Bradley Whitford is headed for the White House again… but the circumstances are a little different this time.
Whitford reunites with his “West Wing” co-star Allison Janney in Season 3 of Netflix’s political thriller “The Diplomat” (debuting this Thursday), with Whitford playing Todd Penn, the husband of Janney’s newly named U.S. President Grace Penn. And that shared history on screen helped inform their new characters, Janney tells TVLine in the video above.
“I think they have a solid base” as a married couple, Janney says of Grace and Todd. “I think they’ve been together a long time, as Brad and I have been together a long time… We have a lot of baked-in history that we bring to these roles that just adds to a certain real comfortability with each other, acting with each other.”
Whitford admits that Todd is “obviously openly grumpy about being put in this position, but he’s also very protective of” his wife Grace as she ascends to the highest office in the land. “I think their connection is really, really strong.”
Todd’s New Role As The ‘First Lady’
But of course, Grace is now President, and that puts Todd in an uncomfortable position as the new “First Lady,” as he cheekily introduces himself in the season premiere. “He really, really loves this woman and really, really wants to be supportive,” showrunner Debora Cahn says. But then he “finds the actual process of supporting to be so devastatingly painful… He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve. He wears it right under his jaw muscles.” Series star Keri Russell, who plays Kate Wyler, agrees that Todd “wants to” support Grace: “He just is bad at it.”
As an actor, Whitford enjoys playing the complicated feelings inside Todd, he says: “Debora is great at sending up male ego, and Todd is a wonderful kind of vessel: ‘I’m going to protect you!’ ‘I’ll save you!’ ‘I’m jealous!'”
So what’s Todd’s deal, anyway? We don’t know much about him, other than he’s Grace’s husband. Is he a political animal like his wife? “We talk about this, Allison and I. The backstory will be revealed,” Whitford teases. He hints that Todd was a biology professor in his former life: “My career has been put on hold. I think I’m used to being in these circles, but did not quite anticipate the whirlwind that I would be drawn into, and the sacrifices that I would have to make.”
Press PLAY above to hear more from Whitford and the “Diplomat” cast and crew, and hit the comments to tell us what you’re hoping to see in Season 3.