Monsters & Critics / Cliffside Malibu

Emmy Award Winner Allison Janney’s Message Resonates With Addiction Expert

September 22, 2015
MOM stars Anna Faris (right) as Christy, a newly sober single mom raising two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls, and Allison Janney as her passive-aggressive, recovering alcoholic mother. 2013 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MOM stars Anna Faris (right) as Christy, a newly sober single mom raising two children in a world full of temptations and pitfalls, and Allison Janney as her passive-aggressive, recovering alcoholic mother. 2013 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Allison Janney picked up another Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in CBS’ hit series “Mom.”

Allison Janney is an accomplished, seven-time Primetime Emmy winner. Her latest win for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy came last night (Sunday) at the awards show, and it was also a tip of the hat to showrunner Chuck Lorre’s series “Mom.”

Janney plays Bonnie, an addict in recovery.  Her character is defined by her comfortable and honest ways with her faults and past, and the writers never take cheap shots at the subject of addiction. Anna Faris plays her daughter Christy, a single mother who’s saddled with alcohol addiction issues too. Not happy with her current life status, Christy is on a mission to better herself.  Since she is newer to sobriety, it just makes her more vulnerable than mom, Bonnie.

The moment that had Cliffside Malibu Treatment Center CEO and founder Richard Taite cheering is when Janney, 55, took a moment to talk about how “Mom” handles storylines with recovering addicts.  He commented on her speech to us via email.

Taite said, “Brava, Allison Janney! Your message of hope to addicts is spot on. Too often, we get mired down in the sadness and perceived hopelessness of addiction.

This was in response to when Janney closed out her acceptance speech: “One serious thing — so many lives are touched by addiction. It is a privilege to work on a show that reminds us that there is hope, lots of hope…Thank you so much for this.”

Taite added, “Recovery is freedom. It is living a life in which there are times when we experience profound joy and can laugh at the absurdity of some of our struggles. All the better that this show, ‘Mom,’ is a comedy, because recovery is a state of light-heartedness that comes with the ability to live your best possible life.”