Allison Janney Is 66 and Booked Solid

I have always kept a running list of women who seem to be living lives that are both adventurous and fun. Some of these inspirational wonder women I know personally, and some I have admired from a distance, but all of them are my proof of concept. Whenever I think about taking on my next big challenge, I look at what these women are doing, and try to figure out how to replicate their spark. Right now, the name at the top of my list (and it seems everyone else’s) is award-winning actress and all-around artistic chameleon Allison Janney.

I have admired her since her days as C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, where she made the White House press secretary the smartest, funniest, and most commanding person in the briefing room. What I loved then, and still love now, is that she has never seemed to apologize for taking up space. She is six feet tall, wears her outfits like a high-fashion model, and has built a career playing women who are always a step ahead of everyone around them. From politically savvy C.J. to the gloriously terrible LaVona Golden in I, Tonya, she is a master of creating unforgettable characters. And at 66, with new projects launching at every turn, she only seems to be picking up speed.

Booked Solid at 66

In late August she stole scenes in Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars as Darlene, an eccentric flight attendant holding court in a post-apocalyptic world. In September she won her eighth acting Emmy for playing President Grace Penn on The Diplomat, tying the record for the most acting Emmys ever. In October the show's fourth season arrived on Netflix with Janney promoted to series regular, and she opened on Broadway in Other Desert Cities at the Hudson Theatre, playing the sharp-tongued Silda opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus. That makes two women with eight acting Emmys apiece sharing a stage eight shows a week. I would happily fly to New York just to stand in the hallway outside their dressing rooms.

Look at those parts. She is playing the leader of the free world, the stranger audiences remember on the drive home, and the sister nobody can manage at Christmas dinner. Every one of them is the most formidable person in the room. Nobody is writing her as somebody's sweet grandmother with tissues tucked into the sleeve of her sweater.

Why Nobody Is Calling It a Comeback

What I love most about the Janney moment is that no one is calling it a comeback, because she never left. A comeback requires disappearing, and she simply hasn't. She spent years in small parts before The West Wing made her a household name. Then she won her Oscar for I, Tonya at 58 and has been taking bigger swings ever since. If anything, the industry has finally caught up with what she has been offering all along.

That is the part I find most inspiring. Her story is one of accumulation. Every decade has added something, whether more range, more confidence, or more willingness to play women who are difficult and brilliant and funny all at once, and the roles have grown to match. I find that enormously encouraging, because it suggests that some of the best work, and certainly some of the best fun, can arrive later than we might expect.

She Makes Every Role the Main Event

Another reason Janney earns her spot on my list is that so many of her trophies are for supporting roles. Her Oscar was for Best Supporting Actress, and so was this year's Emmy. She has never needed top billing to be the person you can't stop watching. She plays every part, whatever its size, as though the whole story depends on her, a great lesson for not letting age or time become an excuse to slide. 

These are qualities I see in the women I admire most off screen, too. My real-life mentor women are starting post-retirement businesses, working voter registration events, and leading the charity where they once volunteered at the gala check-in table. Across the board, they bring full-wattage energy to their new pursuits, and somehow everything they touch becomes interesting, exciting, and yes, fun. These women don't wait to be handed the lead. They show up engaged and ready to contribute, and the good parts tend to find them.

What Would You Audition For?

Janney's calendar has me thinking about my own. If the next ten years were a casting call, what part would I go out for? Maybe it's the woman who finally books a solo month in Portugal or the one who says yes to the speaking invitation that makes her stomach flutter. 

Taking on Broadway at 66, eight shows a week, toe to toe with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Ed Harris, is not the safe choice. It's the scary but thrilling one, and I suspect that's exactly why she said yes. That's the example I'm taking from her. I would like to keep reaching for the bigger, juicier part, because I have every bit as much to bring to it as I ever did, and quite a bit more.

I bet a few of you reading this are already on someone else's list, whether you know it or not, which seems like a very good reason to keep going for the big parts.

Patty is the founder of The Brilliant Age, a lifestyle platform for women navigating later life and beyond with curiosity, style, and intention. Through thoughtful essays on reinvention, personal style, relationships, and purposeful living later in life, she encourages women to question outdated rules and design lives that feel vibrant and true. Patty also writes Spark 60, a weekly one-minute dose of inspiration delivered every Wednesday. Explore more at The-Brilliant-Age.com, follow on Instagram and Facebook and start living your most brilliant chapter yet.