Actress Melissa Fitzgerald, known for her role as Carol Fitzpatrick, C.J. Cregg's assistant on the "West Wing," wanted a more grown-up role when she was being cast for the political Web series "Chasing the Hill." "I thought, you know, if I'm going to do this something like this, I'm older and I think I'd like to run for Congress," Fitzgerald told Yeas & Nays. So director Brent Roske made her character a Democratic congressional candidate from California, challenging a Democratic incumbent in the primary.

Fitzgerald had another reason for taking the role too. "I just thought it would be an interesting experience because I'm also very involved in politics and have thought about running for Congress myself and I thought, let's do a practice run on a Web series," she said. If Fitzgerald actually did run, she'd run in her home state of Pennsylvania. And she'd have family friend, former Gov. Ed Rendell, as a mentor. "He's wanted me to run for Congress for a long time so that was his joke, maybe life will imitate art," she said.