The West Wing characters: Josh Lyman
”Victory is mine! Victory is mine! I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring all the finest muffins and bagels in the land!”
It’s hard to nail down the moment that the White House deputy chief of staff secured my affections, but it was definitely early on in the pilot. Certainly the opening exchange between Donna and Josh over a cup of coffee was a significant scene as my opinions began to form. Donna immediately comes across as a trustworthy, good-hearted character so I think as the audience, you willingly trust her judgement when it comes to Josh. His response, to reassure and comfort her almost, is one of the earliest displays of Josh’s sweet side. This is played to perfectly counter-balance his charmingly arrogant humour seen frequently in his banter with Donna (in episodes like 17 People), as well as scenes with characters including Sam, Toby and CJ. The three boys in Shibboleth, for example, and even earlier as with the opening Josh scene of episode 2, Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (quote above).
I think Bradley always plays Josh with a depth of emotion that means his character is sympathetic. Early on, it is Noel that really shows Brad’s versatility as an actor as far as the scope of human emotion goes. I don’t think you can be a fully fledged West Wing fan if Josh hasn’t made you teary-eyed at least once! There’s this look of a lost little boy spread on Bradley’s face, in certain sadder moments of the show, that I find inexplicably poignant. That, sort of, open-mouthed ambiguously emotional look that I most memorably recall from NSF Thurmont and Election Day Part 2. I just feel like Bradley acts from a place deep inside himself, that allows the character to fulfill all of the incredible dialogue that Sorkin writes for him.
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