Allison Janney shot roles in two very separate, very distinct pilots last season and unfortunately had to bow out of one when she found they were both going to “go” on their respective networks. Her choice was to stick with ABC’s Mr. Sunshine, which ended up getting a February premiere date, while the series she bowed out of, Shameless, premiered on Showtime earlier this month (her role was recast with Joan Cusack). Admittedly, it may be a bit too early to judge whether or not that was a smart decision for the veteran actor who seems to know what she’s doing when it comes to picking her scripts, but we asked Janney to weigh in nonetheless.
“At first I did sort of think, or I hoped, I’d be able to make both work,” she was candid when LA TV Insider Examiner caught up with her at ABC’s press tour party in Los Angeles.
“I thought it would be really fun and a unique experience, definitely a challenge for me. But it just turned out that ABC wanted me all to themselves, and how can you say no to that?” She laughed. “Why wouldn’t you want to be in bed with, or make a home at, such a great place?”
Janney also pointed out that the role she originally signed onto do in Shameless was smaller than it became, and once she realized how it was evolving, her pipe dream of “running back and forth” to do both wouldn’t be possible, despite the fact that they both shoot in relatively close proximity to each other right here in Los Angeles.
What Janney loves about Mr. Sunshine, though, is that she finally gets to play a “completely wrong” woman. Well, LA TV Insider Examiner might point to a little known (but one of our guilty pleasures) film called Drop Dead Gorgeous to prove “finally” may be a stretch. While no one has been as politically correct as this character before, they have laid the groundwork for her to get there.
“I can’t tell you how fun it’s been to be so politically incorrect and inappropriate,” Janney laughed. “You know, she [has] a pill problem; she has a problem with prescriptions; she kind of abuses a lot of situations and relationships, and that is definitely one of them. She’s out there. She’s not the best mother; she’s not the best boss; she’s not the best businesswoman at all. She’s just far out.”
Intrigued, yet, long-time Janney fans? Clearly this woman is not just another C.J. Cregg! If you want to know more about Mr. Sunshine before tuning in when it finally makes its mid-season premiere on ABC on February 9th, subscribe to this page; we will bring you an advance review of the premiere in the next week.
And if Janney could carve out some time in her schedule to head back to Shameless to guest star, maybe as a teacher or social worker or long-lost family acquaintance, what kind of role would you want to see her take on? Sound off in the comments below!
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