>> Allison Janney: “Dayton spawns great people”
In September, she was inducted into the Dayton Region’s Walk of Fame.
>> See video of Janney’s visit to Dayton here:
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Janney won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as LaVona Harding, mother of controversial former figure skater Tonya Harding, in the 2017 film I, Tonya.
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“Her performance in ‘I, Tonya’ is really to me what stands out in the film. It’s the amazing icing on the cake for that film. Margot Robbie was great, but Allison Janney was superb,” said Jonathan McNeal, owner of The Neon Theater.
Having won a slew of other awards for her roles in television and film, Janney is certainly one of the brightest stars to come from Dayton’s arts and theater community. However, it’s important to point out that for the relative size of our city, Daytonians sure know how to show up for awards seasons.
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“Essentially, most of the folks from West Wing were Daytonians. From Allison Janney to Martin Sheen -- it’s pretty incredible how many folks from that show in particular (are Daytonians),” McNeal said. “Then there are certainly a whole lot more behind the cameras as well.”
Unfortunately, the Golden Globe Awards does not recognize technical roles behind the scenes of film and television. But as we saw last year at the Academy Awards, it was Wright State film grad, Hannah Beachler, who was the artistic mastermind behind ‘Moonlight,’ which won the Oscar for Best Picture.
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Following Moonlight’s success, Beachler went on to serve as the production designer for Marvel’s upcoming ‘Black Panther’ film, which is set to hit theaters on February 9.
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So although McNeal said Janney has a strong shot at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, Dayton can take a sigh of relief knowing there won’t be a shortage of rising stars from the Gem City any time soon.
“On Broadway there’s a lot of talent coming out of particularly Wright State,” McNeal said. “There are alumni working and living the dream on Broadway right now. And theater can be a transition to film, so there are certainly (Dayton) people to watch.”
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