Why Molly From They/Them Looks So Familiar
"They/Them" is an LGBTQIA+ themed American slasher film. It's not particularly scary because it's less about whether or not the protagonists will perish at the hands of a mysterious murderer and more about karmic retribution upon conversion camps, something every rational human being is on board with. As each member of the staff falls prey to the killer, even Owen Whistler (THE Kevin Bacon, who apparently adores horror films), there's one who stands by the campers, lending a hand wherever possible: Molly Erickson.
For those who haven't watched "They/Them" yet, Molly is actually Angie Phelps ... and that name won't mean anything either, because how would it? Look, she's the killer, the one bumping off the bad guys, and she absolutely looks familiar, because her performer has been rocking the industry since 1989.
According to her IMDb page, this actor been a part of at least 45 fully released projects, many of which ran for years on end. In honor of a successful career, let's take a brief look at some of the highlights in the sprawling filmography of Anna Chlumsky (the "h" is silent, per The Los Angeles Times).
Chlumsky did Cupid -- twice
Some productions don't work out and that's the end of it. Others don't work out and then get rebooted a decade later only to not work out a second time. That's "Cupid," an ABC series about the god of love taking human form as a punishment for his pride. To earn his way back into the god's good graces, he must play matchmaker for 100 couples, all of which must experience "true love." Aside from flagrantly combining Roman and Greek mythological nomenclature, "Cupid" is really just a silly show about an overly aggressive wingman, and the only interesting piece of trivia to outlast these productions is that Anna Chlumsky appeared in both versions.
Call it bad luck or admirable dedication, Chlumsky stuck it out. She appeared in the 1998 series for a singular episode as a bit character named Jill and, in the 2009 version of the series, she was a recurring character named Josie. Tragically, the actress seems to have never officially spoken about this unique repetition on her resume. That being said, considering how it was a failed project on both fronts, no one can really blame her.
Hannibal saw Chlumsky lose an arm
Cannibalism is a hard sell in Hollywood, unless a certain forensic psychiatrist in involved. That said, if and when Hannibal Lecter — originally created by author Thomas Harris in the 1980s — is involved, then a project is all but guaranteed. The most recent iteration of the story aired in 2013 on NBC as an episodic series and starred Mads Mikkelsen in the title role. For those who are unfamiliar, "Hannibal" is essentially a classier "Dexter," and follows the darkly curious relationship between a murderer and the police that he helps catch other murderers.
In this series, Anna Chlumsky portrayed Miriam Lass, and her story is about as depressing as it can get.
Miriam Lass is FBI agent who was just too good at her job. She figures Hannibal out, but he catches her, chops her arm off, throws her down a well, and then proceeds to brainwash her so that when she is finally found, she accuses another person of Hannibal's crimes. Before becoming the victim of a monster, though, Miriam is depicted as ambitious, intelligent, and dedicated to her work. As for what happens to her afterward, well, the show never says. Sure, she's rescued, but closure is never a part of Miriam's journey.
Halt and Catch Fire gave Chlumsky a chance at drama
The title "Halt and Catch Fire" evokes a certain gravitas, as if a bored god were ready to cause pure havoc on creative mode. What it doesn't evoke is tech bros, but that's what the Lee Pace led AMC series is actually all about. The story follows Joe MacMillan (Pace) as he hops the binary bandwagon, and the title is something of a computer geek joke. Essentially, it's "Mad Men" for the tech revolution of the 1980s. In the series, Anna Chlumsky portrayed Dr. Katie Herman, who only appeared in the fourth and final season.
Dr. Katie Herman is a library scientist and archivist and the partner of Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy). In Chlumsky's own words, courtesy of AMC, "She's a fun-loving gal, and I think there is a lot more to her in the sense that she has darker tastes in music and probably has a tattoo underneath everything [...] She's one of these yin-yang type people who is vastly educated and has a mind like a steel trap but is also a 'carpe diem' believer."
Chlumsky donned a thousand titles for Veep
It's not too drastic, nor too polarizing, to say that American politics are essentially a televised farce, right? Cool, glad everyone can agree on something. That's why it's hilarious that Hollywood continues to pop out political satire when the real mess is just one click away. The erosion of America's collective stability aside, this is how we got "Veep," an HBO series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice President of the United States. The series did so well that it nabbed six seasons in seven years, starting back in 2012 and saying a final farewell in 2019.
Anna Chlumsky portrayed Amy Brookheimer, who is V.P. Meyer's Head of Staff. Canonically, Brookheimer describes herself as a "trouble-shooter, problem-solver, issue-mediator, doubt-remover, conscience-examiner, thought-thinker and all-round everything-doer," which is probably one of the most utterly exhausting self descriptions ever put into words. Apparently Chlumsky was repping that same level of tireless and impressive work as Brookheimer, because the actress received six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role (via CNN).
Inventing Anna sees Chlumsky have it all
Despite what the name implies, "Inventing Anna" is not Anna Chlumsky's dramatized biopic. It is, however, a dramatized biopic about Anna Sorokin (played by Julia Garner), a Russian-born con artist who pretended to be a German heiress. Under the fake name Anna Delvey, Sorokin accrues (read: creatively swindles) an impressive amount of money out of a lot of rich people, all in the name of opening her own exclusive club.
The miniseries, which was first released on Netflix in 2022, was created by Shonda Rimes and inspired by a New York article, entitled "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by Jessica Pressler. In the series, Chlumsky portrayed Vivian Kent.
Vivian Kent is an investigative journalist (based on Pressler herself) who is hellbent on discovering the truth behind Anna Delvey. She's also a prospective mother, and a woman struggling to correct her career mistakes. In Kent's mind, the baby can't come until she's successful, so there's a layer of perilous urgency to her journalism, at least in her mind. In an interview with Netflix Tudum, Chlumsky discussed how Shonda Rimes was compelled to write about Pressler's capacity to effectively continue doing her job while simultaneously careening towards motherhood.