NEED TO KNOW
Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford have a bond that runs deep.
Janney, 65, spoke to PEOPLE at the Chanel Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner at The Odeon in New York City on June 9. Janney — who starred in The West Wing with Whitford from 1999 to 2006 — previewed the upcoming season of Netflix’s The Diplomat. On the series, Janney played Grace Penn, who we meet as the Vice President of the United States.
“It’s so much fun filming it,” she said of the series, revealing that season 3 has finished filming. “Everybody on that show is brilliant and so fun. And I love it and I want to do more. And I hope I get to do more.”
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In the new season, Whitford, 65, will be introduced as Grace’s husband, Todd Penn. “That was a dream come true for us to be together again because he’s family to me,” Janney told PEOPLE.
“Everyone from that show, from West Wing, we spent more time with each other than we did with our families back then. And I love them all, so it’s really a real gift to have him play my husband on The Diplomat. It’s so good,” she said.
On The West Wing, Janney played C. J. Cregg, the White House press secretary. Whitford played Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff. Whitford won an Emmy for the series in 2001, while Janney won four, in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004.
Back in February, Janney joked to PEOPLE that their closeness actually made it tough to play a couple in The Diplomat. She said it was “a little bit” like kissing her brother. “We have a bedroom scene, and I told Brad about it. I was like, ‘Okay. We’re just going to … We can do this. We can handle it,’ ” she said.
The Diplomat stars Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., and Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal.
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In October, The Diplomat showrunner Debora Cahn explained that she was originally concerned about casting Janney on the series because of her West Wing credentials. “I was worried that it was going to feel like a gimmick,” she said during a panel at PaleyFest. “I was worried that it was going to be like, ‘Ooh, C.J. Cregg grew up and is Vice President.’ ”
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She also felt pressure about “writing a character that would be distinct enough” that fans could separate them in their minds, since she was a fan of The West Wing.
“I didn’t want it to be a stunt,” Cahn added of the casting. “I wanted it to be a good part of the story for all of these characters. So, yeah, it was pretty stressful.”
