‘The Diplomat’s Bradley Whitford Teases Todd’s “Excruciating” Decision in Season 5 – USFTB

Editor’s note: This interview contains spoilers for The Diplomat Season 4.

Bradley Whitford is one of the most accomplished actors working today. Though best-known for starring as Josh Lyman in The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy in 2001, he’s also taken home two more trophies for Transparent and The Handmaid’s Tale. His iconic roles aren’t limited to TV, either. The actor has also starred in horror films like Get Out and The Cabin in the Woods, dramas like Saving Mr. Banks and tick, tick… BOOM!, and even comedies like Adventures in Babysitting and Billy Madison.

Whitford is returning to his political drama roots with The Diplomat — in more ways than one. The decorated actor plays Todd Penn, the husband of President Grace Penn, played by Allison Janney, whom he famously worked closely with on The West Wing. Season 4 sees a particularly juicy arc for Todd, as he’s given a special envoy position. It’s difficult to navigate for him, particularly because both his wife and US Ambassador to the UK Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) attempt to use him to their advantage. To make matters even more complicated, a traumatic event has Grace struggling to cope and making increasingly dangerous decisions for the country.

Collider got the chance to speak to Whitford about his work in the season. During the conversation, he breaks down Todd’s unique position with his new government role, reveals what he’s thinking during the final shocking moments of the finale, and whether Season 5 could see him committing a major act of betrayal.

Bradley Whitford Talks the Complications of Todd’s New Role in ‘The Diplomat’ Season 4

“He’s definitely wobbling on the skates.”

COLLIDER: Todd’s arc is so fascinating this season. We see him get the special envoy role, which Kate and Grace both try to use to their advantage. Do you think that he senses that they’re both trying to use him as a pawn at times?

BRADLEY WHITFORD: I think he’s so lost that he’s a little unaware of the conspiracy. The fun thing about this guy, I realized at the beginning of this year, is either he doesn’t want to be in the scene or the other people don’t want him to be there. It’s just a really fun, kind of cringy thing to play around with. But what’s great about it is Debora writes it so just when he gets to the edge of the cliff of dismissibility, you realize he’s not an idiot. He’s a very bright guy in a very disorienting position. I think he fell in love with Grace a long time ago, and he fell in love with her brilliance, and her ambition, and her strength. I think he just didn’t realize he was suddenly going to have to play tambourine, and he doesn’t quite know how to do it. He doesn’t know how to protect her.

There’s a moment in the season that got really sad to me. It’s not really in the writing, but I felt like he realized, “You don’t want me here.” He doesn’t put it that way, and she doesn’t put it that way, but [it’s there]. And there was something very real about it. It was funny to me because I’m in a rehearsal. My wife is visiting — who is incredibly loving and very supportive — and we were doing a run-through of a Broadway play, but right before we go into tech. And she’s like, “Oh, can I come to the run-through?” And she’s the most supportive person in the world, but there’s a part of me that is like, “I want to get my feet first.” It would be like if you had your partner sitting off camera, looking at you with a partner’s X-ray eyes while you interview me. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s a really delicate thing. There’s a lot of fun stuff to play in this.

In Episode 6, Grace admits that she wants Todd in London because it’s where she got shot, and she wants to show the British she isn’t afraid of them, even though she is. What do you think is going through his mind at that moment?

WHITFORD: I think he understands. I think there’s a joke he avoids about, “Oh, you’re afraid to be here, but you’ll send me there?” I think the arc of the season, for him, is taking a big step, understanding he needs to go, her giving this opportunity, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in rooms where people don’t want him, and now, on the other side of the ocean, sort of gaining some confidence, which precipitates a disastrous screw-up at the end. He’s definitely wobbling on the skates.

Bradley Whitford Breaks Down What Todd Is Thinking in That ‘Diplomat’ Finale

“Todd will be put in a really excruciating position.”

Of course, the end of the finale sees Kate, Hal, Billie, and Miguel all resigning and walking out. Do you think there’s any part of Todd that wants to follow suit?

WHITFORD: There’s definitely part of him that does. [Laughs] But not really. I think it’s an irrational fantasy. [Beat] I don’t think that’s true. I actually think that, at the end, he’s there with her. I think the entire year, he is worried about what happens at the beginning of the season adding to the difficulty for her having suddenly been jerked into the presidency while she’s finding her feet.

It’s interesting because it almost becomes a sexism thing. It occurred to me while we were doing it — I remember when Ronald Reagan was shot, and there was no question about his vulnerability. It was just grit. He made a joke in the hospital, and you didn’t worry about it. What is it like when a woman gets shot? Even the women in this are worried about the first female president having her judgment thrown out of whack. It’s an interesting sort of gender question, but I think aside from the gender question, I’m really worried about how she’s making these huge geopolitical decisions, and whether her judgment has been disoriented by the way in which she became president, not to mention a shooting.

I’m curious, do you think there’s ever any possibility that he will sort of join the side of Kate and Hal in Season 5? Or do you think his loyalty to Grace is too strong to ever betray her like that?

WHITFORD: It occurs to me that, when you put it like that, Todd will be put in a really excruciating position. Because I don’t think he can ever abandon his loyalty to her, but I think he can not help but disagree with some of the decisions that she’s making. It’s another wonderfully true marital dynamic. I always say that’s what’s interesting and part of the magic sauce of this show is these incredibly complex, long-term marital relationships. They’re very fraught. At the end of the day, the show and Debora, I think, are very optimistic, about the way that all of us are idiots in relationships, even if we’re diplomats or presidents.

I think about this because I have grown kids, and you look at them starting to have relationships, and you just want to say to them, “I have no advice. Everybody’s a moron in this. Good luck. You’re gonna end up hacking through the jungle with a dull machete like everybody else.” And that’s the sort of fun of the show: their dispatch and expertise with these geopolitical problems, but they can’t quite navigate sharing a bathroom.

The Diplomat Season 4 is streaming on Netflix.