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Allison Janney Plays An Emotional Clown, Has Fun On The Set Of ‘The Girl On The Train’

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 03:42 PST, Oct 18, 2016

Allison Janney is an actress who is adept at getting into the skin of the character she plays. Her former role as C.J. Cregg, the White House Press Secretary, in NBC’s The West Wing bears testament to her ability to be a chameleonic actor.

Many of the actress’s fans still perceive her as the fictional press secretary who was an expert in braving the political questions hurled at her by inquisitive press reporters. And even though Allison Janney has progressed in her career after the finale of The West Wing, fans still associate her with the charismatic C.J. Cregg, especially during her public interactions.

In fact, Allison Janney was recently asked to air her political opinions when she reprised her role as C.J. to speak about drug addiction and related issues at a White House press conference. The actress has been an active campaigner against substance abuse ever since her brother committed suicide after failing to cope with drug addiction.

Incidentally, Allison Janney has also garnered critical acclaim and an Emmy Award for playing the role of Bonnie Plunkett, a mother recovering from drug addiction, in Mom, a CBS sitcom that revolves around a mother and her daughter who has also battled substance abuse. Allison Janney was also recently honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Despite winning Emmy awards for her famous role in The West Wing, the actress has revealed that her real-life personality is entirely different from the diplomatic persona of C.J. Cregg. Being a talented actor, Allison Janney never found it difficult to assume an on-screen personality that is nowhere near her true self. In fact, the Hollywood Reporter reports that the award-winning actress has never worried about measuring up to her fans’ expectations while playing a character as she just acts naturally while performing the role.

Her natural ability to channelize emotions through her characters has enabled Allison Janney to win an opportunity to feature in the music video for “Let Me Be Your Girl,” a Rachael Yamagata song that features on the singer’s upcoming album Tightrope Walker. Yamagata was reportedly very keen to feature Allison Janney in the music video for the song is about a woman who finds joy and freedom by courageously overcoming self-critical thoughts.

In the singer’s opinion, the music video required an actress like Allison Janney who can naturally channelize intense emotions layer by layer. By zeroing in on the West Wing actress to act in her music video, the singer also managed to convince actor and director Josh Radnor to direct the music video because the How I Met Your Mother actor has long been an admirer of Allison Janney’s work.

In fact, Radnor has admitted to looking for opportunities to direct his idol in different roles. According to Entertainment Weekly, Josh Radnor spoke about Allison’s clown persona in the upcoming music video.

“Allison Janney dancing as a sexy clown is something I really want to see, and I suspect that other people will want to see it too.”

Allison Janney not only finds joy in playing her on-screen characters to perfection, but she also enjoys having fun on the film set by getting in a playful mood. According to Entertainment Weekly, the acclaimed actress recently spoke about the fun she had in the police costume while filming on the set of The Girl on the Train, her latest movie.

“I felt pretty powerful with the costume on… it made me walk differently. It was fun to walk around with a badge and a gun, going around making citizen arrests, “actor arrests,” on set and being silly.”

Moreover, Allison Janney is excited about her Girl on the Train character which is very different from the roles that she has previously played. In her latest movie, the actress plays the role of Detective Riley, a police officer, who is one of the prominent characters in the storyline.

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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