Pity the actresses who lobbied to be president. President Grace Penn, that is. In Season 1 of The Diplomat, she never appeared onscreen, but she was a major character nevertheless: Then the Vice President of the United States, she was rumored to be on the way out of office, and chatter surrounded her potential replacement: titular diplomat Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), the newly appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom, who was busy building bridges with Britain (while definitely not brushing her hair). 

As The Diplomat geared up for Season 2, Vice President Penn was the subject of a different set of rumors. The texts and calls steadily poured in. Who would be playing this mysterious character? Could [insert name of plenty of actresses you can imagine] get the gig? Alas, The Diplomat’s creator Debora Cahn had the perfect response, one that has gifted viewers with one of the most indelible performances on TV: “Janney’s got it.” 

Allison Janney as Grace Penn

Photo by Liam Daniel

That’s how Allison Janney remembers it, and sitting in her kitchen two years later, the Oscar- and seven-time Emmy-winning actress is still giddy.  “I literally get chills thinking about it,” Janney says, her niece’s dog snuggling up against her. (It’s scientifically proven that dogs can sniff out talent.) “When she called me and suggested I come on, I don’t think I said much other than: ‘Yes, please. When do I start?’ ”

Luckily for viewers, that was the last time anything involving Grace Penn was so simple. For anyone needing a refresher: Late into Season 2, Grace assumed the presidency when her predecessor William Rayburn (Michael McKean) dropped dead during a call with former ambassador Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), who also happens to be Kate’s meddling husband. Grace’s bond of mutual respect with Kate hit the skids after the ambassador discovered that the new occupier of the Oval Office had secretly orchestrated the disastrous bombing of the British warship HMS Courageous. Things got messier when Grace chose the morally squishy Hal to be her number two instead of Kate. And, well, has anyone’s jaw come off the floor since the final moments of Season 3 when Kate realized Grace and Hal had teamed up to abscond with a Russian nuclear-armed drone? 

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler, Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler, Allison Janney as Grace Penn, Rory Kinnear as Nicol Trowbridge, and David Gyasi as Austin Dennison

Photo by Clifton Prescod

“There are so many different things going on at the same time. The relationships between the countries, the relationships between the spouses,” Janney says of “the secrets and currents going on under the surface.” She didn’t even know her character would become President until she read the dramatic moment in the script. And she definitely didn’t know she’d have a loose nuke in her future. “It’s a game of chess she plays in every episode. Who knows what? Who doesn’t know? Who thinks this? It’s a huge acting minefield, but a fun acting minefield.” 

Janney’s characters are forces of nature, whether sarcasm-dripping Bonnie Plunkett on long-running sitcom Mom or abusive stage mother LaVona Golden in award-winning biopic I, Tonya. “My favorite thing to do is to play women this smart and powerful,” she says. “I mean, I know I’m a smart woman, but I am so shy standing in front of people as myself. Anyone will tell you, at a dinner party I’m the person who’s not saying anything. I like to hide behind these women. It’s such a thrill for me.” 

Janney as Grace Penn

Photo by Clifton Prescod

To find what makes Grace tick, Janney observed how other political powerhouses (including a certain pantsuit-loving former Secretary of State) carry themselves in a public arena that can still be very harsh on ambitious women. As a woman who’s navigated another high-visibility profession for decades, Janney also had plenty of lived experience to draw from.

“Grace has come up in the world of politics and has learned how to navigate things. It’s steeped into Debora’s writing, so when I’m playing a scene in a room with five men, I know what to do,” she says. “And I know instinctively how to operate in those rooms. I just do because I’m a woman, I guess, and I’ve had to, in my own smaller ways, be in that situation.” 

Whatever combustible tension is brewing between the characters onscreen, the chemistry off-camera has been a blast from the start. “I still remember Keri and my first scene together in London because it was immediately fun, immediately laughing in between takes and it’s been wonderful throughout the seasons,” she says. “When you get older, you really appreciate things like this so much.”

Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler, Allison Janney as Grace Penn, Bradley Whitford as Todd Penn, Keri Russell as Kate Wyler

Photo by Clifton Prescod

Getting to reteam with her West Wing costar Bradley Whitford, who joined up in Season 3 as First Gentleman Todd Penn, was icing on the cake. “Anyone who’s worked with him knows he’s the funniest person on set,” she says. And after nearly three decades of working together, he still makes a point to note his costar’s talent: “He is so supportive,” she says. “He says, ‘That was great, Janney.’ ” (Speaking of reunions: Yes, there is still a West Wing group text chain. A certain Josh Malina may or may not have jokingly requested a role in the Wyler-verse.)

The Season 3 episode “Amagansett,” in which Grace and Todd host Hal and Kate at their beach house for a top-secret tête-à-tête, was a highlight, for viewers and for Janney. “My God, I just can’t tell you how much fun that was,” she gushes. “All of us were thrilled to get to run lines together where we’re all being polite, but underneath there are so many relationship chinks and holes.” 

Janney

Photo by Kelia Anne

While Janney relished the dialogue, one of her favorite moments of the episode was the silently sparring with Whitford after a particularly tense day. “I can't remember ever seeing a scene like that,” she says. “We don’t say a word but so much is going on. And we get to play out the physicality of being pissed at your partner and he’s constantly in your way and then you get in bed and hug each other.”

That episode, written by co-executive producer Peter Ackerman and Cahn, landed an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. And while we’re on the topic of outstanding, all four of those episode’s Hamptons heavy-hitters — Russell, Sewell, Whitford, and Janney — also earned acting nominations, while the series snagged a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. 

This latest nomination, Janney’s 16th (inching closer and closer to Cloris Leachman’s record of 22), happens to come 26 years after her first. Back then she was briefing the President; now she’s playing one. So who does she hope to be playing in another quarter century? “If I’m lucky enough to be acting 26 years from now,” she laughed. “I deserve to be master of the universe.”