Fame-Ish: My Life at the Edge of Stardom

In this series of self-deprecatingly humorous personal essays, actress Rajskub, best known for her roles on the TV series 24 and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, explores what it’s like to be almost-famous. Not all actors enjoy lives of glitz and glam, Rajskub reveals—indeed, she discusses doing her own laundry and showing up at an event in a discounted skirt from Ross Dress for Less. Her essays tackle her stint at Denny’s (waiting on others turns out to be good training for actors because they will be doing a lot of it as they await their big break); her stand-up comedy; the horrors of auditioning (don’t go drunk, she cautions readers); and the question fans ask most: What was it like working with Kiefer Sutherland? (Intimidating.) Rajskub also dishes about Gary Shandling (on the set of The Larry Sanders Show, he paused the cameras to give her an acting lesson), Tom Cruise (she made out with him in Magnolia, but the scene was cut from the film), and Harrison Ford (“funny and gruff but kind of humble”). Rajskub’s advice to young actors and comics starting out? “Perform as much as possible.”