More Rachel Bloom on the menu as she joins the second season of Julia

Rachel Bloom Photo: Amy Sussman (Getty Images)

The term “renaissance” gets bandied about often—perhaps too often—in regards to actors, but doesn’t a Rachel Bloom renaissance sound particularly delicious? Even amongst television auteurs, few creators could make something as funny, smart, and technically complicated as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s musical comedy. That alone has secured her legacy, but luckily for the rest of us, Bloom is on a renewed hot streak lately.

Her most recent role is a recurring part on the second season of HBO Max’s Julia, per Variety. Bloom will play Elaine Levitch, “a dynamo who comes to WGBH by way of CBS to work with Julia on ‘The French Chef.’” Sarah Lancashire stars as the chef herself, leading a cast that includes David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz, and Fiona Glascott.

The period drama lends a unique texture to Bloom’s post-CXGF career, which includes authoring a book (I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are), guesting in an episode of iCarly, and starring in Steven Levitan’s new series Reboot, in which she appropriately plays a television comedy writer.

Up next on the docket is a return to her home at the CW where she’ll produce another period drama, The Hatpin Society, about “a legion of suffragists who fight for equality by day and vigilante justice by night.” The series will reportedly usher in a new era for the network, which is trying to shed its teen-driven image. Bloom has also been developing a spy comedy Badass (And Her Sister), in which she’ll play both roles, alongside her CXGF partner Aline Brosh McKenna for Hulu. Not to mention she’s working on The Nanny musical!

Plus, there’s her live show Rachel Bloom Tries Out Her New Special And Let’s See What Happens, which she’s performing in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles this summer. Clearly, Bloom won’t rest until the stans are fed properly—how appropriate that she’ll be joining Julia Child’s kitchen.