Anna Chlumsky On Veep: 'It Was Life-Changing'
(CBS Local)-- University of Chicago graduate Anna Chlumsky has one of the most interesting career arcs in Hollywood today.
Chlumsky sprung on the scene in "My Girl" with Macaulay Culkin, Dan Aykroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis, took time off from acting, got her degree from the University of Chicago and then became a mainstay on "Veep" as Amy Brookheimer. As "Veep" comes to an end after seven seasons, Chlumsky says she wouldn't change anything about her path.
"The best kind of privilege I had because of having a childhood in the business was that it wasn't difficult to get an agent," said Chlumsky in an interview with CBS Local. That is huge for anyone coming into the business, that is a major first hurdle. My agents were very helpful about me going and getting training and doing a ton of free theater. You have to beat the pavement and you have to get chops. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Chlumsky is a self-proclaimed acting nerd and has documented all of her experiences in the business.
"I have a scene book that I always have with me that has all my notes from everything I've done," said Chlumsky. "It comes in handy often, especially in a series. They will do reshoots or a flashback and it's very helpful to know what you were doing in a scene back then. I'm happy that I still have that technique to be my anchor."
While Clumsky has had many great experiences working with people like Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Gary Cole, she will never forget her time as a student at the University of Chicago.
"I just kind of went to thinking about the dining halls and our library and writing papers," said Clumsky. "I loved it. It's not an easy school. I don't shy away from challenge and I appreciate it. The University of Chicago has a really rigorous core and sometime you find yourself in certain bio classes you don't belong in. I revere so many of my classes and I still fall back on them. I was talking to someone today about nationalism and I wrote my thesis on that."
With the series finale of "Veep" coming this Sunday on HBO, Chlumsky hopes fans remember a few different things about her character Amy and the show.
"It was really fun to build somebody that was presumably a wunderkind and then bring in the other wunderkind that was Dan," said Chlusmky. "You could build their rivalry and imagine their rivalry before the show even starts...The show is phenomenal and it went from something you enjoy making to something the whole world consumes as their own. It was life-changing and all of the relationships are going to be different now. It takes up so much of your life and I have so many memories."