Allison Janney has had a career that most actors would kill for. In the past 17 years she’s been able to make her mark as a fine character actress who’s worked to great distinction in film and television. But, her best known role is probably still that of White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg on NBC’s popular 1999-2006 series, The West Wing. And, lately, Janney has shown her appreciation for the show by re-creating the character, or the show’s famous “walk-and-talk” scenarios in various situations.
Last night, during the TV show Mom, which Allison Janney stars on, they had a serious nod to the political drama in the last moments of the show. Her character, Bonnie, finds herself torn over her daughter’s recent success, and her daughter tries to get her mother to figure out what she wants to do with her life. The scene quickly turns into a White House walk-and-talk with Janney’s character (now the President) and her former The West Wing co-star, Richard Schiff, who played Communications Director Toby Ziegler for the entire run of the series.
To complement that cool performance, Allison Janney appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden Wednesday night, and, again, did the famous West Wing walk-and-talk, this time with host James Corden as the man in charge. Another former co-star from the early 2000’s drama, Bradley Whitford, reprised his role as Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman during the skit. Take a look.
Man, they are certainly having a lot of fun in that sketch. And, you know what? Allison Janney has been having a lot of fun with the whole West Wing thing a lot herself. Along with the appearance on James Corden and the Mom scene, Janney also made a surprise appearance last week at an actual White House press briefing before the White House Correspondents Dinner as C.J. Cregg that featured a callback to a specific episode of the drama. Janney’s time at the briefing was used to bring attention to the issue of opioid addiction, which is a part of a main storyline on Mom.
In addition to starring on the CBS comedy Mom for the last three years, Allison Janney has brought her talents to a host of movies and TV shows. The actress has won seven Primetime Emmys for her television work, and has also received two Tony nominations for roles on Broadway. The 113 credits on her resume include Juno, Spy, Veep, The Big C, Masters of Sex, and voice work on Robot Chicken and Phineas and Ferb.
Lovers of The West Wing are sure to be enjoying this recent run of inspired throwback performances from Allison Janney. If you want to see more of the actress, Mom airs Thursdays on CBS.
