Francine Stock: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Iâm Francine Stock and Iâm delighted to be here to talk to Allison Janney about her life in pictures. Allison Janney is an actress of quite extraordinary skill and magnificent presence; she can create a character within just a few moments, whether itâs edgy comedy or deep pathos. Everything from The West Wing, of course, to American Beauty to the latest film, I, Tonya. This is her life in pictures, let us just be reminded of that.
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
Allison Janney: That was fun, watching that. My God, Iâve been around a little bit!
FS: I think people are pleased youâre here!
AJ: Iâm very pleased Iâm here, thank you for having me and inviting me to this incredible evening.
FS: Well, we are absolutely very much looking forward to talking about your life in pictures. But letâs go back a little bit before the pictures. So you were raised in DaytonâŚ
AJ: Dayton, Ohio. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, with two brothers and a lot of animals.
FS: Performers in the household?
AJ: My mother actually was an actress. She went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and she was roommates at one point with Eileen Brennan and Rue McClanahan. She did plays with Tony Lo Bianco and Tallulah Bankhead and she got a review for her fabulous legs. That was what she did, she had beautiful legs, she was a dancer. And then she met my father on a blind date in New Yorkâhe was a copywriter for an advertising agency, and she decided toâback when you made decisions like that as a woman, you picked one or the other, and she chose the family. And sheâs never looked back or regretted it and has had so much fun watching me do, you know, get to have a career.
FS: So was it clear, then, that you would study theatre or drama?
AJ: God no. I donât think I knew or chose to be an actor until I was in college. I went to Kenyon College in Ohio and Paul Newman had gone to Kenyon College and he directedâthey built a beautiful new theatre at the college, at Kenyon, and he came to christen it by directing the first play in it, so I metâI got to work with Paul Newman and met Joanne Woodward, and Joanne said, âYou should come to the Neighbourhood Playhouse and study acting,â and I said, âWell OK, sure Iâll do that.â And I never even filled out the application; my good friend Allison Mackie filled out my application and sent it in and I got a letter saying, âYou are accepted,â and I was like, âI didnâtââ. I donât know where I would be right now if it werenât for my friends and the people who believed in me because I think IâI donât know what my problem wasâI think I didnât know I wanted to be an actor, I didnât want to commit or say it because I knew what a hard life it would be, and so I ended up going to the Neighbourhood Playhouse and studying and then not working for a very long time.
[Laughter]
Because Iâm so impossibly tall and I was cast as, you know, forty year-old women when I was ten.
[Laughter]
You know I was always playing older I think just because of my height. My first play in high school was Noah Claypole, the undertakerâs son in Oliver because, you know, they didnât haveâI donât know, that was my part. And I think I was a reluctant actress because I didnât know that I was going to be able to have a career in it. I didnât want to say, itâs one of those things where, as an actor in New York when you say, or when so-and-so says, âWhat do you do?â and you say youâre an actor and people joke and say, âWhat restaurant do you work in?â And I just didnât want to hear that, so I said I was a photographer for National Geographic I think.
[Laughter]
I thought that sounded like a really sexy job to have.
FS: You did at one point come here to London toâ
AJ: I did, from the Neighbourhood Playhouse I got a fellowship to come to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I had a wonderful summer programme here with no one from England though, it was all from all over the world, it was an international group of people, Sri Lankans and Germans and Swedes. It was amazing, it was one of my favourite times I had, getting to study here and going to the theatre every single night with my RADA card and getting in for a pound to go see every play. Went to the theatre every single night and it was great.
FS: So was there any sense at that point, I mean did you have particular actors who you wanted to emulate in some way? Did screen or stage seem, orâ
AJ: I definitely, you know, I grew up watching Carol Burnett and she was my hero, and Mary Tyler-Moore. I grew up in front of a television set in Ohio and I fell in love with those women, those were my heroes, and as I studied theatre I fell in love with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench and I saw Judi Dench when I was studying over here in, oh gosh, what show? One of those Shakespeare plays.
[Laughter]
I donât remember which one.
FS: Sheâs done plenty.
AJ: Sheâs such a genius, she was an inspiration, of course. You know, Meryl Streep, as you saw her kissing me there, that was my favourite Meryl Streep story. Iâm going to jump around, you justâ
FS: Go, go, go. Yeah.
AJ: She, uh she was so upset with the way she looked in the lighting and she thought I didnât look so good either, so when she kissed me she went like thatâ
[Laughter]
Oh it was so great, she put her hands right there, she said, âYouâre going to thank me later.â
[Laughter]
Oh I loved her so much, my God.
FS: What a great tip!
AJ: Yeah, it is.
FS: So I mean, but you were cast fairly early on in films. This film career goes backâ
AJ: Well you know, Iâmy film career really⌠OK, I think I was thirty-eight when things started to happen for me and I got, my friend Stanley Tucci wrote a movie called Big Night
FS: Big Night, yes.
AJ: And he asked me to play that part, it was the first time I didnât audition for anything and I couldnât believe Stanley was justâbecause we had done a play called Fat Men in Skirts with the Naked Angels theatre company in New York City with Marisa Tomei and Stanley and Matt McGrath. It was one of the craziest plays, I donât know if any of you know Nicky Silverâs plays, but theyâre pretty out there. I canât believe Iâm going to tell this story now but I am because itâs funny. In this production, we only did seven performances and one night, I had to start the play with this monologue and I remember coming off stage and going, âStanley, what isâI donât think anybody was looking at me or watching me or paying attention,â and I thought, âDo I suck? Was I terrible? Why was nobodyâŚ?â And I found out that in the audience that night were Jackie O, John Kennedy, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Mike Nicholls, um⌠It was an unbelievable, star-studdedâand I have no idea why they were all there for that one performance, but because of that Mike NichollsâI love that man so much he was a real champion of mine and I just loved himâhe saw me in that and wrote me a lovely letter and then he put me in, proceeded to put me in Wolf in a really teeny part, and then he put me in Primary Colours and that movie is what got me West Wing. Because Aaron Sorkin was in love with Mike Nicholls, too, and then. Oh it was so great, but everything just starts in the theatre and leads on from there.
FS: Well West Wing, I think we have to address West Wing first of all.
AJ: Iâd better have a sip of martini.
[Laughter]
FS: Exactly, which is not entirely inappropriate, is it, in that sense. So West Wing runs from â99 to 2006 and you are right the way through it, and that whole idea ofâI mean itâs impossible for us, for anybody who hasnât done it, to imagine what that juggernaut was, what that production process, week in, week outâŚ
AJ: It was thrilling. I have never been soâwe didnât know it was going to go on for as long as it did. First of all, when I did the pilot I didnât think anyone was going to watch a show about American politics. I didnât think anyone would be interested. All of us didnât, it wasnât just me. And it just kept going and kept going, it was like, âAre we getting another season? Are we getting another season?â So I never, we never sat back and thought, âWeâre a hit!â and felt comfortable. We always were worried that it was going to disappear; I was always so grateful. I would stand in those walk and talks when theyâd reset and Iâd look at everybody working on that show and have one of those moments where you go, âIâm so grateful right now.â I just loved every person, that cast was an extraordinary group of people that Iâm still very close with. But it didâit came at a cost because you do a show like that and you do, eighteen hour days we worked on that. Fridays become, we called them âFraturdaysâ because it just Friday and Saturday became Saturday and then your Saturday was gone and then youâd have, for the women weâd have five am calls for hair and make-up and I missed family weddings, funerals, I got an honorary degree from my college and I missed the plane because of the shooting and my father had to accept it for me and, you know, it cameâand I couldnât juggle that success with keeping up with my friends and family. It was unbelievable, it was before cell phones, for godâs sake! You know, so you reallyâI was out of touch, I lost touch with a lot of people during that.
FS: In just a second weâre going to see a clip of C.J.â
AJ: OK. One of my favourite ones
FS: –In her prime. But just before that, that Aaron Sorkin dialogue, I mean do you need to go into training for that?
[Laughter]
AJ: I, for whatever reason, Iâve always loved dialogue, fast-talking women. I love it, I feelâI know Iâm talking here and Iâm doing fine but I get tongue-tied all the time and Iâm so much more comfortable memorisingâIâd rather have memorised a ten-page Aaron Sorkin thing than sit here and have to talk myself, itâs soâI found it so empowering, so fun to play a woman that smart and that capable. I was thrilled, it just gave me chills, especially the scene youâre about to play, to be that kind of woman who can dress down a four-star general and just have the verbal acuity and the smarts and the knowledge, just toâI always joke and I say, Iâm always the person thatâs in the car going home, we all are, and we go, âI should have said this, I should have said that,â and C.J. always says it. And who doesnât want to be her? Sheâs my hero, too.
FS: Can we see the clip, please?
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
AJ: I honestly donât think Iâd be able to memorise that today, I think my memorising ship has blown up. It doesnât work that way anymore. I donât know how I did that, I really donât, except for the thrill of knowing I was going to get to dress down some one thatâyou know, you just want toâŚ
[Laughter]
FS: But part of it is that the voice doesnât rise, it just rises a little bit here and there, but itâs the control thatâs so impressive.
AJ: Yes, yes, yeah. God there were so many moments like that that were just delicious. I mean I havenât seen Mollyâs Game, have you all seen Mollyâs Game?
FS: Yeah.
AJ: It is Aaron Sorkin quality?
Audience: Yeah.
FS: Itâs good, yeah.
AJ: I canât wait to see it, I really want to see it. He said he might write a reboot with Sterling K. Brown as the President with all of us. I hope he meant all of us being back in it.
[Laughter]
Better check that before I start talking about it.
FS: Well of course because itâs a very different political climate. That was during Clinton and Bush II wasnât it, that that series went out?
AJ: Yes, yeah.
FS: And everythingâs changed.
AJ: Oh my God, in the beginning we were rock stars in Hollywood when Clinton was in office and we got invited all the time, we were doing a lot of exterior work in D.C. and then when Bush came into office it was⌠We no longer got any invitations to the White House.
[Laughter]
FS: And now, could you imagine?
AJ: Oh my god. Oh my god, no. I donât know whatâs happening, I really donât. Itâs the most unbelievably upsetting time in my history, my watching whatâs going on with this man. I honestly think heâs crazy. Itâs very upsetting.
FS: So four Emmys you got for West Wing. And indeed it is probably the pivotal series that establishes the seriousness of TV drama in the contemporary world, isnât it? Because there was so much, I mean thereâs so many issues over that period of time. I suppose thatâs something we may come to talk about in terms of TV series and film partsâhow long you spend on one or the other, I mean, if it runs as long as The West Wingâthe arc of that character can be extraordinary, canât it?
AJ: Yeah, and yet you never, itâs like life, you never know whatâs happening next. We didnât, even though I got to play her that long I never knew the next day was going to come or what was coming down the pike. You know Aaron never discussed with us what storylines were coming. I mean Richard Schiff, I remember him saying, âWhat, Iâm getting married and Iâm having babies?â He was just like, he couldnât believe when that storyline came at him, and even on Mom I donât know whatâs coming so I never get toâitâs not like I get to see where the end is and prepare my arc for the whole show, I just do each episode as it comes and think of it as it could be the last and have to trust the writers because we donât get to be involved in that process at all. I think they like it that way, I think it gets messy for them if we startâweâve pitched some ideas and Aaron definitelyâmy God I mean The Jackal that came about just from Richard and I hanging about in our trailers for endless hours, waiting to work, and we just instead of learning a new language or doing something productive and useful, we learned to lip sync and play air guitar to crazy songs and Aaron happened to come into the trailer one night and saw me do that, so he made C.J. do it. So he was always looking for things from our real life to put in the show; he made C.J. from Dayton, Ohio, and did that whole story.
FS: I did see a discussion once with senior members, as it were, of the cast of The West Wing, talking, and Martin Sheen said something very interesting about working with you. He said how much he loved working with you etcetera, etcetera, because you never catch her at it. You never catch her at the business of acting.
AJ: I like that.
FS: And I thought it was lovely and I thought it was absolutely true about your performances, thereâs always that sense that, you know, of it being real and you know, thereâs some actors you can admire but youâre sort of obviously admiring their technique, and with you itâs never that.
AJ: No I do I like to be⌠Itâs not like I think Iâm that person or anything, Iâm not crazy, but I do like to be in the moment, and to know your lines and be on a stage or in front of a camera with some one, itâs very liberating, I love it, itâs the only time I feel very connected to what Iâm supposed to do or to the world or whatever. It just makes me feel connected to be in a scene with someone and just there and thinking, whatever character Iâm playing, Iâm there and Iâm that character and Iâm giving it everything I have and I love it.
FS: Iâm going to move towards Juno, which is 2007 and Jason Reitman directing and Oscar-winning script by Diablo Cody as well. So this isâI mean Juno is kind of held up now as an example of indie film. I mean was it apparent right from the beginning that this was an extraordinary script?
AJ: Yes. There have been a few scriptsâthis one and actually I, Tonya, reading those scripts I knew right away that they were great. But that didnât necessarilyâI didnât know that they were going to translate and be successful in the box office, but I knew that they were unique, and I mean Diabloâs writing, her style is just, Iâd never read anything like it before, and I couldnât have been⌠I was so lucky that Jason wanted to work with me. I didnât have to audition for that, which was a miracle, I was really lucky that he wanted me for that because I certainly wanted to be part of it and I didnât know if I had a chance or not but he told me afterwards that he wanted me to play that part.
FS: And itâs a great film about kind of modern family life, isnât it? Because itâs about teenage pregnancy, obviously, but you are the stepmotherâ
AJ: The stepmom, yeah. Good stepmom, I guess. Not evil.
FS: Exactly, not the wicked kind. And, but itâs the relationship you have with her, itâs why Juno I think, was for a lot of people an interesting film that was so successful, but at the same time kind of celebrating different role models. And weâre going to see, the little clip weâre going to see is from the ultrasound scan of the unborn baby. Obviously, what else would it be? Letâs see the clip.
[Laughter]
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
AJ: What can you say?
FS: Now, going through your filmography, there are films where you maybe havenât had so many scenes but you leave a strong impression. And I wonder if thereâsâis there some principle where you know if you may not have that many lines of dialogue or you may not have that much time on screen, is there something, some way of kind of distilling it or knowing what it isâknowing your place, as it were, and your importance in the film?
AJ: I alwaysâI do that thing my mother used to tell me: âThere are no small parts, there are only small actors.â And every part I play, I go, âWell this is a story about Bren,â I approach it that way, that that is my, as far as Iâm concerned itâs a movie about me, with my small part.
[Laughter]
And then you just own it and do it and bring your best to it and hope it serves the greater good of the movie, I guess. I donât know, you know I have to talk about the I, Tonya line because I wanted to say that almost every movie Iâve ever been in is, âWhat the fuck happened to my storyline?â For those of you who havenâtâI donât know if youâve all seen it, but if you havenât seen it I get to address the screenwriter in the movie which is hilarious. But yeah, itâs funny because I do things like Juno and I, Tonya, and I, Tonya I shot in eight days and Margot and everyone, they were onâwell there was only thirty days, but they were on for the whole thing, and Juno was maybe four or five days of shooting, and all these movie roles take up just such a small, teeny part of my life, and Iâm so happy to have been involved with all of them but Iâve never had the, done a lead in a movie and done the whole beginning to end. Well thatâs not true, I did something called Days and Nights but no one ever saw that. I was number one on the call sheet, it was the first time I was number one on the call sheet, which was a big deal for me. But thatâs kind ofâIâd love to do more movies where I from beginning to end have the whole experience, but thatâs why I love doing my steady job, Mom. Doing that right now, itâs such a great job and great schedule and great people I get to work with. Itâs like a day job, I get to get up and go to work every day and act, and itâs amazing. I think someone hereâs going to come see me in Mom. Rachel, are you here?
Rachel: Yeah, hello!
AJ: Oh youâre right there! Oh for heavenâs sakes! My friend Rachel, sheâs going to come see me in Mom. I canât believe youâre in the front row.
FS: I mean the most extreme thingâKenneth Lonerganâs Margaret, without giving it away for anyone who hasnât seen itâ
AJ: Oh god, yeah.
FS: I mean that is literally a handful of lines, if that, and yetâbut you permeate the film. I mean there is a kind of plot reason for that, but it isnât just that, itâs so memorable, itâs impossible to forget what happens and how youâ
AJ: Kenny Lonergan called me and asked me to do it and we were joking, I said, âItâs literally one little scene,â and he said, âBut itâs the most important scene in the movie, the whole movie happens because of what happens to you.â And I said, âWell I guess, at least I wonât get cutâŚâ
[Laughter]
And at that point I was like, âAlright Iâll do it,â and I went and I spent the whole day on Broadway in a pool of blood. It wasâI laid there the whole say because they said, âWell you canâweâre going to relight so you can go to craft services,â and I was like, âReally? No Iâm just going to lie here all day, youâve got me for the day, Iâm just going to lie here all day.â And Kenny was so interesting directing me in that because he just kept saying, âBe angry. Now I want you toâŚâ just giving me different directions and they didnât make sense to me at all and I didnât understand why he wasâand I just did it, I just trusted him and I think it creates this woman who, you know, obviously had this awful trauma happen and she doesnât know which end is up, she doesnât know whatâs going on and sheâs not right in the head. So it kind of made sense, it was wonderful direction that he gave me and a very memorableâyeah, Iâve had a lot of people who⌠Elaine May, one of my heroes, actually wrote me a note about that, that she loved that scene so much.
FS: It is extraordinary.
AJ: Yeah, and I sometimes donât know what Iâwhen Iâm doing it I donât know what it is or what itâs going to be, butâŚ
FS: Well moving on, this in contradiction to The Way Way Back, moving forwards to The Way Way Back, and to Betty, who isâŚ
AJ: Oh Betty.
FS: Betty isâŚ
AJ: Cheers to Betty!
FS: Cheers to Betty, who would not be without that glass of wine in hand.
AJ: She would not.
FS: So this is a film, this is a greatâitâs a comedy, obviously, and Bettyâs a neighbour and she could be the neighbour from hell and yet we know, even at the beginning, that sheâs going to be OK.
AJ: Yeah, in small doses and when youâre in the right mood, Betty can be great but then you want her to just go away.
FS: But with someone like Betty, and weâre going to see her in all her splendour in a moment, with somebody like Betty is there a sense of you thinking, âHow far can I take this?â Or is there just no too far?
AJ: Well everyone who knows me knows I go big or go home. I will always err on going big and then they can bring me down, but I love to be, I love playing bigâmaking big choices. And with Betty, knowing that she was covering up so much pain and so unhappy made it easier to go bigger. Like, âI am happy! Weâre going to have fun! The best summer ever!â Just that manic kind of, just refusing to let life bring her down over the fact that her husband left her for a man⌠She just wants to have fun and be loved, and she kind of broke my heart that character. So it wasâI love that opening scene, though, it was pretty great toâit says it all.
FS: Letâs see the scene from The Way Way Back
AJ: Iâm jetlagged a little, too.
[Laughter]
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
Thank you, Ann Roth, for those lovely white jeans. Always flattering to a womanâs figure.
[Laughter]
FS: The real problem with The Way Way Back is that there isnât enough Betty.
AJ: I know, that was my big scene.
FS: I was hoping that she wouldâobviously she recurs but I was hoping sheâd have a great big scene at the end, but sadly she just becomes quite discreet towards the end.
AJ: I know, but God it was a dream job being on the beach in southern Massaâsouth Boston, and I canât even remember the town right now but we all rented houses on the beach and walked down the beach to work every day, it was one of the most glorious shoots Iâve ever been on and a lot of fun, enormously fun.
FS: So I mean, do you haveâI donât know how to put this, it could soundâbut you have a face thatâŚ
AJ: Good, Iâm rubbing off on you
[Laughter]
FS: There are some faces that are very much stuck in an era, for example there are some actors who, you put them in period drama and it just never quite works⌠But you have done a fair amount of that stuff as well, you have done stuff in the fifties⌠And do you have any particular, do you like being in period drama stuff? Does it give you something?
AJ: Yeah I love it. Anything where I get to hide more, be in more costumes and wigs and clothing I love it. I donât know if itâs just my theatre training and, you know, doing Fado, and doing funny things or a musical, just doing all different styles of things and learning to be fearless in them. And I enjoy time jumping or doing whatever the script calls for, and I thank my mom and dad for a face that looks old school or something. I think I kind of lookâ
FS: Timeless.
AJ: I guess timeless.
FS: Do you start with costume, with a role?
AJ: Well I look forward to that costume meeting. Like with Ann Roth, Iâve worked with her so many times, she did my Broadway debut, she did this, she did The Hours. Iâve worked with her so many times and I look to Ann to tell me who my character is, sometimes. Sheâs so opinionated about it and I see what she does to me and I go, âOh thatâs who I am. I thought I was going to wearââ you know, Iâm fascinated by costume designers. Jennifer Johnson who did the costumes for I, Tonya, oh my God, I have so much respect for their talent, and obviously the hair and make-up people, too. But the more they put on⌠they inform who I am, I look to them to find my character.
FS: So weâre going to talk about the role that won you an Emmy as Guest ActressâI love that phrase, Guest Actress.
AJ: Guest Actress, yeah. You can only be in six episodes or something to be a guest.
FS: Oh is this the limit?
AJ: If youâre in seven youâre a regular and you donât get, you knowâŚ
FS: The guest-like finish has gone off after⌠So, and this is for Masters of Sex, which is another one of these tremendous TV dramas, and 1950s, as was The Help also 1950s
AJ: Yeah it is
FS: So you have a little bit of period time in that. Now I love this character in Masters of Sex because sheâs the opposite of Betty, really, isnât she?
AJ: Yes, sheâs a very, very quiet, searching woman. Very unhappy and not knowing why her marriage isnât working and what sheâs doing wrong. Feeling inadequate, feeling under-appreciated, just in a time when the sexual revolution was sort of beginning and she was hearing her friends talk about sex and sheâs justâI love those scenes of just being quiet and listening and realising, âHmm, thatâs not my life. I donât have that, I donât have that,â just realising how unhappy she is, I guess. It was amazing.
FS: She volunteers. Sheâs married to a character played by Beau Bridgesâ
AJ: Yes
FS: Whose first interest is not women, probably.
AJ: Yes
FS: However, none of this of course is expressed in any open way, but she volunteers to take part in William Masters and Virginia Johnsonâs survey, their early studies of sexual behaviour, so she turns up to give her evidence as it were, her experience, but itâs not entirely what they were expecting. If we could see the clip please.
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
Oh itâs the humiliation.
AJ: I know it made me emotional.
FS: And I think actually one of the interesting things, too, about that series was it did then also make you reflect on the performative function that sex now has in society. Sheâs isolated, I mean let alone the fact obviously that sheâs not having a great time, sheâs actually kind of socially isolated, as well, from that idea of not being part of someâOh itâs terrible.
AJ: Yeah itâs hard, I forgot how devastating that is, and the whole storyline was so beautiful with Beau Bridges. Andânow I want to watch it again, I canât even remember, I know there was so much, it was a great storyline, great actors, great opportunity for me to get to play someone like that. Sheâs probably the closest to me, not that I havenât had an orgasmâŚ
[Laughter]
FS: I donât think for a moment anyone would thinkâŚ
AJ: Let me finishâŚ
[Laughter]
Just in terms of being more awkward socially, I think I relate to her.
FS: I suppose it is that sense of, OK, West Wing you didnât know necessarily from week to week what was going to happen, but presumably with something like this you do understand what the arc might be. And so is it more satisfying that perhaps doing a feature film to be able to develop over timeâ
AJ: Yeah, and when I was approached about this, the women called meâoh God, I canât remember their names right now because Iâm so⌠Karen are you out there?
Audience: [inaudible]
AJ: Yes! Michelle and, wait for it.
Audience: [inaudible]
AJ: Michelle and SarahâYes, thank you, Rachel! Sarah went out my mind. Sarah and Michelle called me, and they hadnât written it yet, but they just pitched the arc to me of what the character was going to go through and I thought it was brilliant and didnât know what the pages were going to be like, what the script was going to look like, but I loved the storyline and I wanted to tell her story. You know, I had to beâthere were some nude scenes in there, too, which wasâthey warned me that I had to do a sex scene, you know, at fifty, who gets asked to do a sex scene at fifty, over fifty? It was enormously challenging for me and Iâm not veryâI was not entirely comfortable doing it but I thought it was an important story to tell.
FS: Very different in terms of talking about long-running TV, thereâs also Mom, for whichâthe Emmys, your mantelpiece must be now laden down with the Emmys. So this, for anyone who hasnât seen it, is a story about mothers and daughters but actually it becomes a story about addiction and rehabâŚ
AJ: Yeah, the main reason I wanted to do the show is that it was about something more. I was looking to work in that format, the half hour, because itâs such a civilised schedule and you can have a life when you act. Itâs the best thing thatâs ever happened to me in terms of work and life balance. And I loved that the backdrop was about people in recovery; itâs an issue thatâs very close to me and I didnât know in the beginning, in the pilot episode, that it was going to shift focus more into the recovery family than the family family, whatever you call it, birth family, whatever. But I was kind of happy that they went in that direction because I think the stories we can tell with this group of women, these friends who are all struggling toânot struggling to stay sober but theyâre in working their programme and trying to survive, and theyâre all survivors and theyâre all great characters and we deal with issues that affect everyone. And I love, nothing is better to me than a fan who comes up and says, âThank you so much for your show, I have ten years sobriety and Iâm so grateful to see my life represented up there and you show it with grace and you show that there can be joy and laughter in recovery and you show that thereâs a way to do it.â Taking the stigma off of it is so important, weâre such a, this worldâin our country, especially, you know, people have so many addictions, so many things theyâre struggling with, and I like that my work in that show gives people hope.
FS: It must be quite a tricky balance finding that way between, and this is down to the writers and the director and clearly the performances, finding that line between the comedyâand this is a comedyâit certainly starts off in a very comedic way, and also finding the truth, sometimes quite a difficult truth, in it too.
AJ: Thatâs up to the writers, finding that wonderful balance of finding the humour in the dark and the sadness. And I particularlyâGod Iâm so grateful that laughter is the only way to things like that, to get through the difficult moments that we go through in life. And I love that theyâtheyâre not afraid to go there. Some of the best laughs come out of sad moments with these characters, I mean with Marjorie who has cancer, she says, âJust because I have cancer donât treat me any differently,â and then, you know, Bonnie says, âWell you can pay the check then.â That sort of⌠They just know how to bring you back up after having a quiet moment of something real and tragic to make us all laugh, and I think it endears these characters to people and I think itâs why the show is successful, that people are relating to these women and wanting to root for them.
FS: So weâre going to see Bonnie, your character, here in a meeting. And this is kind ofâthis is actually completely illustrative of what youâre talking about because it goes from the kind of humour into something else. So if we could see the clip, please, from Mom.
AJ: I donât know which one this is.
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
Stunning look in the hair and make-up department. Thank you for showing that one.
[Laughter]
FS: Wait âtil whatâs coming next!
AJ: Oh no!
[Laughter]
What is next?
FS: Well weâre now moving towards I, Tonya, soâŚ
AJ: Iâm trying to think whatâs next, what could possiblyâŚ
FS: Yes I, Tonya, it is I, Tonya.
AJ: Oh, well, yeah.
FS: But luckily we have you here in person so we know what the reality is.
AJ: Listen, itâs kind of liberating playing characters you donât have to worry about what they look like. Itâs nice to hide under the hair and make-up and not be concerned with it.
FS: I mean Bonnie is a character whoâs trying to figure out how toâbecause actually youâve got quite a lot of other characters weâve seen so far who tell people how it is and do figure things out for them, you know, whether itâs Bren in Juno or obviously West Wing. And indeed the detective in The Girl on the Train, she sorts everything out too, doesnât she?
AJ: She does, God. Yeah.
FS: That wasâgets things nicely sorted. However, as we come forward to I, Tonya, which is in cinemas here in January or maybe February, Iâm not quite sure, but anyway, soon, in the new year itâs coming to cinemas. And this is based, obviously, on the incident, as itâs referred to, about Tonya Harding the figure skater.
AJ: Yes.
FS: Who was implicated at the time in an incident in which another figure skater, Nancy Kerrigan, was injured in a violent attack. This is an extraordinary story, itâs an extraordinary way of telling the story, as well, because it busts open the fourth wall, sometimesâŚ
AJ: Yes, my friend Stephen Rogers who wrote the screenplay, this beautiful screenplay, he saw a documentary on 30 for 30 about Tonya Harding and he decided, he had written a movie aboutâa Christmas movie, and it didnât go over very well, and he thought, âI want to write something that has nothing to do with Christmas,â and so he saw this 30 for 30 with his niece and thought, âMaybe Iâll write something about Tonya Harding. Nothing doesnât say Christmas like Tonya Harding.â
[Laughter]
He called me and said, âIâm going to write this movie about Tonya Harding,â and I thought, I just thought it sounded fascinating because I used to be a figure skater back in Dayton; before I had the dream of being an actor I wanted to be an Olympic figure skater, so Iâd spent a lot of time skating and knew the players all involved in the Tonya Harding incident and I thought that sounded fascinating, and âCall me when you get back and youâve talked to her.â He had a really successful conversation with her, although you could tell she had told the story a million times so he had to get around that to find out what was really going on and he kept going up and meeting with her and met with Jeff Gillooly her husband, and the thing that struck him was that they both had such contradictory versions of the same story, of their relationship, of the incident, of everything. They disagreed on absolutely everything, and he thought, âOK, thatâs what Iâm going to do. Iâm going to tell the story that way and show both of their versions of what happens,â and then my character emerged, as he realised what a big part she played in shaping who Tonya was, and he said funnily that the only thing Jeff and Tonya agreed on is how awful LaVona wasâthat was literally the only thing they agreed on. So he wrote this and he called me and said, when the mother started playing a big role in the story, in Tonyaâs story, he said, âAllison, youâre going to play Tonyaâs mother and youâre going to wear a fur coat and youâre going to have a bird on your shoulder and youâre going to be an alcoholic and youâre going to be thisâŚâ I was like, âOh my God,â it just sounded fantastic to me, but I was like, âHow are you gettingâwhy the bird? Why the fur coat? I love yourâŚâ Itâs such a specific look. And I think I laughed because Margot read this and didnât know that any of it was true, she just thought Stephen had made up the whole thing, which was just so funny to me because she was like three, I think, when the incident happened, so of course she wouldnât know. And then I watched the 30 for 30 documentary and there she is, the real LaVona, in that very, very unique look.
[Laughter]
And Stephen has written a lot of other movies and he has written a part for me in every single one of them, but Iâve never gotten to play any of them because I wasnât a big enough name or whatever, and the parts always went to another actress: The part written for Allison Janney will be played by, you know, Betty White, or⌠It was a joke between us; we went to the Neighbourhood Playhouse together, Stephen and I, weâve known each other forever, and to have this happen and have my name being bandied about in the conversation, itâs crazy. It makes it all the more special that itâs happening because of our friendship and this role that he wanted me to play. And I think that he wanted me to play it because he thought if anyone was going to be able to bring some level of humanity to this woman, that he knew that thatâs what I would want to do. Because sheâs evil, sheâs not a good woman, but I know sheâs not just that. She had to start offâshe was a little girl at one point, she had a mother and a father, she was probably abused. Itâs not, you know, saying what she did, that you can forgive it, but you can understand it, andâŚ
FS: Because the tone of the film is really unusual, actually, because you think that youâre into a particular kind of comedy about not exactly trailer trash, but youâre into that kind ofâand then it gets darker and darker and darker as it goes along.
AJ: Yeah, I love dark humour. Thatâs my jam or whatever you⌠I like it, I probably shouldnât admit that as much asâthere are things that are twisted that make me laugh and I feel like I shouldnât admit that this makes me laugh. Because itâs not funny and Iâm not talking aboutâthe abuse is, itâs part of the story, itâs not part of the entertainment, but itâs a big part of this movie and itâs part of Tonyaâs story. And when youâre telling some oneâs story, like Stephen decided itâs notâyou donât sugar coat it, you show it the way she experienced it which was every day and routine and normal. That something so awful can beâto us, weâre horrified watching it, the audience watches like, âOh my God.â Thatâs what she went through, thatâs where her life, she had an abusive mother, she had an abusive husband, she, you know, itâs just amazing what she had to survive and what she accomplished in spite of all that and being not accepted by the figure skating community; she didnât fit the mould of the figure skater whoâs supposed to be a classy, high-class girl who could afford the beautiful skating costumes and the pearls and fur coats, and Tonya was a girl who liked to drive pick-up trucks and shoot rabbits and listened to ZZ Top and completely didnât fit into the world and they didnât accept her, they didnât want her. Itâs sad because she really was one of the most talented skaters and they didnât want to accept her, and in spite of that she accomplished one of the greatest feats in figure skating history. Itâs funny because they had to show the triple axel in the movie and Craig Gillespie our director was like, âWell letâs get the, letâs get the skater whoâs going to do the triple axel,â and they were like, âUm no, thereâs nobody who can do it.â There were only two, the women who could do it were training for the Olympics and they didnât want to risk hurting themselves to come do a stunt for our movie, so they had to CGI it. They had to do all those facial recognition stuff, I donât know any of the terms, but one day I remember seeing everyone walking around with dots on their faces forâit was amazing what they did and what Margot accomplished having not really skated before.
FS: I mean it works, you wouldnât know. I personally thought sheâd trained so hard she wasâ
AJ: Yeah
FS: That she could do it. Weâve just got a little, little clip
AJ: Thereâs nothing you canâI swear in every single⌠Iâve never sworn so much or smoked so much.
FS: Well this is a littleâand this a rare sort of reflective moment in which Tonya and her mother are actually able to sit across the tableâthis is a little bit later in the film and Tonya has gone to find her mother at work.
AJ: Yes.
FS: To just have a little bit of rapprochement here. If we could see the clip, please.
[Clip plays]
[Applause]
FS: So congratulations on the Golden Globe nomination and today also the Screen Actors Guild nomination.
AJ: Thank you very, very much.
[Applause]
FS: I mean it is a terrific⌠You found something in there to love about her.
AJ: Not love, but understand, you know. Thatâs got to be a woman who was abused, didnât feel she got a good deal in life, didnât get anything she wanted. Resentful, angry, I can relate to all those things at times, I mean thereâs too many resentments, too much anger about certain things. So I can relate to that. And also knowing that, you know, she did workâevery penny went towards Tonyaâs skating and she drove her toâand my parents, I would wake my parents up at five in the morning to take me to the rink before school in the morning to do my compulsory figures and it takes a lot of commitment on the parents, too. So I think she did her best; I donât think this is a woman who knew how to love or be loved, itâs just the way she showed love was to make sure her daughter⌠I mean the terrible, the scene thatâs so awful it made me laugh when I read it and then I think, âOh itâs terrible,â when I actually look at it, so donât judge me for saying that, but when she kicks her daughter out of the chair when sheâs colouring. I was like âStephen,â I mean it made me laugh and then I went, âOh God this is horrible and Iâve got to play this,â and then I thought, âOh whatâs that moment about,â and I know for her it was watching her daughter colouring and just sitting there content for a moment, and she was like, âDonât get too content, life is not going to be nice to you so you better be prepared for bad things to happen because theyâre going to happen.â Itâs terrible, itâs terrible and yet I had to underâI didnât get to meet her beforehand, either, so I didnât get to talk to that woman and now sheâs resurfaced. Because she had changed her name and Tonya didnât know where she was, didnât care if she was alive or deaad, didnât know where she was, so I didnât get to speak to her. I wouldâve asked her a gazillion questions and Iâm sure that she would have denied everything, all the abuse she would have made light of, she wouldâve denied everything and only⌠But I do feel like we represented her, in the direct address part to the camera, I did get to say her part of the story, at least from Stephenâs point of view of what he thought it must have been.
FS: Yeah I donât think that weâI think we always engage with her, actually, however horrendous she might be. So has there been any response from her to your portrayal?
AJ: She was on some American news magazine thing where she said, âThatâs whoâs playing me?â I mean I donât know why Iâm playing her Southern right now, but she said, âThatâs whoâs playing me?â I think she was⌠And she downplayed the abuse, said, âI may have swat her once or something,â which is exactly how you would think that she would react to it. I kind of wish for her sake that she had been around for Stephen to talk to, just to really better represent her side of the story, but I think I did a, you knowâŚ
FS: But we do see a little bit of her at the end and she doesnât look so dissimilar.
AJ: I know. Acting with a bird is a whole⌠Iâve acted with a lot of animals and I love animals, Iâm a big dog and cat person, but birds kind of freak me out a little bit because I donât know⌠Iâve never had a bird and I donât know how they interact with people, I wasnât⌠And I just thought, âOh God, Iâm a little nervous but Iâm just going to put it on my shoulder and act like weâre friends and never look at it.â Because someone when I was learning to smoke when I was fourteen, back when we thought it was cool to smoke, someone said, âTo look cool you canât look at the cigarette, ever, just donât look at it and youâll look really cool.â I was like, âOh yeah thatâs good, that works.â
[Laughter]
And I thought, âWell I wonder if thatâs going to work with the bird?â Because Iâd never worked with a bird before and I wanted it to look like we had a, weâd been together for a long time, so I thought, âWell Iâm just not going to look at it, ever, no matter what he does.â And that bird, he said, âOh yeah, watch this,â and he was just poking in my ear and I really think he kind of fuelled my performance a little bit though because he made me really angry.
[Laughter]
I was determined to tell my side of the story to the camera and actually I loved that part of the movie so much, the whole look, the fabulousâthe hours of make-up was fascinating for me to watch, Iâve never had that done to me before and thoseâand AndrĂŠ Freitas did this make-up with me and I just loved it. I mean I probably wouldnât have if I had to film in that old age make up every day for three months, I probably would have wanted to⌠But I only had to do that two days in that make-up, so the novelty didnât wear off, it was really fun. And just a side story, sorry am Iâ
FS: No, not at all.
AJ: The bird- you know I smoke through the whole movie and the bird handler said, âYou canât smoke around the bird,â and I was like, âOh thank God,â and Craig Gillespie said, âYou have to smoke. Youâve been smoking the whole movie, it doesnât make sense if you donâtâŚâ And literally right before we shot I turned to the prop man and I said, âDo you have one of those things, the oxygen tank and breathing thing?â Because it would make sense that she would have emphysema after all those years of smoking and he did, he had it and that wasâin this movie things like that happened all the time, where you had to make decisions on the spot and everyone was on their A-game and he brought it and it was perfect. The only thing not perfect was that the bird was fascinated with it so he kept poking at it.
[Laughter]
But as I said, in the end he reallyâ
FS: He came through.
AJ: He gave me my performance. I owe everything to that bird.
[Laughter]
I do
FS: Well itâs time now to open it out to questions from you. Oh the lightâs comingâlook, there are people there! And lots of hands up already and there are microphones. So weâll have a microphone in there please, they all seem to be on this side ofâOK. Thanks Tim. Yeah, go ahead.
Q: Hello. So I was wondering if you had any advice for tall actresses just starting out in the industry now?
FS: How tall are you?
Q: Five nine.
AJ: Oh thatâs nothing!
[Laughter]
Q: Itâs something!
AJ: Youâll be fine. Donât letâIâll tell you what Sanford Meisner told me, which is, âDonât let anyone tell you youâre too tall to act.â Itâs not going toâyouâll be fine. Keepâit shouldnât be, Iâm trying to think, it just, donât make it a problem. Donât make it a problem. Youâre obviously a beautiful young woman, just work on your craft, thatâs all you need to do: Work on your craft, keep taking classes, learn and keep doing and things will open up for you. But donât ever think of it as being something thatâs not an asset. Itâs an asset to you.
Q: I have the microphone. Hi, sorry, just in the middle here.
FS: Ah, green jacket.
Q: Uh hi, I wanted to ask if you could talk a little bit about Sun Dogs and what was Jennifer Morrison like as the director?
AJ: JenniferâI did this movie called Sun Dogs, which I havenât even seen yet⌠Jennifer Morrison is, I was so impressed with her, sheâs an incredibly smart, talented woman who I hope directs a lot more because I had a wonderful time with her. She really knows how to talk to actors and I was so impressed with her on the set; she is extraordinary. How do you knowâdo you know her from, what show do you know her from?
Q: Once Upon A Time
AJ: Once Upon A Time
Q: House
AJ: And House, yeah. Sheâs extraordinary and I think that Sun Dogs got picked up by Netflix. Karen, is that right?
Karen: Does Rachel know?
[Laughter]
AJ: Rachel, whatâs happening with my life? Whatâs going on?
Rachel: [inaudible]
AJ: OK, I canât wait to see it. But Ed OâNeill I got to work with him and I loved working with Jennifer, canât say enough about her. Beautiful, talented and smart.
Q: Hey, Iâve got the mic. C.J., rather Allisonâ
[Laughter]
I was going to say I want to be like the 2000th person to thank you for playing C.J.. I started watching The West Wing when I was twelve andâ
AJ: Oh my god
Q: And it was like the thing that my family did and got me into American politics. But I wanted to ask you a slightly broader question, which is: What is the hardest part about your job? And is it something internal to do with you and what you can bring, dealing with life in itself and everything else? Or is it external, dealing with people whether itâs the director or the other actors?
AJ: Whatâs the hardest part about myâ
Q: Of your job
AJ: Of being an actor?
Q: Yeah
AJ: I think, depending on what medium Iâm working in, I recently went back to Broadway and did a play called Six Degrees of Separation and had to deal with stage fright. I was like, âOh my God, how can it be that Iâve come to this point in my career and I have to deal with that?â Experience should trump fear, but I think that was a huge thing for me, I had to get comfortable with being back on stage after working in film and on Mom we have a safety net, we can say, âLetâs do that over again.â So that was the challenge in that. And sometimes on a film set the challenge for me is keeping my focus because thereâs so many people around and poking at you and fixing your costume and talking to you and youâre trying toâsometimes you have a hard scene to do, an emotional scene, and not everyone appreciates what an actor has to go through or their process, and for some actors itâs very easy to be joking and then âactionâ and theyâre crying, and Iâm one of those actors who, I kind of have to be in the right mood and I sometime signal people by having earphones in so they wonât talk to me or⌠Because I like to be in a certain place and itâs not as easy for me to access things without protecting my process, I guess. And then on Mom itâs crazy because weâre working in front of a live audience and the writers are rewriting stuff and throwing it at us as we film right there in front of everyone. So everything has its different challenges but I think itâs always just about keeping myâitâs all about protecting my focus, my work. And I also, I just use whateverâthatâs another good trick to do, to use whatever is there: If someoneâs in your eye-line and theyâre bothering you, if it helps you in your scene use it. I just use whatever I can to help do the best I can.
Q: I just wanted to ask: Is it easier for you to play a character that relates to you personally, or do you prefer someone thatâs not relatable to you?
AJ: Say it again?
Q: When youâre playing a character would you prefer someone who kind of relates more to your personality or someone whoâs completely the opposite?
AJ: I think itâs fun to be someone whoâs not at all like me. Itâs very, itâs really fun to play someone like Bonnie who doesnât have any boundaries and doesnât judge herself and says whatever she wants and doesnât care what anyone thinks about her. Thatâs very liberating for me to play someone like that. I like disappearing. But Margaret Sculley, the woman from Masters of Sex, I related to her and that didnât feel too bad either. As long as itâs not me I donât care, Iâm happy to do it.
[Laughter]
Itâs nice to hide behind whatever I can hide behind, even if the characterâs similar to me or not. Iâm just happy to have a script, words to say.
FS: So many hands! Yes, OK. You first.
Q: Firstly thank you for so many incredible performances. The thing I wanted to ask: C.J. Cregg is obviously a press secretary for the entire run of The West Wing, but The West Wing finished before the big postâlike before the big social boom kind of happened. Do you think her character would still work as well in a kind of social media-crazy world, or do you think it was more interesting playing her because it was before the big social media boom?
AJ: Do I think C.J. would play as well in todayâs world as she did then?
Q: Yeah.
AJ: Yeah. I think absolutely, I think sheâs so needed right now, it would be so nice to have a woman like C.J..
FS: Would she be on Twitter? Would she be tweeting?
AJ: C.JâŚ. I donât know if sheâd be tweeting. Sheâd definitely suggest to the President that she should tweet for him.
[Laughter]
FS: And that would be good, I think.
AJ: I think it would be good if somebody would take that thing away from him and let her. God, I think she would rock right now, I think so many people are coming back to The West Wing and clamouring for it because of whatâs going on in politics in America right now. I think it would beâI think she would be an even bigger rock star now.
Q: My question is quite similar to that, actually. You mentioned this idea of a revival for The West Wing with Sterling K. Brown as the president. Personally Iâd like to see C.J. as president.
[Applause]
AJ: Youâre so sweet. I donât, you know, I would definitelyâitâs all up to Aaron. My God, Aaron Sorkin, if he did that, I would, I donât know⌠Itâs so funny because I always think of Allison Janney being president and it just makes me laugh so hard, butâŚ
[Laughter]
If Aaron did it, I would jump in a second. We definitely, itâs time for a female president, so thank you.
FS: Do you think C.J. would be up for it?
AJ: C.J. would be up for it, yeah she would. Absolutely. Absolutely, Iâve no doubt about it.
Audience: Would you consider Donald as a VP?
AJ: Would I consider who?
FS: Donald. I donât think heâsâheâs probably unlikely to go for that role, isnât he.
AJ: No. Absolutely not.
FS: OK, yes.
Q: Hello. Thank you very much, Allison, for coming here tonight to talk to us. Itâs really interesting to hear you talking.
AJ: Thank you.
Q: I just wondered ifâIâm sure youâve got so many roles ahead of youâbut I wondered has there been a role you didnât get that you kind of wished you had? And is there a role you havenât played yet that youâre hankering to do? That you kind of know itâs out there but it hasnât come your way yet.
AJ: Such good questions. Iâm always in denial of all the parts I didnât getâI quickly forget about. There have been lots of parts I havenât gotten.
Q: Thatâs very positive, I would do the same.
AJ: You know what I mean? I just, I forgetâI always think of, Iâm not going to say his name but I have a friend whoâI havenât had one of these moments, but I have an actor friend who turned down Big.
[Laughter]
I havenât had one of those, thankfully. Thereâs been one part that I turned down because I didnât like the script and someone ended up getting an Academy Award nomination from it, I was like, âWow how could I have been soâŚâ But you know, but you always run the risk, you make choices in the moment of what makes sense in the moment and you canât regret it. And I know Iâve auditioned for tonnes of things I havenât gotten and Iâm blanking on all of them right now and thatâs good. Iâm going to just go with your thing that itâs positive that I forgot that. And parts that I want to play at? Iâm always interested in creating new roles, like new playwrights writing new roles. I want to do things that havenât been written yet, I want to create them. Iâm sure thereâs some classic, Iâm trying to think of plays Iâve wanted to do but⌠Sometimes itâs hard to step into performances people have already, you know, made their mark on and then people compare you to them. I like creating something new so no one can say, âOh she did it better.â
FS: Do you think, is it your judgment that thereâs more exciting new stuff happening on TV or in film?
AJ: Yes, TV is definitely⌠I mean film getting more so, but in television look at, you know, I was just thinking of Nicole Kidman talking about doing Big Little Lies and how a lot of these big American movie stars are turning to television because the female-driven content is stronger there for whatever reason right now, but I love that I, Tonya is female-driven and thatâs mainly why Margot Robbie jumped on board is that she wasnât getting the roles that she wanted to do so she said, âWell Iâm going to produce.â Which is another way to create things for yourself. But I thought, also Margot Robbie is Margot Robbieâ
FS: But youâre Allison Janneyâ
AJ: I know, I know. But I think on the business side of things, I think Margot Robbie can get a film financed better than Allison Janney can, you know, thereâs that side of the business.
FS: Have you tried?
AJ: Yeah, itâs a different⌠Itâs⌠Anyway.
FS: That may change, I think.
AJ: I hope so. Iâm proud of her, I love her.
FS: OK, thereâs a hand down here and a hand down here.
AJ: You in the white shirt, right there.
Q: You have an amazing body of workâ
FS: Ooh, donât need a microphone.
AJ: He doesnât need one. Youâve got projection, are you an actor?
Q: Amazing body of work that weâve seen on screen there.
AJ: Thank you.
Q: As you were traversing West Wing, we obviously had a focus from originally Rob Lowe and then it became a focus on the president. Could you feel how pivotal and important the role of C.J. was in portraying strong women?
AJ: I think after West Wing for me sheâs emerged asâI think now I realise how important she is and was to people. I donât think when I was doing it I was aware of it at all and everâpeople coming up to me, especially young women, saying, âIâve changed my major in college because of you, Iâve gone into public service because of C.J.,â thatâs where Iâve realised what an impact she had and how important she was as a role model to women. Sheâs a great role model and I donât think I knew the impact when I was doing it, I just loved doing it and was happy that there was such a strong woman in a traditionally male-dominated arena and that she was kicking ass and going toe-to-toe with the president and forced her agenda. It was just really empowering.
Q: Thank you.
FS: Yeah.
Q: Hey. Um thank you so much itâs been a fantastic evening. But I wanted to ask about your comedy because Drop Dead Gorgeous and Strangers with Candy was an unusual one.
AJ: Iâve never seen that.
Q: But I wanted to know, because youâre really strong at sort of like written scripts and that sort of stuff, but some of the Melissa McCarthy comedies youâve been in are kind of a lot more ad-lib, and I wondered how you approached that, or if you enjoy that?
AJ: I shut up when Melissa McCarthy is improv-ing, thatâsâitâs smart to know when to shut up and Melissa, sheâs the worldâs greatest improv-er. I canât speak highly enough about her. And also, in Spy I was playing the head of the CIA. I could improv if I was playing, you know, fish out of water characters, but youâve heard me speak tonightâI search for words, Iâm stumbling, and someone whoâs head of the CIA has got to be more like C.J. and be able to boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So I knew that I wasnât going to be able to come up with⌠So I just listened to her and would occasionally say, âStop talking.â
[Laughter]
âShut up.â And I knew thatâs where my strength would be, knowing when just to just tell her to shut up. And also Paul Feig, whoâs so, oh my God, so much fun to work with, he wouldâhe had a group of writers he had with him around the monitors and they would just throw out alternate lines to me all the time, like, âOK, now say this, now say this, now say this.â And sometimes it was soâmy head would be spinning Iâd be like, âWait, did you even hear what you just said? What did you just say? I couldnâtâŚâ It was like a game, it was like a game show I was on. It was really a lot of fun, but improv stuff on that, no, but on Drop Dead Gorgeous I improv-ed a coupleâIâm always famous for throwing out a couple, one improv at the end of a scene or something that usually gets in thatâs kind of fun. Like when Loretta says, âI got some,â I improv-ed that and that was in the movie. You know, if Iâve got something good Iâll throw it out but Iâm not real confident in my skills as an improv-ver. I wish I had taken some improv classes, actually, I think that would be a good thing for actors to do. Thank you.
FS: Well thank you very much indeed. Weâre just about out of time nowâoh, go on then, one more, I can see this hand.
Q: Hi Allison.
AJ: Hey
Q: Would you ever consider coming to the West End?
AJ: Yes, absoâmy friend Richard Shipp is always coming here to do plays.
[Applause]
I would love to. If I could find a way to take my three dogs with me it would be even better. When I did the Broadway play this past spring I left my dogs in LA because I didnât think I could have them in New York and I missed them so much, it was really hard for me to do, I couldnât imagine leaving them.
Audience: Bring them.
AJ: Bring them?
FS: Thereâs a pet passport scheme. Yeah, pet passports.
AJ: Could I bring them across theâreally? Really?! Whatâs your name?
[Laughter]
Iâm serious. I love my dogs, I was heart broken not having them with me, theyâre all Australian cattle dog mutts and theyâre the sweetest animals. I love them and I may adopt that bird from I, Tonya, too.
[Laughter]
I didnât know that birds live until theyâre fifty, did you know that? Or sometimes longer. Iâm looking into it. Thank you all for being here.
FS: No, no, no, we mustâthank you for your questions, and I have to say that although Iâm sorry that your figure skating ambitions were thwarted, figure skatingâs loss has been very much our gain elsewhere. So thank you very much for your life in pictures.
AJ: Thank you very much.
[Applause]