Allison Janney

The incredibly versatile Allison Janney has taken her place among a select group of actors who combine a leading lady's profile with a character actor's art of performance. Currently starring alongside Anna Faris in the CBS/Chuck Lorre sitcom, "Mom," Janney also received rave reviews for her turn as Margaret Scully on Showtime's groundbreaking drama "Masters of Sex." Janney won Emmys for both roles in the same year; a feat that has only been done twice before in Emmy history. She won a second Emmy for "Mom" the following year, bringing her total number of ATAS statues to seven. She has had three feature films released recently: Tallulah which reunited her with Ellen Page, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children for director Tim Burton, and The Girl on the Train, collaborating again with longtime friend, director Tate Taylor. Janney also appeared in two of last summer's biggest box office titles: the adorably animated Minions and Spy with Melissa McCarthy. Previous feature work includes The Duff, Jason Bateman's directorial debut, Bad Words, the Dreamworks' animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and The Way, Way Back with Steve Carell and Toni Collette. Additionally, she co-starred in the much anticipated feature film The Help based on the best-selling novel of the same name. For their extraordinary performances, the cast won Ensemble awards from the Screen Actors Guild, National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Janney has also delighted audiences with outstanding performances in the Oscar-winning ensemble hit Juno and in the movie version of the Tony Award winning play Hairspray. For her role in Todd Solondz's film Life During Wartime she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the Spirit Awards. She also appeared in Sam Mendes' Away We Go, the comedy Strangers with Candy, and was heard as the voice of Gladys in Dreamworks' animated film Over the Hedge as well as Peach in Finding Nemo. She received another Spirit Award nomination for her work in the independent feature Our Very Own, and starred opposite Meryl Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Other feature credits include the Academy Award-winning film American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture) as well as Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Six Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection, and Big Night. Throughout her career Janney has made a handful of memorable guest-star appearances on television, but she is renowned for her starring role in the acclaimed NBC series "The West Wing," where she won a remarkable four Emmy Awards and four SAG Awards for her portrayal of White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg. While a freshman studying acting at Kenyon College in Ohio, Janney auditioned for a play that Paul Newman was directing and got the part. Soon after, Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward suggested she study at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. She followed their advice and went on to make her Broadway debut in Noel Coward's Present Laughter for which she earned the Outer Critics Circle Award and Clarence Derwent Award. She also appeared in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, receiving her first Tony Award nomination and winning the Outer Critics Circle Award. Janney was last seen on Broadway in the musical 9 to 5, for which she earned a Tony nomination and won the Drama Desk Award.