Nearly two decades after The West Wing signed off in 2006, Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford reunited on ‘The Diplomat’ — and during a recent press conference, the longtime co-stars reflected on working together again.
Ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) suddenly finds herself living out a twisted version of ambition fulfilled. She’s just accused Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) of orchestrating a terrorist scheme and confessed her own desire for Penn’s job. Then the unthinkable happens: the President dies—possibly due to the actions of Kate’s husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell). With Penn now sworn in as Commander-in-Chief, Kate is thrust into the center of Washington’s chaos.
Hal, undeterred by the fallout, pushes harder than ever to secure Kate the vice presidency. Meanwhile, Kate must navigate a position she never wanted, test the limits of her newfound independence—so to speak—and juggle shifting relationships, including a delicate alliance with Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) and a fraught connection to First Gentleman Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford).
Created by Debora Cahn, ‘The Diplomat’ stars Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear, and Ato Essandoh. Recurring guest stars include Allison Janney, Nana Mensah, Celia Imrie, Michael McKean, Miguel Sandoval, and Bradley Whitford.
Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. The streamer previously announced that a fourth season is on the way and that both season 3 guest stars Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford have been promoted to series regulars.
How does it feel to reunite together after working together on ‘The West Wing,’ and how has this shaped your collaboration with Debora?
Allison Janney: Well, this is such a great homecoming for both of us, I think. Because my favorite thing to say is that we’ve spent over 20 years arguing in fake government buildings together. [laugh] We love each other. We’re family. We have a huge history together. So coming onto this project and this particular show, I mean, the first time I saw the first season, I didn’t think that I was gonna be on this show. I didn’t know that Brad was gonna join me on this show. I just love the show so much.
And having him here and creating the relationship between Grace Penn and Todd is delicious for us because of all the history that’s baked into our relationship. And yes, we were C.J. and Josh, but this is so different. And once people see it, they won’t think about C.J. and Josh anymore. They’ll fall in love with Grace and Todd, I’m hoping. And Brad, you take it from there.
Bradley Whitford: Well, I don’t have the words to express what incredible privilege it is to look into Allison’s eyes.
The only problem is, she’s doing a monologue and I’m lying on the [indiscernible] or something. And I just get distracted, ’cause I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to play with Allison again. She is one of my favorite people I have ever known. She happens to also be, I think, one of the greatest actresses on the planet. And to be able to take this history we have and put this down this different road. I was in love with this show.
I remember watching it. You know, obviously I would lie, but I’m not. [laugh] This is one of my favorite actors. I’ve always been in love with Keri’s acting. I just think she’s fresh and immediate. And honest. And I could tell, with Rufus too, that there is I think something Allison and I share which is this idea that you take the work very seriously, but you don’t take yourself seriously doing the work.
And the best way to get to really great work is to not actually take yourself seriously doing it. So you can tell when a cast is firing on all cylinders. And I’m just gonna say one more thing. On ‘West Wing,’ sometimes the personal stuff resonate with the issues. And then the show would not become a note, it would become a chord. And that is in every frame of this show. It is about international diplomacy, and it’s about the power struggles within relationships.
And I was like, that’s a fucking great idea for a show. [laugh]