Born
in Dayton, Ohio whilst studying acting at Kenyon College in Ohio, Allison
Janney auditioned for Kenyon alumni Paul Newman and got the part. Soon
afterwards, Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward suggested Janney study
at the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York. She followed their advice
and then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England.
As a result she went on to be Tony Award-nominated and won the Outer
Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award in the Best Supporting
Actress category for her Broadway performance in Arthur Miller’s
A View From The Bridge.
Janney
is probably best known for her starring role as CJ Cregg in the award-winning
NBC series The West Wing. She received a remarkable four SAG
Awards and four Emmy Awards for her performance as well as four consecutive
Golden Globe nominations.
In
2006 she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the Best
Supporting Actress category for Our Very Own. Janney was heard
as the voice of Gladys in Dreamworks’ animated comedy Over
the Hedge and starred opposite Meryl Streep in The Hours
which received a SAG Award nomination for and Outstanding Ensemble Cast
in a Motion Picture. Other notable feature film credits include the
Academy Award winning film American Beauty for which she also
received a SAG Award in the Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
category, Finding Nemo, Nurse Betty, How To Deal,
Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary
Colors, The Ice Storm, Celebrity, Six Days
Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection, Big Night,
Strangers With Candy, Winter Solstice, The Chumscrubber
and Piccadilly Jim.
Most
recently she appeared in the big screen version of the Tony Award-winning
Broadway musical Hairspray. Janney will next be seen in writer/director
Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret.
In
Juno Allison Janney plays Juno’s highly alternative stepmother
Bren, who provides emotional support and helps Juno fight the prejudices
of underage pregnancy. Screenwriter Diablo Cody created Bren for “rather
narcissistic reaons” as she explains, “I love Allison’s
character because I myself am a step-mom and whenever I watch movies
with step-parents in them, they always seem to have a contentious relationship
with the kids or they’re seen as obstacles or in some cases they’re
actually evil. So I decided to write a cool step-mom – she’s
still a parent, so she’s firm but loving and she’s somebody
we ultimately root for”.
Have you seen “Hairspray”
since you’ve been in London?
I
don’t think I can see that play again. I’ve seen it three
times and the movie countless times. I’m all hairsprayed out!
When
did you arrive here?
I
got here on Sunday, but last night was an interesting night’s
sleep, or lack of sleep. I think I’m really jet-lagged
After
The West Wing you did Hairspray and Juno.
Two interesting choices?
I know! I always get offered roles of strong capable women, so I just
wanted to try something a little different. I didn’t want to keep
doing those kind of roles because CJ (character in The West Wing)
had been so perfect. The composers on Hairspray are friends
of mine and they asked me to come do it. I didn’t even know what
I was agreeing to but I knew it would be completely silly! I read it
and thought ‘Oh my God!’ and it ended up being the perfect
thing for me to jump in to. I love playing off-the-wall characters like
that – completely crazy, yet they don’t think they are.
I have a big heart for characters like that, because to my mind my character
in Hairspray was just a woman who was afraid of everything
outside of her house. My character in Juno is also kind of
unconventional – that scene where Juno announces she’s pregnant,
was such a surprising one – once they’re sure she’s
going ahead with having the baby, my character Bren says ‘Right
let’s get you some pre-natal vitamins!’’ I loved her
for that.
Are
you married?
No,
I was engaged but we decided not to do it. It’s better for both
of us that we didn’t! I have a dog – I love dogs!
How
would you personally respond to a crisis like Bren does in Juno?
I
would try to be as calm as possible but I’m not as practical as
Bren - she shoots from the hip. She doesn’t worry too much, once
she’s made a decision that’s it, let’s go, there’s
no going back, whilst I’m a little more shall we do this? I’m
changing my mind every five minutes and asking myself if I did the right
thing. I drive myself crazy! Bren is so great – she’s such
an unexpected character for a step-mom. The ultrasound scene was such
fun to do. Diablo’s so brilliant she wrote it so that the one
character who judges in the whole movie is the girl doing the ultrasound
and Bren just tears her down – I love it.
What
was it like working with Ellen Page?
Ellen is remarkable. She looks like she’s ten years old but she’s
very wise beyond her years, she’s incredibly self-possessed like
Juno. I was very impressed with her she didn’t seem to get too
worked up about things, she just does her work and isn’t neurotic
like a lot of these young actors are. She’d be very uncomfortable
with all the hooplah around the movie. For her it’s all about
the work. When we were shooting we’d go to the bar after work
for a drink and the waitress would come over and give me a ‘look’
because she thought I was taking my underage daughter into a bar, she
had that real ‘how dare you bring your daughter in here’
look on her face. Then she’d ask Ellen for her ID card and Ellen
would pretend she couldn’t find it – she was really funny.
I liked her a lot, she’s really cool.
Was
she able to turn the character of Juno on and off easily?
Yeah.
She really is that good. She really is a fine actress. She should be
nominated for an Oscar. She’s gonna do a lot and she’s so
beautiful too I really think she looks like a tomboy Audrey Hepburn.
I’d like to see her do a really feminine girly role next –
that would be fun to see her do.
What
was it like working with Jason Reitman?
He
has such a good team around him and he has a wonderful camaraderie with
the guys on the set it makes it really fun to be an actor on his set.
There was a lot of laughter but the work got done and Jason never lost
his temper, he’s really easy to work with and very specific about
what he wants and he knows how to talk to actors. He’ll keep at
you until he gets what he wants. I’ve worked with his father too
twice so it was fun to work with Jason and to see his father when he
came to set to visit. I feel like I’m in the Reitman in-crowd!
Were
there opportunities to improvise?
Yes,
Jason was open to that and Diablo was on the set a lot, which is unusual
because writers can get precious with their work, but she wasn’t
like that at all. She was so appreciative and so excited to be there.
Most of the time we didn’t want to improvise because we just loved
saying Diablo’s words. I knew I couldn’t think of anything
better.
How
did it compare to working with Woody Allen?
I
was terrified of Woody Allen. He’s an icon. I worked with him
but had literally two lines. I remember I had to say the work ‘triplex’
as I was playing a real estate person and Woody Allen walked over to
me just as we were about to shoot and said is that ‘try-plex’
or ‘trip-lex’? I said I don’t know, I’ve always
said ‘try-plex’ and he said ‘Well, you’d better
find out!’ Inside I was saying to myself, ‘Oh my God, how
am I gonna find out? We were doing a restaurant scene and there was
a table full of extras who were all watching and I looked past them
and saw Donald Trump who was doing a cameo, so I got up and went over
to him and asked him! Donald said he liked ‘trip-lex’, so
I came back and said that. That was the only conversation I had with
Woody Allen.
Where
do you live?
I
used to live in New York until I got the role in The West Wing
then I had to move out to California and lost my apartment in New York.
I ended up buying a house in California but I’d like to go back
to New York to do some theatre as that’s what I really love to
do. I love my home in California – I’ve got a nice little
place with a back yard but if I work in New York I might rent an apartment
and think about moving back there. I certainly wouldn’t mind being
bi-coastal, I love the weather in Los Angeles, it’s nice to wake
up every day to a beautiful blue sky.
How
was it working with such a young writer, a young lead actor and a young
director?
Yeah
I was working with all these new talents. I didn’t look upon Jason
in that way though because he’d already had success with Thank
You For Smoking. No-one felt we were in a novice’s hands
with Jason. They are all very young but I was just thinking about their
talent and I just love to work with talented people, whatever age they
are. I enjoyed the experience so much. I want Diablo to write more so
I can be part of her acting troupe. I wish we could all be part of a
troupe with Jason directing – I wish they still did that these
days.
What would you like people to take away
from this movie?
For
families where teen pregnancy or any kind of problem that arises from
having teenagers, I would hope that teenagers would use condoms! Secondly,
no matter what the problem, parents should support their kids, listen
to them and respect them – I think that’s a big message
to be taken from this movie. It’s such a lovely message for families
because families come in all different shapes and sizes and the more
you respect and listen to each other the better the family dynamic will
be.
Have
you ever met people who think you’re really like CJ from The
West Wing?
I
have a lot of fans who are lovely but not anyone who thinks I’m
her. Martin Sheen used to think he was the president! If I travelled
with him, he’d be in the airport and he’d introduce me as
CJ.
Did
you always understand the dialogue that you were saying as CJ?
I
never knew what I was saying! I’d have to ask ‘What the
heck am I saying here?’’ I certainly know how to make you
think I know what I’m talking about – that’s why I’m
an actress!
I
hear you sing and dance as well as acting?
I
used to be a dancer, I used to be a figure skater and play ice hockey,
so I was always very athletic and physically inclined. I can sing but
I’m not a singer but I’d love to do a Broadway musical!
Not Hairspray though!
Do
you recall any favourite moments on the set of Juno?
One
of my favourite scenes was the one where Bren is cutting out the dogs
and putting them in the dream book when Juno comes in. I love that scene
between the two of them. There’s a lot going on in that scene
– Bren could have done it all very differently but she decided
to suggest to her daughter that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to
hang out with Mark by herself. She didn’t say it in a way that
was accusing at all. I loved the idea of cutting out the dogs too –
she can’t have the dogs because Juno’s allergic so the next
best thing is to make a dream book full of dogs!
D’you
have your own dog book?
Nah,
I’ve got my own dog – an Australian cattle dog called Addie.
What’s
next for you?
I’d
love to do a Broadway musical or more films like this, or a film with
a much more substantial role. I wouldn’t mind doing more television
if the right role came along and the right script.
What’s
your favourite sort of character to play?
I
want somebody complicated and interesting. I love playing crazy people.
I wish I could write myself what I want to play.
A
lot of more mature actresses say they can’t find the roles. Do
you think that’s true?
I
don’t think it’s true anymore. Lately there have been lots
of great female roles for older women – Helen Mirren certainly
has a fabulous career, Patty Clarkson has had a lot of great roles.
There can always be more though and I hope Diablo continues to write
more of the female roles she’s so good at – maybe she’ll
write something for me.
There aren’t
that many female screenwriters around
I don’t know what the statistics are, but I think more women should
be encouraged to write.
How much longer are you in London for?
Not
long enough. I love coming to London to shop and attend the theatre.
Diablo
writes amazingly strong female characters, what do you think it is about
her that makes her able to do that?
She’s
so gutsy, she’s amazing, so funny and honest and she writes all
her characters so honestly and without judgement, she must have some
good role models.
What’s
the gutsiest thing you’ve ever done?
In
film or in real life?! I once drove naked in a Corvette through a Canyon
in LA. That was pretty gutsy, it was a dare! It was a few years ago
and it was with a boyfriend. That’s the most daring thing I’ve
ever done. On film, the cameo role I played in the movie Margaret
is the most extraordinary thing I’ve done on film – you’ll
have to see it!
Juno
Ellen Page interview - Juno
Diablo Cody interview - Screenwriter
Juno
Review
