The Diplomat has been bringing political thrills to the Netflix schedule for 2 seasons now, incomes a number of Emmy Award nominations within the course of. The present received an extra increase with the announcement of Bradley Whitford’s casting, which units up a reunion between him and Allison Janney. All of The West Wing followers who are actually dashing to binge The Diplomat forward of Season 3 ought to be excellent news for showrunner Debora Cahn, however I can perceive why she wasn’t initially on board.
Keri Russell leads The Diplomat (obtainable to stream with a Netflix subscription), with Allison Janney approaching in Season 2 as US Vice President Grace Penn. Her position will broaden when Season 3 premieres on the 2025 TV schedule, and we’ll meet her husband Todd. When it got here time to solid for that position, Debora Cahn advised EW she initially bristled on the joke of creating it a West Wing reunion, saying:
At first it was a joke, like, ‘We should always get Brad.’ My concern was I do not need the present to show right into a West Wing cowl band.
Yeah, that’s a legitimate concern, with each reveals being of a political nature and the beloved Aaron Sorkin creation thought-about probably the most rewatchable collection of all time. You additionally wouldn’t need to cheapen the impact of The Diplomat with what some may contemplate stunt casting.
Fortunately, the showrunner’s issues didn’t final lengthy, as she stated:
I received extra assured that we may have the 2 of them in the identical place and it will really feel like one thing new. And giving them a relationship that is so completely different than the one which they’ve performed up to now is de facto nice. What’s been most gratifying for me is that you just develop into uncovered to Grace Penn as a three-dimensional individual.
Seeing Grace Penn work together together with her husband will add a brand new layer to Allison Janney’s character, and since The Diplomat doesn’t really feel something like The West Wing — and Grace and Todd aren’t something like C.J. Cregg and Josh Lymon — it seems casting Bradley Whitford wasn’t as a lot of a difficulty as Debora Cahn thought it will be at first.
The characters will not be the identical, however a primary take a look at Bradley Whitford and Allison Janney collectively did have followers noting one similarity between Todd and Josh. And, whereas I fully see the place the showrunner was coming from in being hesitant to reconnect two actors who’re so well-known for a distinct collection in the identical style, I’m so glad that Debora Cahn finally selected to place them on display collectively once more.
I’ve loads of religion in Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford to make The West Wing followers see previous their former characters.
If you wish to catch up earlier than Season 3 begins, The Diplomat is accessible to stream on Netflix, whilst you can relive all of C.J. and Josh’s enjoyable on The West Wing with an HBO Max subscription.