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Allison Janney describes 'germaphobe' co-star's strange ask before their kissing scene

She's not saying who it was, but it was odd.
/ Source: TODAY

At 61, veteran actor Allison Janney has done her share of kissing on camera.

But as the Oscar and seven-time Emmy winner told Jimmy Kimmel on a virtual "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" interview Thursday, only one "germaphobe" actor made her wear special protection before getting into that lip lock.

Apparently during a scene filmed pre-pandemic, the actor was "such a germaphobe, he would put Neosporin on his lips and ask me to put it on mine too, before he would kiss me," she said.

That got Jimmy Kimmel laughing. He noted, "That doesn't do anything!"

Janney added, "I didn't know (what it would do) but I took it very personally, though. I thought, 'What does he think I put in my mouth?' I don't know. It kind of unnerved me, but people are germaphobes."

Kimmel wondered if it was Howie Mandel (whose germaphobia is well-documented), but Janney insisted her lips were sealed on the matter.

"I will not say who it was," she said.

Mom
Allison Janney with Anna Faris on "Mom." Faris has since left the show. CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

These days, thanks to COVID-19, actors kissing can be a little more harrowing than whether or not someone is wearing Neosporin. Janney said she gets tested "seven to eight times a week, depending on whether or not I'm going to be doing kissing scenes."

They talked about taking the COVID-19 test and their shared love for Q-Tips, plus "The West Wing," on which she starred from 1999-2006. She noted that she and the several cast members have a shared "text chain."

"It's so much fun, we text about absolutely everything and there's a lot of abuse given on the text chain," she laughed, scrolling through her phone for some juicy bits — then shared a hunky bathing suit photo of former co-star Joshua Malina.

Janney is currently promoting her upcoming film, "Breaking News in Yuba County," which has an all-star cast including Awkwafina, Mila Kunis and Wanda Sykes, but she's also currently in her eighth season of the CBS sitcom "Mom" — though without co-star Anna Faris, who departed last year.

"It's a huge loss for the show to not have Anna because she was part of creating a character, Christy, that everyone fell in love with, who was so lovable and warm and gullible and funny and we will miss her so much," Janney told "Entertainment Tonight" in November. "I think I'll miss the most, for me, the relationship between Bonnie and Christy, even though that will still continue. But she won't be present. That's what I'll miss."