00:00On West Wing, we get directors in and I took more than one director behind a flat and was
00:05like, don't direct Alex.
00:08Just let the horse out of the barn.
00:11Did you know all along that Grace was going to become president or was it something that
00:15revealed itself to you in the writing of the second season?
00:18It revealed itself to me when I knew that Alice and Jenny had agreed to come on the
00:24TV show.
00:25So Grace Penn, we always knew, was sort of there as a resource to be utilized.
00:30If the story needed to go there, and I was glad that it was because you kind of need something
00:37worthy of her time if you're going to make her get on a plane.
00:41What excited you about the challenge as an actor assuming this presidential role in season
00:45three?
00:46I think what's going on behind the scenes.
00:50She's not just the president, she becomes president in a very, not the way you want
00:55to become president.
00:57And Deborah very much wrote that into the script that Grace finds out that Rayburn has died.
01:04She bends over with that news and then when she writes herself, she immediately goes into
01:10presidential mode.
01:11Have they secured the Speaker of the House?
01:12Yes, ma'am.
01:14I was very nervous about playing that scene because I knew how important that moment was.
01:19Is it scripted for Grace to shove the bag of pretzels into the couch after she pours them
01:23or is that all you?
01:24That's Macy Janney.
01:25That was me channeling my mother because that's what my mother would do.
01:29I love that.
01:30One of my favorite moments.
01:30I can't, I don't have time to deal with this.
01:32I'm just going to stop it.
01:33But also, that's what the show is.
01:35There's the president and then there's that and they overlap.
01:38Thanks for the offer, big of you.
01:41No.
01:44No is a move you only pull once.
01:46This is your third.
01:48At some point, you accept the generosity of the United States or suffer the consequences
01:53of going without it and the best of luck to you.
01:55Being president is, there's just so many things that make it challenging for Grace, for Alison,
02:01and then bringing this one in, that really complicated things for me, you know, made it really fun.
02:08Alison is one of my favorite human beings on the planet.
02:12She also happens to be one of the greatest actors of our generation and it's so lucky to come back.
02:18And I love all the contradictions in the show and in our relationship.
02:22You know, I'd have to fake it with anybody else.
02:23I don't have to fake it with her.
02:24It helps knowing Brad that he's with me.
02:27With Brad, we just have that whole life we've had together.
02:29And that's just there for Grace and Todd and it makes it a pleasure.
02:34I have so many moments where I was mad at him during West Wing.
02:38I could just, those come right up.
02:40I'm like, I can look at him and go, or things that make me laugh.
02:44I just, everything, it's just a joy.
02:46This is going to be a pain point and I apologize for that.
02:49I know it's complicated.
02:52Hal, I'd like you to be my vice president.
02:55This is going to be a moment.
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