Allison Janney: The mother of invention

Allison Janney seems to specialize in variety when it comes to portraying mothers. She played a suffocating religious zealot mom in Hairspray, then a strong- willed mom in The Help. Her latest mommy role is all about being unhinged in the coming- of- age comedy The Way, Way Back. “I do like to play the crazy in the mom world, but I also have to understand they need to have something going on underneath,” said Janney from a Los Angeles hotel room. Janney’s character, Betty, has lots going on below the surface. Outwardly, Betty’s an overly friendly, booze- swilling divorced mother of two, who is part of a collection of dysfunctional adults spending their summer in a cottage beach community. “In this movie, everybody has demons they are trying to deal with,” Janney said. “My Betty suffers from excessive chatter and excessive drinking, and deep down she wants her family to be whole again, but she just doesn’t know how she’s going to do that.” The Way, Way Back sounds more like a coming- of- age drama than the comedy it is, but Janney said that writer- directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon managed the delicate balance of finding humour in horrible circumstances. “Thank God for the talent of Jim and Nat,” said the actress. The five- foot- 11 actress studied serious drama at the The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York and London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but her first roles were comedic; as characters on the soap operas As the World Turns and Guiding Light. In the 1990s, she managed mostly low- profile co- starring parts in some high- profile films including American Beauty, Big Night, The Ice Storm, Primary Colors, 10 Things I Hate About You and Private Parts. Her breakout arrived in 1999 when she won the part of press secretary C. J. Cregg on Aaron Sorkin’s White House political drama The West Wing. She went on to earn four Emmys for the role and a great deal of respect from the acting community. That was solidified with her Tony nominations for her roles in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and the re- staging of the movie musical 9 to 5. Lately, she’s been on a roll, shooting movies with impressive ensembles. She just completed the untitled Hugh Grant romantic comedy with Marisa Tomei, J. K. Simmons and Chris Elliott. She also wrapped the roadtrip laughfest Tammy, featuring Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Dan Aykroyd. “Everything I’ve done in the last few years I’ve wanted to do and it’s so nice when that happens,” said Janney.