The White House decided to mix things up at its daily press briefing Friday by having a fictional character step into Press Secretary Josh Earnest's role. Yes, seriously. Allison Janney, who played the whip-smart press secretary C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, took over the podium while Earnest was supposedly out of commission for a root canal. "But let's be honest," Janney said, "I'm better at this anyway." Watch Janney's briefing, which — spoiler alert — Earnest eventually crashes, below. Allison Janney takes over White House press briefing as character 'C.