Before They Were Stars: Mary Lynn Rajskub in a Deleted Scene in “Magnolia”

Before she was Chloe O’Brian on 24, Mary Lynn Rajskub had a minor supporting role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia as Janet, the personal assistant of Tom Cruise’s character, Frank T.J. Mackey. Unfortunately, she did not appear onscreen and her entire role consisted of being a voice on the phone, but that wasn’t always the case. In this hilarious deleted scene from one of Frank T.J. Mackey’s seminars, Frank tells his audience about a scheme called “forming a tragedy”. It involves pissing off your date by showing up three hours late, but then instantly garnering her sympathy when you deliver a tragic sob story about being late because you made a failed attempt at running a neighbour’s cat to the vet before it died. A flashback sequence shows Frank utilizing this scheme on a date with Janet, which features the only onscreen footage of Mary Lynn Rajskub in Magnolia.