The following contains spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of The Diplomat
“Never let ‘em see you sweat,” is Allison Janney’s advice to anyone in Hollywood angling to play an on-screen president. Perhaps more than anyone, Janney is qualified to dole out counsel to potential fictional commanders-in-chief.
After seven years on The West Wing playing consummate presidential staffer CJ Cregg, including five as Press Secretary and two as White House Chief of Staff, Janney joined Netflix’s The Diplomat in 2023 as Vice President Grace Penn. After an untimely presidential death in the Season 2 finale, Penn assumes the post of (on-screen) leader of the free world, a role that Janney says she’s “100%” ready for.
I spoke with Janney ahead of The Diplomat’s Season 3 premiere, which streams October 16 on Netflix. Janney says she sees her role as president as a natural extension of her West Wing past. “It absolutely was the perfect thing to happen after CJ's trajectory,” Janney says. “Now (Grace is) a different woman, but I feel completely prepared because of all the roles I have played in the White House. I felt like, ‘yeah, okay, I'm ready for this. Let's bring it on!’”
The Diplomat – which also stars Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, the American Ambassador to the UK, and Rufus Sewell as Wyler’s enigmatic husband Hal – is primarily set in London. But this season the action moves (somewhat) stateside, putting Janney back in some familiar territory.
“Now I'm actually in the White House that the Diplomat crew built,” she says. “It felt like I had just slipped through a crack in the time continuum. It was a very strange experience, and yet it feels so very different because Grace is so different than CJ. I felt ‘I've been in this office before.’ So I felt a kind of comfort that I was grateful for.”
In addition to Oval Office sets, there’s another major West Wing thread now running through The Diplomat. In the season premiere, we’re introduced to President Penn’s husband Todd, played by none other than Janney’s West Wing co-star Bradley Whitford.
“For 20 years Brad and I have been arguing in fake government buildings in different roles,” Janney says. “I was so thrilled. (When) they were trying to cast my husband, (Diplomat showrunner) Debora Cahn actually texted me and said, ‘Brad Whitford?’ And I couldn't say yes fast enough. The fact that we have a history makes us comfortable together on screen and able to play this relationship out.”
Beyond the politically fraught drama and life-or-death stakes of The Diplomat, Janney says it was the moments of comedy sprinkled throughout Season 3’s eight episodes where she felt most at ease playing opposite Whitford. A scene where secret service agents barge in during a romantic interlude and another dealing with Whitford’s character hilariously bleeding over an appetizer tray of oysters are top of mind.
“Imagine fooling around with your (onscreen) husband – only I'm the president and he's the first gentleman – and the Secret Service bust(s) in on us,” Janney says. “It's such a great scenario. I wonder if it's ever happened in real life. I thought, ‘oh my God, this is going to be so difficult to do with Brad. He's my brother.’ And it ended up being the most fun because we felt so comfortable with each other.
“With (the) blood and oysters, it felt like a play. It was so much fun to toss the ball around to each other. It was such a joy as an actor for all of us to get to play that scene together.”
And while Janney is used to portraying resolute, driven women both on film and TV, she says that tackling the role of an American president was a step up. “The calm composure, the steeliness, the keeping the lid on things and knowing when to, that’s where her power is,” Janney says. “Her stillness and her incredible wit and confidence and assuredness and resourcefulness. She's a formidable lady.”
If you’re excited about The Diplomat Season 3, check out our round-up on everything coming to Netflix in October.
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He's spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton
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