Mary Lynn Rajskub is mostly synonymous with Chloe O'Brian, her character in the Fox action drama, 24. Chloe is a geeky, mostly humorless, but brilliant systems analyst on the show's fictional federal agency, Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU).
It may not be very surprising, therefore, that a lot of people may not know her as a comedian. In fact, Rajskub kicked off her career as a screen actor on comedy shows such as HBO's Mr. Show With Bob and David and The Larry Sanders Show, where she played Mary Lou Collins.
An Unpolished Gem
Rajskub describes her time on these shows as being very defining of what would turn out to be a long and successful career. Speaking in an interview on the show Couch Surfing, she recalled how much of an unpolished gem she was in those early days.
"I was very angsty, a little bit dirty, a little chip on my shoulder, art student," she recalled to host Lola Ogunnaike. "Just, happy to be there but... it was weird. It was like out of my depth, but learning as I went."
Working alongside Rajskub on Mr. Show and The Larry Sanders Show as well as the 1997 comedy film Who's The Caboose? was Sarah Silverman, who had bounced back strongly from her firing on NBC's hit sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Unlike Rajskub, no one would be surprised in the least to know that Silverman is a comedian; the craft is her bread and butter.
Remained Star Struck
On the Couch Surfing episode, Rajskub reacted to a scene of her and Silverman from The Larry Sanders Show, before recounting to Ogunnaike that she actually shared a room with her co-star in real life. She remembered how despite being roommates with Silverman at the time, she remained star-struck by her more accomplished friend and colleague.
"I remember it was so glamorous, because she would get like take-out food, scripts would be delivered to her. You know, cause she was already in her career. And she would come out and run jokes. And I was just so caught in the headlights, that was all new to me," Rajskub recalled. "But I just idolized her, it was fantastic!"
Their paths would end up diverging significantly as their respective careers grew and blossomed. Rajskub of course became a fixture on the more action-centric 24, while Silverman went on to do among other big projects, her own sitcom on Comedy Central, The Sarah Silverman Program.
This in no way served to dampen their friendship, however, as was demonstrated recently in a pleasant exchange on Twitter. Rajskub posted a tweet promoting a new special that she had uploaded on her website and tagged Silverman on the tweet, highlighting that she still idolized her, alongside a number of love heart emojis.
Silverman responded in kind, writing, "Love you Mare WATCH HER SPECIAL!!!"
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