Netflix’s The Diplomat helicoptered into LA for a glitzy gala at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
The show brought out its stars as part of special FYSEE LA screening. Deadline was on site to capture the drama and dig deeper into the creative process behind the political thriller.
As part of the latest episode of On the Go with Deadline, we caught up with stars Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, Bradley Whitford, Ali Ahn and Ato Essandoh as well as creator Debora Cahn, who opened up about the challenges of writing a political series in challenging times and how she was able to pull of a big West Wing reunion.
“We call this season the split,” said Cahn. “Everything is splitting apart and everything is reconfiguring itself. The status relationships all flip flop, and we’re putting Kate in a position that she’s extremely uncomfortable in, which is where we like to have her.”
Keri Russell, who plays Kate, the U.S. Ambassador to the UK, spends much of this season frustrated by her husband Hal, who is now the Vice President of the United States. “What’s new? I mean, this guy is a lot of trouble, you know what? I mean, he’s a lot to handle. He’s putting himself and me and the country in a big predicament, and we’re gonna have to clean it up,” she said.
Allison Janney, who plays Grace Penn, who is now President, said, “It’s a pretty exciting thing to get to do as an actress, to say that I’m playing the President of the United States. However, the reality of the situation for Grace Penn is it’s not an easy jump into President of the United States. It’s a very tumultuous presidency she walks into, but it’s a lot of fun to get to know everything that I’ve done and get behind the choices I make as Grace, and then not tell anyone.”
Bradley Whitford, Janney’s former West Wing co-star who now plays First Gentleman Todd Penn, joked that the pair need more range. “We did laugh one day waiting for a motorcade because for many years, we’ve shot Presidential stuff, and said to Allison, ‘We have no f*cking range, like we’re waiting for another motorcade.”
