( CNN ) -- In the new HBO comedy `` Veep , '' Anna Chlumsky plays the young chief of staff to the Vice President of the United States played by ex- '' Seinfeld '' star Julia Louis-Dreyfus . If the actress looks familiar , it may be because a few decades ago she starred in `` My Girl '' opposite an equally adorable Macaulay Culkin . The 31-year-old Chicago native took a break from acting , went to college and even worked as an editorial assistant for a year until she found her way back to her thespian roots . She recently spoke to CNN about the new show , politics and what it was like being a child star . CNN : Are you interested in politics ? Anna Chlumsky : I 'm interested in current affairs and social policy as a whole , but I do n't watch politics for sport . I think people can get really wrapped up into it . When I was in college I was much more into it . I was an international studies major . CNN : What does that mean ? That you wanted to become a diplomat ? Chlumsky : It 's a liberal arts education . You study things you like to learn , not to necessarily be anything in particular . CNN : Did `` Veep '' make your more cynical about politics ? Chlumsky : I find it to be kind of liberating in a way because really the spotlight that is put on people in politics is that they 're people . Some people are really good at their jobs , some people are really bad . People have good and bad days . Everyone uses the restroom . Personally I find that to be liberating because when we mythologize our politicians , we put too many expectations on them , both positive and negative , and we kind of make them supernatural in a way . I think a better way is to think of politics as a pragmatic discipline . The idea that people are trying to work things out and make deals like anybody else kind of takes the scariness out of it . CNN : You became a big star when you were a kid . Chlumsky : ( Laughs ) I would n't say star . CNN : Come on ! That movie was huge ! Chlumsky : Yeah the movie was big . CNN : Was it weird having adults groveling and treating you differently ? Chlumsky : It definitely makes you start to see the world in a different way in the sense you start to weigh who your friends were before and who your friends were after . As far as adults groveling , my mom was really wonderful about that on set . Anytime somebody would ask what I wanted and I did n't ask her first I would get into trouble , and that was absolutely right . She was very sensitive to people treating me differently than anyone else on the crew , and I 'm so grateful she made a point of that . CNN : Still , you 're on movie sets . Chlumsky : I think what affected me the most was being taken out of school for a few months every once in a while . When I say I was n't a star , the reason why is most of my time was spent in school in Chicago . The movies felt more like a hobby . CNN : You dropped out for a while . Chlumsky : It was not my decision at first . It was me going through puberty and not being cute on screen . I auditioned a lot during my adolescence for things and it just did n't take , so that took its toll because being an adolescent it can be less than fun to be told that someone does n't like you anymore . So that was pretty much what drove me to the conscious decision to give it a rest . Also in college you learn you have all these other interests , and you really want to commit to them for the time being so that 's what I did . I thought I was not going to be an actress . I moved to New York right after college and you see enough Broadway shows , and I was inspired again to really give it a go for all the right reasons . CNN : You must have been nervous diving back in that you might not get work . Chlumsky : Yeah but that 's what was so great about coming to the decision as an adult because I kind of know that 's a hazard of the job . I had to prepare myself and know that I 'm strong enough to persevere through that , and I am rational enough to realize that only one person can get any role , and it does n't mean it 's personal . It does n't mean you 're bad . I came at it from a much healthier point of view .
Anna Chlumsky plays Anna Brookheimer , Julia Louis - Dreyfus ' chief of staff . A couple of years ago she starred in ` ` My Hero '' opposite an equally adorable Rory Culkin . Chlumsky spoke to CNN about the new millennium , Hollywood and what it was like being a child star .