'I was told all I could play were lesbians and aliens' After her

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jul 15, 2007 | by Elizabeth Mistry

SOMEWHERE, most likely in a vault, there is a written job description for the role of spokesperson for the president of the United States of America. Aside from former White House press secretaries such as Marlin Fitzwater and Dee Dee Myers, however, few people can have much idea what the job really involves.

Allison Janney was no exception, but that didn't deter her from taking the part of Claudia Jean "CJ" Cregg, press secretary to President Josiah Bartlett on The West Wing.

When the first series of the White House drama screened in 1999, Janney became an overnight heroine to millions of women.

But she claims to bear no personal resemblance to her character. "Everything CJ was, I'm not, " says the 47-year-old. "She oozes power and confidence. That's not me." Perhaps most surprising for a woman who once said she was inspired by Susan B Anthony, one of the first American suffragettes is that even after seven years of working in a fictional White House, Janney claims not to be interested in politics. Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, her childhood was politics-free. She was just four when JFK was shot, and doesn't remember being aware of it. "I didn't even know if my parents were Democrat or Republican." When we talk, on a day when President Bush is visiting Ohio to plead for "patience and understanding from the American people", she declines to discuss policy other than to say she'd like to see a woman president. But how does she think CJ would deal with an ongoing situation like Iraq? "With a huge bottle of Exedrine and a great deal of diplomacy, " she replies.

After winning the part, Janney got a unique insight into what it would involve from West Wing series consultant Dee Dee Myers. "The most important thing she told me was that a lot of what goes on in the White House is personality-driven, so as a woman it was twice as hard for her to be in with the right group and know what she needed to know." In a world in which media managers are routinely derided for manipulating the flow of information, obfuscating agendas and spinning bad news, CJ was an unlikely hero.

As the rigorous demands of her job clashed with her personal beliefs, she became the liberal conscience of the West Wing. She was overworked and under-appreciated, and her personal life always took second place. Audiences rooted for her, especially when her Secret Service boyfriend was killed and her father succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. Judging by comments on her many internet fansites, CJ is singlehandedly responsible for boosting the number of applications to university political science courses by young women across the English-speaking world.

Janney professes bewilderment that the role became an icon for so many women. "I loved CJ, though. I was her biggest fan. She was funny and sweet and vulnerable." Though adored by critics, the show seemed to lose its footing after the sudden death of cast member John Spencer in 2005. "It all changed, " Janney says. "It didn't feel right to go on without him and by then the network wasn't really behind the show any more. You know, reality programmes started to take over and it wasn't the same.

I really miss being part of something like that. We were a good team." Now, just over a year after the series ended, Janney has swapped the verbal jousting sessions and punishing filming schedules for a return to her roots as a jobbing actress. First up is a cameo in Hairspray, a remake of John Waters's belovedly trashy 1988 coming- of-age movie that launched the career of Ricki Lake. This time around another newcomer, Nikki Blonsky, plays the 1960s high school kid who dreams of dancing on the local TV station and ending racial segregation. The remake which, like The Producers, comes after a hugely successful Broadway musical version of the original is notable in that it stars John Travolta dragging it up as Mrs Blonsky. Janney, who has a brief cameo as an uptight mother, claims to have "had a ball" making the film.

"I saw the original and I am a huge John Waters fan, " she says. "The writers of the new versions are friends, they asked me and I said why not? I'd never done a musical before and I was looking forward to that side of things. I'm not a great singer but I like to dance yet I'm the only person in the film who doesn't get to do either.'" Shaking off the expectations and preconceptions that come from playing the same character for seven years might be difficult, but Janney has played several roles involving personalities differing wildly from CJ's harried efficiency. "I love to play disturbed characters. They don't have to be mothers but they do tend to have a screw loose. I like to go where it is dark and deep." Her supporting roles as Chris Cooper's traumatised drudge of a wife in American Beauty and as Meryl Streep's lover in The Hours proved that she can cope with almost anything that's thrown at her.

"When West Wing came along I had just done American Beauty. I wanted the part so badly I had to beg my agent not to let them see that tape because it was light years away from the part of CJ." Janney's upbringing in Dayton where West Wing co-stars Martin Sheen and Rob Lowe also grew up was cosy and relatively carefree. She went to boarding school and spent summers at a farm owned by her grandfather. Her mother, Macy, gave up her own career as a budding actress to marry a businessman. The couple had two boys, Hal and Jay, before Janney was born, and they have remained close as adults, although the hectic filming schedule of The West Wing kept her away from home.