-My first guest is an Oscar, Golden Globe,
and seven-time Emmy winner,
starring on the hit comedy series "Mom,"
which is airing its eighth and final season
Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS.
Here is Allison Janney!
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
Oh!
Oh, I'm so happy you're here. Allison Janney!
You look fantastic. -Jimmy --
-Thank you.
-Jimmy, I can't -- I mean, I cannot believe
that I'm finally meeting you this way.
But this is the first time I'm doing your show.
And I just want to ask you why have you taken so long
to ask for me to be here?
-That sounds so bizarre to me.
I feel like we've had great interviews.
-We have?
-Haven't we?
-No, we haven't. -Yeah.
-This is our first interview together.
-Oh, well, this is going to be memorable.
-I'm a virgin, so be kind and gentle.
-We'll never forget this day -- April 14th.
4-1-4... -4-1-4 is our date.
-...will forever be in our hearts.
-I love you. I'm so happy to be here.
-I love you. I'm a big fan. And you're fantastic.
I want to get into so many things.
But let's talk about "Mom."
You wrapped up, finished filming.
This is eight seasons.
This is 170 episodes.
It's got to be emotional. Is it bittersweet?
What is it? -You know what? It's everything.
As everything is, it's never one thing.
Sometimes, I'd be driving on the lot,
and it was like, "Oh, my God.
This is the last Monday I'll be
driving on the Warner Bros. lot."
And I was filming myself.
And, of course, that one day,
it was a guard who didn't know me.
So it was like, you know, "Can I see your I.D.?"
And I was like, "It's me!"
You know, and, no, he didn't know who I was.
But then I'd come on,
and just everything would make me cry.
And then, the next day, I'd come on and feel like,
"I'm so excited this is ending.
I get a new chapter of life."
It was the biggest, you know,
emotional roller-coaster ride.
And, sometimes, people would be sobbing, and I'd feel nothing.
And I'd be like, "What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with me?"
And then the next -- You know, it was --
Literally everyone was all over the place.
And it was really sad.
We all -- It was such a family we had there, so we're sad.
We're sad we're not coming back to tell more of these stories,
'cause I think it's so important.
And, you know, it's so great when you get to entertain people
but also put something out there in the world
that helps destigmatize something like recovery
and make it more approachable to people.
And it's done so much for so many people.
It just -- I get tons of letters and fans coming up to me
so appreciative of what the show has done for them.
-Yeah! Thank you for doing that, by the way.
[ Cheers and applause ]
It is -- it is -- it is great when you can do both.
Did you steal any props or anything?
-Well, just between you and me...
-Yeah, no one's watching.
-I did -- I had to -- It's funny,
because no one knew I was wearing a wig.
And I come in for this season of "Mom,"
and the producers see me like this.
And they're like, "What have you done?!
How are we going to do --
You should have asked us before you did this to your hair."
And I'm like, "Guys, I've been wearing a wig since Season 1."
But nobody knew it.
So, everybody in the world knows it now.
But -- So, that wig is coming with me.
And a few pairs of sweatpants, 'cause my character, Bonnie,
loved to be comfortable,
as does Allison Janney.
So I took a lot of those -- a lot of sweatpants.
-You were -- Do you know what you're going to do next?
'Cause you've done theater and you knocked it out of the park.
You've done movies. You knocked it out of the park.
You do drama, you knock it --
Sitcom, knock it out of the park.
What's next for you?
-Well, I decided to, as I like to do all the time,
whatever I've done -- the last thing I've done,
I like to shake it up and do something completely different.
So I've decided, Jimmy, that I'm going to go do
an action-thriller movie, and I'm about to start training
with a fight trainer two hours a day
and learn to fight to kill
and to be a bad-ass, like, you know,
female Dirty Harry in this movie called "Lou"
that I'm about to start filming.
-Wow! Already, the audience is into it.
[ Cheers and applause ] I want to see this.
This is fantastic. -Yeah.
Say a prayer that I survive it, you know,
'cause it's going to be -- It'll be pretty cool.
-Oh, you're going to be great! -I hope so.
-Can I quickly ask?
The sleeping dog behind you -- what's its name?
-Yes. Well, that's Dutch.
And Dutch is my protector.
And he's very interested in our interview, you can see.
-Oh, yeah.
He looks like one of those protective dogs, yeah.
-Oh, he is.
He actually -- He's a cattle dog,
so he likes to nip at people's heels, which is not --
You know, most guests who come into my house,
I give them ankle guards so they don't get bit by Dutch.
But he is a sweetheart.
-Well, he is also making his debut on "The Tonight Show,"
so this really will be a memorable --
I knew this interview would be memorable.
It's you and Dutch.
-I wish the other dogs would come here, but --
I got two more around here somewhere, but they're shy.
-Allison, congrats on the success of "Mom" and everything.
And please come on the show more often.
I'd like to show everyone a clip.
Here's Allison Janney in
tomorrow night's episode of "Mom."
Take a look.
-What you got going on there?
-Oh, I need to hold on to the lumber
when I make a turn, and I got a splinter.
I'm gonna start wearing gloves when I drive.
-That's your solution?
-Yeah, mittens would make it too hard to change the radio.
-Or perhaps the time has come to buy a truck.
-Oh, she can't afford a truck.
-Whoa! Bonnie just said what the voice in my head
said at the exact same time.
-That means my voice is in your head.
That's a good thing. That saves lives.
-I bet you can afford it.
You're very cheap -- I-I mean, frugal.
-I'm not sure I'm ready.
-I miss my red socks.
-Are you okay? Is she having a stroke?
Do you smell toast?
Wait. I smell toast. Am I having a stroke?
No, we're in a diner. Carry on.
-Yeah. I love it. Allison Janney, everybody!
Catch the final season of "Mom" Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on CBS.