To the Oval Office from the Bunion Derby: Allison Janney’s Slow Rise to Stardom
by David Lefkowitz
(Note: This article was first published in Long Island Woman, April 2017)
When a woman stands six foot tall in flats, being noticed isn’t an issue. Or at least, that would be the assumption. However, it took Allison Janney more than a decade of underpaid toiling on New York’s Theater Row and taking television roles like Party Guest, Saleslady, Podiatric Nurse, and Gum Puller before the movies and her signature “West Wing” redemption arrived. Of course, once C. J. Cregg became a living-room fixture, Janney was no longer just the tallest woman in the room; she was now among the most lauded, awarded (seven Emmys, two Drama Desks, three Tony nominations), and remarkable, as well.
For struggling performers early in their careers, having supportive parents and mentors can be crucial to survive the rough patches. Janney enjoyed both in spades, as she explains, “My mother, who had been an actress, always said I was an incredibly determined young girl no matter what I tried to do. So I guess in the back of my mother’s mind, she thought, `It may take awhile, but she’ll get there.’ And though my father was concerned about my financial situation and suggested I might wanna think about a fallback, he never said, `You can’t do this anymore.’”
As for mentors, Janney met hers at Kenyon College in Ohio: Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward. Newman, a class of `49 alum, directed the budding actress (class of `82) in her first play at the college. “It was by Michael Cristofer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Shadow Box,” Janney recounts. “It was called — get ready for it — CC Pyle and the Bunion Derby. It was about a marathon race. Anyway, I was struck with how much Paul loved actors and acting. He told me after one performance that if I ever needed a favor, I could call on him for it: `It would have to be very specific — so think about it — but I’m there for you.’ For me, that was like having a valium in my back pocket. For those moments when I wanted to quit, I thought, `Is this the thing to call Paul?’ But I never called him on the favor. Just knowing it was there gave me a lot of confidence.”
Woodward, too, proved an important ally. “Joanne directed me in so many plays,” Janney says. “She just encouraged us all to trust ourselves and remember a sense of `play.’ She was one of the loveliest of women. And she provided us young actors with a place to read plays and showcase our talents at a time when we couldn’t get cast in anything because we didn’t have Equity cards. But you can’t get your Equity card unless you’re in something. It was this unbelievable Catch 22. Joanne gave us a place where we could put on productions and invite agents and casting people to come see us. She gave us a leg up, which certainly helped me stay in longer than I might have.”
That said, even with legendary stars putting the wind at her back, Janney had to call on her own determination to brave the stormy Hollywood seas. She recounts her oft-told story about visiting the Johnson-O’Connor Research Foundation to take aptitude tests that would help her figure out if she was qualified to do anything else in the world besides act. “I always came up short,” she admits. “But it was one of those things where a job would come through right at the last minute — just before I was gonna buy a plane ticket to go home. I guess I had a guardian angel with a sense of humor.”
The gods of theater must have been whimsical, too, since the first play Janney ever saw as a child wasn’t Peter Pan or Our Town, but Miss Margarida’s Way, a satire of authority gone mad as represented by a ranting and abusive schoolteacher. “Yup, that play is the first one I remember,” Janney chuckles. After that, she did do the requisite school stints in Fiddler (as Golde), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (as Domina) — “I was always playing men or older women because I was taller than everyone else” — and Oliver! (as Noah Claypole, the Undertaker’s Son).
Luckily, Janney’s pre-star years gave her more unusual and challenging assignments. “One of my favorite things I ever did,” she recalls, “was a Nicky Silver play called Fat Men in Skirts at Naked Angels back in the day (1994). It was really fun, and it co-starred Stanley Tucci, Marisa Tomei, and Matt McGrath. I also did the movie Big Night (1996) with Stanley Tucci, and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), which is a hilarious mockumentary with a huge cult following.”
That same year became a turning point for Janney’s move from steadily working character actress to household name. “I was out in Los Angeles filming American Beauty and Nurse Betty,” she notes, “and I got this call to audition for a pilot called The West Wing. I wasn’t thinking of doing television, but my agent called me, and when I heard the show was by Aaron Sorkin and these other people, I was like, `Yeah, I’ve gotta go in for that.’” Even after several auditions and callbacks, Janney was unsure about her status, since each time, she was asked few questions and given minimal direction or cues. “Then I had to go in and test for the network,” she continues. “I knew there were other women going up for the part and my chances of getting it were not great, so I just tried to look at it as research. I told myself, ‘You’re gonna have to do this a lot [for TV], so it’s good to get this first one over with.’ But then a beautiful arrangement of flowers came to my room at the hotel I was staying in: `Welcome to the West Wing family, from Aaron Sorkin.’ I couldn’t believe it. I jumped through a lot of hoops, but I ended up getting the part, and it changed my life.”
Janney’s life now involves a home in L.A., her dogs, her live-in boyfriend, and her co-starring role on a hit sitcom. “I don’t have to audition a lot at this point in my career,” she says, “but I did for Mom because they wanted to make sure there was chemistry with Anna Faris and me. I didn’t mind, since this is where auditioning can still be good. It’s always nice, as an actor, to just get the offer. But sometimes it’s good to audition and know that they know you can do it, and that they want you.”
The show’s sometimes dark subject matter — it follows a newly sober, single mom being helped and hindered by her mother, who is also a recovering addict — can hit close to home for Janney, since her brother battled similar demons and committed suicide in 2011. The actress declines talking deeply about the tragedy but says about her role that, “depending on what the episode’s about…let’s just say I can access things in that world that are very real to me. But it’s not a source of pain every day of my life. I love doing a show that demonstrates to everyone there is recovery and hope and laughter. That makes me feel really great — putting that out into the world.”
It’s the kind of positive energy Janney, who has described herself in previous interviews as unassertive and overly eager to please, derives from performing. “When I’m acting,” she explains, “I definitely feel connected in a way that I don’t in many other areas in my life. Somehow inhabiting another character and saying lines that have already been written out — there’s some sort of safety and freedom within the confines of the script and blocking that I find incredibly powerful. I love it.
“Still, I always think I can do better,” Janney adds. “I’m pretty hard on myself. It might be a performance that I didn’t feel very emotionally connected to. But when I’m connected, it feels right and comfortable and confident. I don’t have to be judged for myself; I’m someone else. It gives me freedom to be crazy and make big choices in ways that I’m a little more afraid to do in my real life.”
That might include fielding questions about her handsome boyfriend, Philip Joncas, a successful production manager who is (gasp!) 20 years younger than she is. “We have a good sense of humor about our differences,” Janney asserts. “There’s always room for a lot of laughter when I go, `Really? You don’t know who so-and-so is?’ But it works. We’ve been living together for about four years, we have a good time together, and we enjoy many of the same things.”
Marriage, however, will likely not be one of those things. The 57-year-old actress, who had previously been in a two-decade relationship with actor Dennis Gagomiros, has long balked at the idea of turning relationships into legally binding contracts. She notes, “If you don’t have kids, it’s not necessarily the greatest thing to do. There’s a romantic notion behind marriage, but there’s also inviting the government into your life. It’s just something I never felt the need to do and still don’t.”
Politics is another subject Janney approaches warily, even though she’s often expected to expound to because of her West Wing residency. “Everyone assumed I was as smart as C.J. about politics,” Janney sighs, “which I’m certainly not. I did something for Hillary; though, obviously, I didn’t win it for her there! But I’ll tell you, after this election, I definitely have a responsibility to be more involved politically. I’m not very comfortable speaking out about politics, but I will definitely lend my name and do whatever I can.”
Certainly, the toned and statuesque actress is doing what she can to maintain her energy and red-carpet glamour. She goes for long walks with her three dogs and recently ordered a Peloton bike and added a gym — including rowing machine, weights and other exercise equipment — to her garage. “My boyfriend is really great at leading me in a workout,” says Janney, “and I also have a Pilates instructor that I see. I think it’s really important for me, as I get older, to stay in shape. I find that it helps my mental health, too. If I come home from a hard day at work and get in a hard workout, I always feel better afterwards.”
As for diet, the actress relies on sensible choices and moderation rather than any particular eating plan. She laughs, “I try to stay away from our Craft Service table at Mom, which is always loaded with incredibly yummy things like macaroni and cheese and brownies. I also try to eat small meals throughout the day — protein and vegetables mostly — every three-to-four hours, so portion control is a huge thing. I can always have a piece of cake or a cookie, just as long as I balance it out with a workout or walking. I’ve done that thing of, `No pasta! No bread! No carbs at all!’ It just becomes such a crazy way to live. Why not just have a little of what you want and not go crazy?”
“Crazy” is also the word Janney uses to describe some of the choices she made when she was young and visiting the South Shore: “I loved Long Island. As a little girl, I used to go every summer to the Lawrence Beach Club. It was a very happy place for me to come visit my grandparents in Cedarhurst. Even now, I spend a lot of time out in Sag Harbor doing plays at the Bay Street Theater. I have a dear friend who lives out there, too, and I visit her once a year.
“But my first boyfriend was from Levittown,” Janney adds. “He was an actor, as well; we met at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. And we spent a lot of time out at his folks’ house. He rode a motorcycle, and much to my mother’s chagrin, I would go out on the Long Island Expressway on the back of a motorcycle out to the Hamptons in the middle of the winter. It was crazy!” The actress laughs heartily, “Absolutely crazy.”
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ASKING ALLISON
What songs are you listening to these days?
“Sirens” by Monkey Safari, “Take California” by Propellerheads, and “She Came Along” by Sharam. Also, from the Hamilton mixtape, Ashanti’s version of “Helpless” with Ja Rule. It’s just beautiful.
What books have you read most recently?
Dave Eggers’s The Circle. It’s a terrifying parable about where we could end up if we keep going the way we are with social media. Also, Ann Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Great book.
Do you have a favorite meal?
Cacio e pepe, which is just a fancy way of saying pasta with cheese and pepper. Pasta with any kind of cheese and butter and salt and pepper: it’s my crack.
Your favorite vacation spot?
I like a staycation. I have my dogs, and I don’t like to leave them when I go away. So sometimes I just like to be with my boyfriend. Just us and the dogs relaxing at home.
If you could go back and give advice to your 20-year-old self, what would it be?
Go to the gym! (laughs) And learn to meditate. I tried to learn forever and kept avoiding it. Finally, I was like, “Oh my God. I can’t believe I didn’t do this before!”
What’s your all-time favorite theater experience as an audience member?
Seeing Balm in Gilead that Steppenwolf did many years ago at [off-Broadway’s] Circle Rep. I just remember being blown away by Laurie Metcalf and Glenne Headley. Also A Doll’s House on Broadway with Janet McTeer.
Is there an acting part you really wanted that didn’t go your way?
Conveniently, I erase those terrible memories out of my head. But I did audition for Roz in Frasier. The role went to my dear friend, Peri Gilpin. But later I got West Wing, so everything works out the way it’s supposed to. I keep my eye on the future because another door will open somewhere else.
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BYLINE:
David Lefkowitz hosts Dave’s Gone By (davesgoneby.com) weekly on UNC Radio. He’s also an adjunct professor of English at the University of Northern Colorado and co-publishes Performing Arts Insider theater journal (TotalTheater.com). David’s Long Island Woman interview with Lily Tomlin won a 2016 Media Award from the Press Club of Long Island. The Miracle of Long Johns, David’s play, won the best non-fiction script award at the 2015 United Solo Festival.
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