Behind the Scenes with The Diplomat Team: Navigating U.S./UK Relations and a Special ‘West Wing’ Reunion

Netflix’s The Diplomat kicked off its Los Angeles premiere with a star-studded gala at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Describing the new season as “the split,” showrunner Debora Cahn noted, “Everything is splitting apart and everything is reconfiguring itself. The status relationships all flip flop, and we’re putting Kate in a position that she’s extremely uncomfortable in, which is where we like to have her.”

Keri Russell, who portrays Kate, the U.S. Ambassador to the UK, expressed her character’s challenges this season, particularly regarding her husband Hal, who has become the Vice President. “What’s new? I mean, this guy is a lot of trouble, you know what? I mean, he’s a lot to handle. He’s putting himself and me and the country in a big predicament, and we’re gonna have to clean it up,” she shared.

Allison Janney, playing President Grace Penn, reflected on the excitement of her role, saying, “It’s a pretty exciting thing to get to do as an actress, to say that I’m playing the President of the United States. However, the reality of the situation for Grace Penn is it’s not an easy jump into President of the United States. It’s a very tumultuous presidency she walks into, but it’s a lot of fun to get to know everything that I’ve done and get behind the choices I make as Grace, and then not tell anyone.”

Bradley Whitford, who previously starred alongside Janney in The West Wing and now plays First Gentleman Todd Penn, humorously remarked on their shared experience: “We did laugh one day waiting for a motorcade because for many years, we’ve shot Presidential stuff, and said to Allison, ‘We have no f*cking range, like we’re waiting for another motorcade.”