Warning: This story contains spoilers from Season 3 of The Diplomat
For The Diplomat creator Debora Cahnbringing Emmy-winning actors Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford into the series’ mix was a bit of a “high-wire act.”
“There’s a little bit of a dance that happens when somebody new comes into the ecosystem,” said Cahn at a FYC event Saturday in Los Angeles. “I get really panicky.”
Janney joined the Emmy-nominated series — which stars Keri Russell as the American ambassador to the United Kingdom — for the final two episodes of Season 2. Guest-starring as Vice President Grace Penn, Janney became part of an already tight-knit cast that includes Russell as Ambassador Kate Wyler; Rufus Sewell as her husband, Hal; Ato Essandoh as Kate’s deputy; David Gyasi as Britain’s foreign secretary; Ali A Ahn as the CIA chief in London; and Nana Mensah as the White House chief of staff. All were on the panel alongside Cahn, executive producer Janice Williamsand Season 3 addition Whitford.
“We have a nice family,” Cahn said. “I never want the casting to eat the show.”
In Season 3, which premiered Oct. 16 on NetflixWyler is forced to deal with the aftermath of President William Rayburn’s (Michael McKean) death and the rise of Janney’s Penn — whom Tyler had accused of hatching a terrorist plot and whose job the ambassador was actively pursuing.
Add to the mix a bit of stunt casting with Janney’s former West Wing costar Whitford as her husband, Todd — and cue Cahn’s jitters.
“When both of them came in, I was reduced to a complete and utter state of panic, trying to figure out how to both make it worth [their] time, worth [their] while, and make sense in the ecosystem,” Cahn explained. “Because it’s fantastic to be able to bring in new people of this caliber, and you also don’t want them to f–k it up.”
Whitford agreed, saying he gets “distracted” by all the top-notch acting on the show yet also doesn’t want to mess up its already potent alchemy.
“It’s very hard for me not to be obnoxiously effusive about the opportunity to be married to Allison Janney,” Whitford said. “I’ve made this joke before, but [Janney] said it was like kissing her brother. And I said, ‘It turns out, her brother’s a really f–king great kisser.’ I was so jealous of this show,” Whitford said. “I was just dying to be a part of it.”
“By the way,” he added, “the moment after being jealous of the show, if you get to be on it, you’re like, ‘I don’t want to f–k up the show.’”
Both Russell and Essandoh spoke to the team sensibility of the series, which is currently filming its fourth season.
“The story is the mission,” Essandoh said. “Every single person here arrives to tell the story. It’s not about Keri, Rufus, me, anybody.”
Russell echoed that sentiment, pointing to social media as a factor in what she sees as a cultural shift toward individualism rather than teamwork.
“We’re in this age where everything is so self-reflective. Everyone is just for themselves with social media and everything that’s going on right now. And we’ve lost the group,” she said.
“This is no shade on Taylor Swiftbecause she’s amazing, but every teenager or every young kid wants to be Taylor Swift or some famous something,” Russell added. “The people who work in government are for the team. They’re for the group. They’re for the mission. And I love that about the show.”
While The Diplomat emphasizes teamwork, Russell and Sewell often take center stage as a not-so-happily married couple who make better work partners than romantic ones. In the first episode of Season 3, Hal tries to convince new President Penn to bring Kate on as her vice president — until the tables turn in the final scene, when Penn asks Hal to be her No. 2 instead.
“What’s lovely about playing the scene is that we didn’t really have to decide how to play it,” Sewell said. “It just was the total shock. What you see is what happened. Like no one moves. Because you’re just dumbfounded by it.”
Another factor in Kate and Hal’s rocky marriage is Kate’s palpable connection to Gyasi’s Austin Dennison. Audiences have speculated about what their relationship may become as the series progresses.
“There are elements when you get to play someone like Dennison, that live in that space of envy, of all of the party that you see going on,” Gyasi said, referencing a quote from the late tennis great Arthur Ashe. “But it’s not for you.”
Gyasi’s Dennison, along with both members of the Wyler couple, has had to grapple with roles that aren’t meant for them. When it comes to those unexpected twists and turns, Sewell said the actors relish the challenge.
“We want the problems,” he said. “And I just think for us, we really look forward to the surprises.”
