Chlumsky spoke to 'Elle' magazine about 'My Girl' and her role as a journalist in 'Inventing Anna.'
Anna Chlumsky is sick of talking about My Girl. In a new interview with Elle magazine, the Inventing Anna actress spoke about life as a child star and how she eased back into acting.
"Yes. Unequivocally. You ever get sick of talking about that recital you did when you were 10?... Even though it’s been 30 years, people still want to be like, 'Oh no, but I still own you.' It’s really strange," Chlumsky said of how she feels when she gets asked about the '90s classic. "I used to just think it was lazy. But now I have to think that there’s something more to it."
Chlumsky eventually stepped away from acting to pursue a corporate career, but a fortune teller ended up drawing her back to the craft.
"She’s like, 'Are you the girl from My Girl?'" Chlumsky said. "I’m like, God da**it. Today? And then she’s, 'Wait. You’re not done. You want to keep doing it.'"
"It was $40 for a 10-minute palm reading," she added, noting that she followed the fortune teller back to her station. "And you’re not on a big salary at that point. I needed my money…It just goes to show you how desperate I am for answers, that I would pay $40 for 10 minutes on my lunch break."
Chlumsky even went back to school to hone her acting skills. The 41-year-old actress took classes at Manhattan’s Atlantic Acting School where she learned more about acting and "how to be a kid."
“I went to the Atlantic just to see what the craft is all about. And the first thing they say is, 'This is a play. It’s not called a tedium. It’s called a play. So we’re here to have fun,'" Chlumsky shared.
"I, literally — I had to go to school to find out how to be a kid," she said of her time back in the classroom.
These days, Chlumsky is starring in the miniseries, Inventing Anna, where she plays a journalist investigating the case of Anna Delvey, an Instagram-legendary heiress who stole the hearts and money of New York elites.
Chlumsky told the magazine that playing a journalist has actually helped her reframe how she asks questions.
"What I’ve been realizing on this press tour is, it weirdly is therapeutic that I played this type of a journalist, because I never would’ve known to ask you that," she explained. "It is helping me break down the defenses a little. Be human to human, as opposed to just going, 'Oh, you’re just out to get me.’ You know what I mean? Which is hard, because most of the way it shook out is that it was all just fodder."
Taking on the role of a journalist is one she's been interested in for a while now, and one she knew she had to take when the role of Vivian in Inventing Anna came up.
"I was always really interested in playing a journalist because I just kind of admired the ability to ask whatever you want," she added. "I was always interested in hotspot journalism and war time and stuff like that. And then when this [job] came in, I was like, 'Oh.' This is more akin to who I’ve met my whole life."
For more on Chlumsky including one of ET's first interviews with the actress, check out the video below.
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