Allison Janney

Allison Janney plays C.J. Cregg, the White House press secretary in The West Wing. C.J. has to answer questions in public while finding out, sometimes rather late, what her colleagues have decided in private. Janney makes the competence convincing, but the irritation and humour are what make her such good company. A briefing can be both a professional performance by C.J. and a revealing one by Janney.

From the stage to the briefing room

Born in Boston and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Janney studied at Kenyon College, where encouragement from Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward helped her pursue acting. She continued her training at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Her stage career includes Present Laughter, A View from the Bridge, 9 to 5 and Six Degrees of Separation. The Tony nominations came for A View from the Bridge and 9 to 5.

That theatre background is evident in The West Wing. Janney can carry a long, rapidly changing exchange without making the words sound recited. She won four Emmys as C.J.: two in supporting actress and two in lead actress. The distinction between comedy and drama is less useful when describing what she does within an individual scene. She can be the funniest person in the room and still make the consequences of the conversation land.

A career beyond C.J.

Janney's film work was substantial before and during the series. It includes Big Night, Primary Colors, American Beauty, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Hours. In animation, she voices Peach, the starfish in Finding Nemo, and Gladys in Over the Hedge. These are quite different uses of the same expressive voice.

In Juno she plays Bren MacGuff, and in Hairspray she is Prudy Pingleton. Other films include The Help, The Way Way Back and Lou. The largest film award came for LaVona Golden in I, Tonya: Janney won the supporting actress Oscar in 2018, along with the BAFTA and Golden Globe for that performance. It is a harsh, unwelcoming character, far removed from the reassurance people might associate with C.J.

Television gave her another long-running role as Bonnie Plunkett in Mom. That performance brought two more Emmys; her guest work as Margaret Scully in Masters of Sex earned another. She also appears in Frasier and Lost, and plays Grace Penn in The Diplomat.

What connects these roles is not a single type of character. It is the precision with which Janney handles a change of mood. She can let a joke finish, hold the silence that follows and make the next line feel entirely different. C.J. offers a particularly generous stretch of television in which to watch her do it.