The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was one of the biggest TV hits of 2017.
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, of Gilmore Girls fame, the zippy Amazon Prime series
debuted in November and become an instant fan favorite.
The show's star, Rachel Brosnahan, won a Golden Globe for her role as the joke-slinging title
heroine.
"Why do we have to pretend to be stupid when we're not stupid?"
And this isn't the first time the actress's work has been touted by critics.
If you feel like Mrs. Maisel looks a bit familiar, here are some of the places you've probably
seen her on-screen before.
The Unborn
Brosnahan was still in high school when she landed her first major role in horror film
The Unborn.
Despite the fact that she was considered to be too young and too short for the part, Brosnahan
won the role -- but she very nearly turned down her big break.
She later told Zimbio:
"I got a callback and it turned out I was going to be out of town the day the part was
shooting.
The director, David Goyer, asked me, 'Would you rather be in a major feature film or take
a vacation?'
I was 17 and still in high school and said, 'Well, I've had this vacation planned for
a very long time.'
They must have thought I was a complete moron."
Fortunately, Brosnahan wised up and made her movie debut instead of taking time off, and
thus, her screen career was born.
Beautiful Creatures
In 2013's cinematic adaptation of Beautiful Creatures, Brosnahan starred in a flashback
sequence as a witch who used a forbidden spell to revive her lost love and doomed her entire
bloodline to darkness as a result.
She later revealed that as a fan of fantasy films, it was a very big deal for her to nab
that role, telling Zimbio:
"I loved Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and all that
fantastical stuff.
That's why working on Beautiful Creatures was a dream come true for me."
Orange Is The New Black
Fans of the hit Netflix series Orange Is The New Black might recognize Brosnahan from a
2013 episode of the show.
She took on the small role of Lil' Allie in the show's first season, appearing as someone
from one of the central character's past.
And while the character might not have been very memorable to most audiences, Brosnahan
certainly remembers the experience well.
She told AfterEllen:
"I got this call, before anybody knew what the show was ... I got it and I couldn’t
believe it.
I had the best time."
​The Blacklist
Brosnahan got a chance to really stretch her legs on the small screen with a recurring
role in TV's The Blacklist.
While fans might be used to seeing her as the peppy jokester in Mrs. Maisel now, on
The Blacklist she had a much darker role.
In the drama series, she played the part of Jolene Parker, a teacher who conceals some
sinister motives.
The role is a far cry from the fast-paced comedic wit of Midge Maisel, but one that
Brosnahan still played to equal perfection, proving that she's not beholden to just one
genre.
House of Cards
One of Brosnahan's best-known roles outside of Mrs. Maisel was that of Rachel Posner on
House of Cards.
Originally considered to be too young for the role of a Washington courtesan, she won
the role against all odds.
And while Brosnahan was only supposed to have a few lines in the show, she did such a great
job that she ended up having her part significantly expanded.
Showrunner Beau Willimon told The Chicago Tribune:
"She had done such a fine job those first two episodes that I started exploring what
it would mean to bring her character back and fully three dimensionalize her.
Rachel was so fantastic when we brought her back that I just wanted to write for her more
and more."
Brosnahan would go on to be nominated for an Emmy for her role on the show.
The Dovekeepers
In 2015's The Dovekeepers, Brosnahan appeared as Yael, a Jewish woman who's trying to survive
the Roman siege of Masada in 73 A.D.
Brosnahan herself is not Jewish and she said that for the role, and Midge Maisel, she had
to draw upon her personal relationships with people of that faith, telling The Chicago
Sun Times:
"I've spent more time in a temple than I ever have in a church.
I spent so many Shabbat dinners with friends.
I've probably been to 150 bar mitzvahs….
So this was a cool project to be a part of."
Manhattan
In 2014, Brosnahan landed her first regular role in the period drama, Manhattan.
The role ended up being a pivotal one for the actress, who, until that point, had earned
substantial supporting roles but had never been part of the main cast of a show.
The series focused on the Manhattan Project, which was the race to build the first atomic
bomb during the height of World War II, and Brosnahan led the series for its two seasons
on WGN America.
Crisis in Six Scenes
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was not Brosnahan's first Amazon Original Series.
In 2016, Brosnahan appeared in Woody Allen's Crisis in Six Scenes, which takes place in
the 1960s.
This show, along with Manhattan and The Dovekeepers proved Brosnahan's versatility in portraying
characters from different time periods.
No doubt that quality certainly prepared her well for her starring role in The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel.
"That's the end of my show folks.
See me next week when my grandmother steals my pearls and f---s my boyfriend."
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