old when she was cast in her feature-film acting debut inMy Girlas Vada, a curious and precocious 11-year-old girl in the summer of 1972 who has an intense need for attention and suffers from hypochondria. Vada’s obsession with death, which is exacerbated by the fact that her mortician father operates a funeral parlor out of their home, is inspired by the death of her mother, who died while giving birth to Vada.
The film’s enduring reputation for being one of the mostemotionally powerful coming-of-age filmsof its era is a testament to the performance of Chlumsky, who brings such a natural, unforced sense of amazement and innocence to her performance that Vada becomes an instantly relatable and sympathetic character. This is most evident during the film’s tear-jerking ending, which is deeply moving precisely because of the great sense of loss that she is able to project.
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AfterMy Girl, Chlumsky next starred in the 1994 sequel,My Girl 2, a commercial and critical failure. AfterMy Girl 2, she appeared in the 1994 comedy filmTrading Momand the 1995 adventure filmGold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain, both of which were commercial and critical failures. With Chlumsky becoming tired of acting and her career losing momentum, she stopped acting in 1999 and enrolled at the University of Chicago, where she graduated in 2002.
In 2005, Chlumsky, after getting married and working in the New York publishing industry for several years, decided to quit her job and enroll in drama school with the intention of restarting her acting career. Between 2007 and 2010, beginning with a starring role in the low-budget 2007 horror filmBlood Car, she appeared in a flurry of film and television projects, most notably the 2009political satire comedyfilmInto the Loop, in which she plays Liza Weld, a sharp-tongued political operative.
Into the Loopmarked the beginning of her relationship with the film’s co-writer and director,Veepcreator Armando Iannucci, who was so impressed with Chlumsky’s performance inInto the Loopthat hedeveloped the Amy Brookheimer character onVeepspecifically for her.
From My Girl to Veep, Chlumsky Blossomed Into a Talented Actress
Anna Chlumsky became the secret weapon ofVeep, in which her character, Amy Brookheimer, officially serves as Vice President Selina Meyer’s chief of staff but can more accurately be described as the vice president’s bullet-taker, fixer, and psychologist, among various other unofficial duties that Amy performs in her obsessive service of the vice president’s political survival.
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Amy’s personal life is every bit as chaotic as her career. At the end of Season 6, it is revealed that Amy has become pregnant following a one-night stand with Dan, a fellow political aide. However, Amy decides to have an abortion in Season 7, which is also when Amy leaves Selina’s team to become campaign manager for the presidential campaign of rival Jonah Ryan, who is eventually chosen to be Selina’s presidential running mate and then serves as Selina’s vice president before being impeached.
Chlumsky Is a Great Child-Star Success Story
Anna Chlumsky is part of a small group of former child stars who quit acting altogether before successfully reinventing themselvesas adult performers. One of the closest comparable examples to Chlumsky is Mayim Bialik, who first gained fame in the 1988 filmBeachesand the 1990s sitcomBlossom. After leaving acting to gain a doctoral degree in neuroscience, Bialik returned to Hollywood to play the role of Amy Farrah Fowler on the hit CBS sitcomThe Big Bang Theoryfrom 2010 to 2019 and thenhosted the game showJeopardy!between 2021 and 2023.
The greatest comeback arguablybelongs to Ke Huy Quan, who first gained fame with co-starring roles in the blockbuster 1980s filmsThe GooniesandIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. After an approximately 20-year break from acting, Quan stunningly reappeared in the 2022 comedy-drama filmEverything Everywhere All at Once, which brought Quan an Academy Award.
The common element in these comeback stories is the ability of these former child stars to first find balance and happiness in their lives before resuming their careers. While Chlumsky, who is set to star opposite Rebel Wilson in theupcoming action comedyfilmBride Hard, continues to work steadily since the end ofVeepin 2019, there is the sense that while Chlumsky is rightfully proud of her career, her career doesn’t define her.Veepis streaming onMax.
