Anna Chlumsky

Anna Chlumsky is an American actress born on December 3, 1980, in Chicago, Illinois. The daughter of Nancy Chlumsky, a singer, actress, and former flight attendant, and Frank Chlumsky Jr., a chef and saxophonist, she was raised in a Catholic household and is of Czech and Croatian descent.

Chlumsky entered the entertainment industry at a young age, first appearing in a bit part in the 1989 family comedy Uncle Buck alongside John Candy and Macaulay Culkin. Her earliest work also included modeling alongside her mother in an advertising campaign. She rose to prominence playing Vada Sultenfuss in the 1991 film My Girl, a role she reprised in the 1994 sequel My Girl 2, with Dan Aykroyd portraying her father in both films. Additional film credits from that period include Trading Mom (1994) with Sissy Spacek and Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) with Christina Ricci.

Chlumsky stepped away from acting between 1999 and 2005 to pursue her education at the University of Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies in 2002. After graduating, she relocated to New York City and worked as a fact-checker for the Zagat Survey before taking a position as an editorial assistant at a HarperCollins science fiction-fantasy imprint. She subsequently completed formal training at the Atlantic Acting School in Manhattan before resuming her acting career.

Her return to the stage included a 2005 production of Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City, followed by a starring role in Brett C. Leonard's Unconditional at The Public Theater, produced by the LAByrinth Theater Company and opening in February 2008. In June 2012, she appeared in the world premiere of David Adjmi's 3C at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

On screen, Chlumsky appeared in the 2007 independent film Blood Car and in Armando Iannucci's 2009 BBC Films political satire In the Loop, in which she played Liza, a State Department assistant, alongside Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, James Gandolfini, and Mimi Kennedy. Television credits from this period include a 2007 episode of Law & Order as Mary Calvin, a 2010 episode of the same series as Lisa Klein, four episodes of the ABC dramedy Cupid in 2009, an appearance in the 30 Rock episode "The Fighting Irish," and the 2009 Lifetime film 12 Men of Christmas, in which she starred as Jan Lucas.

From 2012 to 2019, Chlumsky portrayed Amy Brookheimer, aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character, on the HBO series Veep, also produced by Iannucci. The role earned her six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. During the same period, she made appearances on White Collar, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NBC's Hannibal. In 2017, she joined the fourth season of AMC's Halt and Catch Fire as Dr. Katie Herman, the love interest of Gordon Clark, played by Scoot McNairy.

Chlumsky's Broadway career spans 2014 to 2015, with appearances in two productions. She appeared in You Can't Take It with You and played editor Iris Peabody in the comedy Living on Love, beginning in 2015, alongside Renée Fleming, Jerry O'Connell, and Douglas Sills.

Later credits include a main role alongside Julia Garner in Shonda Rhimes' Netflix limited series Inventing Anna and a voice role as Charlotte Pickles in the 2021 Paramount+ revival of Rugrats.

In her personal life, Chlumsky met Shaun So, a member of the Army Reserve, while both were students at the University of Chicago in 2000. The two announced their engagement in October 2007, and married on March 8, 2008, in Brooklyn. So later served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. The couple has two daughters, born in July 2013 and August 2016.