Alison Janney was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1959. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, before gaining a role on the political drama The West Wing. She has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, including American Beauty, Juno, Hairspray and The Help. In 2017, she starred in I Tonya as LaVona Golden, the mother of ice skater Tonya Harding. She won an Academy Award for her role. She voiced the starfish Peach in the 2003 Disney Pixar film, Finding Nemo.