Allison Janney has just made a deal to produce her first project by partnering with veteran executive and producer Bob Greenblatt on a series adaptation of the book Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion for Amazon.
Asked why she’s putting on a producer hat for the first time in her career, Janney was quick with an answer. “Because Bob asked,” she told THR on the red carpet of her newest film, The People We Hate at the Wedding, also for Amazon. “He produced me in 9 to 5 on Broadway and I’ve had a relationship with him over the years so when he asked, I thought, yeah, OK, I’ve not done this before but I would be comfortable doing it with Bob.”
They’ve already jumped in to sort through which true life tales in Tori Telfer’s book would best serve a series. The tome details some of the biggest scammers in history and Alexa Junge is also on board to adapt.
Does this mean an Allison Janney production company is on the horizon? “Sure, why not?” she says. “I’m thinking about it as I get older. Sometimes I want to maybe be behind the camera more than in front of the camera.”
But just don’t offer her a seat in the director’s chair. “No, no, no. God, no. I do not want to direct. Because I hate having to answer questions with a million people coming up and saying, ‘Do you like this or do you like this?’ I would say, ‘I don’t know, you decide.’ I would melt under all that pressure.”
This story first appeared in the Nov. 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood
