Chlumsky has appeared onstage in such productions as Measure for Measure, Darwin in Malibu, Half Life, The Butcherhouse Chronicles, The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero and Unconditional.
Her screen work includes the lead role in "My Girl" and "My Girl 2," "Uncle Buck," "Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain," "Cupid", "Law & Order" and "30 Rock."
She currently plays chief of staff Amy on HBO's "Veep."
| Full given name: | Anna Mary Chlumsky |
| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Broadview, IL |
| Zodiac Sign: | Sagittarius |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | Mom: Public school music teacher Dad: Chef/Culinary instructor |
| Siblings: | 1 half-brother. He rocks.  |
| Special skills: | Needlepoint and crochet |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Video games |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | The Secret Garden |
| If you could go back in time and catch any show, what would it be? | The original Into the Woods or Sweeney Todd |
| Did you have any particular mentors or inspirations as a young actor? | Inspirations: Vivien Leigh, Bernadette Peters, Bette Davis, Ann Miller.
Also, as a kid, I had this choreographer named Brenda Didier. I loved everything about her. I would wear warm-up clothes to school - jazz shoes, legwarmers and all - because I was so into her. |
| Current show you have been recommending to friends: | One Man, Two Guvnors and Once |
| Favorite showtunes of all time: | "Cabaret" "Broadway Baby" "Adelaide's Lament" "I Am What I Am" "The Impossible Dream" |
| Some favorite musicals: | A Little Night Music Into the Woods Show Boat Anything Goes La Cage aux Folles |
| Some favorite modern plays: | Pillowman The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? La Bête Ruined |
| Some favorite modern playwrights: | Edward Albee, John Guare, Nicky Silver, Rebecca Gilman, Amy Herzog |
| Stage or screen stars of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor, Gene Kelly, Marjorie Main |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | My family and I saw the revival tour of Show Boat at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. At the finale, the full company performed "Old Man River," and I get chills just thinking about it. |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Mahler, Tchaikovsky and Bernstein can all really get to me. Also, when PBS airs the clip of Zero Mostel performing "If I Were a Rich Man," I'm a mess. |
| You personal acting idols: | Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Emma Thompson, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, I could go on... |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most-visited websites: | art.sy, shopstyle.com, goodreads.com |
| Most played song on your iPod: | Lately the most-played is "Déjame Entrar" by Carlos Vives. |
| Last book you read: | "Devil in the White City" |
| Must-see TV show(s): | "Veep" (duh!), "Girls," "Game of Thrones," "Downton Abbey," "Nurse Jackie," "Justified," "So You Think You Can Dance." And a good dose of "RuPaul's Drag Race" can't hurt. 
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| Last good movie you saw: | "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" |
| Some films you consider classics: | "American in Paris," "Gone with the Wind," "The Godfather," "The Third Man, "Star Wars" trilogy, "Singin' in the Rain," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," "It Happened One Night" (again, I could go on...). |
| Three favorite cities: | New York, London, Brussels |
| Favorite sport/team/player: | Football (both American and European - it's a toss up) Bears and Barça
I've got a little crush on Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid, I must admit. |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Daniela Mercury |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | The Housewives on Bravo. All of 'em. |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" by the Beatles |
| First stage kiss: | I think it was this little Off-Off-Broadway showcase called The Colonel's Holiday. |
| Moment you knew you wanted to perform for a living: | Watching Mercedes Ruehl serve it in The Goat. |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | A pre/post-show meal is always great at 'Nizza on 9th. With a nice... (see next question) |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | ... Campari and Soda. |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | I like to vocalize and run my lines every day. At the show, putting the face on always gets me in gear. Wishing "merde" to the company. Doing a little roll up and down of the body to check in right before hitting the stage. |
| What drew you to this project? | It goes all over the place, and I was more than game for that ride. I love material that doesn't let anyone off the hook. This show's got balls. Kooky, wacko balls. |
| Was there any particular research or pre-preparation that went into this character? | "Connie" likes to draw connections between her life and the world around her, (as she sees it), so I watched several movies from 1978, just to touch on the pop culture of that year. Then Denny Terrio taught us some great disco moves. And - most importantly - there's the whole rehearsal process, which helped me to really dive into the character herself. |
| Any upcoming projects you can talk about? | My show "Veep" has been picked up for another season. Yay! |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | I said a post-spit-take line before the spit-take. So during the spit-take I panicked and did some weird Mr. Mooney-esque blubbering with my face, swishing my cheeks around and making a mess. Yipe! |
| Worst costume ever: | Some of the outfits in "Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain" were pretty rough - though accurate for the role. |
| Worst job you ever had: | Fact-checking in a window-less room for a year. |
| Some favorite screen or commercial roles: | I'm pretty partial to "Amy" in "Veep". I also really enjoyed the role I played in an episode of "Covert Affairs" - "Vivian." She was a hoot. |
| Who have you played on "Law & Order"? What editions? | I played a bad nanny and a loyal law student. Both on the "mothership." |
| Leading lady role you've been dying to play: | Antigone |
| Leading man role you wish you could play: | Ricky Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross |
| Something about you that surprises people: | That I have a membership at Midtown Comics. |
| Something you are incredibly proud of: | Being a show person |
| Something you're embarrassed to admit: | Sometimes I'll choose TV over yoga. |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | Equestrian rider? Wine grower? Hard to say. I really like being a performer. |
| Three things you can't live without: | Lip balm, World Cup and a cast-iron skillet |
| "I'll never understand why…" | ... some lessons are harder to learn than others. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | Of course you can! |
