Ainsley Hayes
Republican lawyer who outdebates the White House staff.
Ainsley Hayes is a fictional character on the American serial political drama The West Wing, portrayed by Emily Procter. Reception for the character has ranged from mixed to positive, with Ainsley depicted as intelligent and flirtatious yet subject to sexism from other characters.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The West Wing
- First
- "In This White House"; season 2, episode 4
- Last
- "Requiem"; season 7, episode 18
- Creator
- Aaron Sorkin
- Portrayed by
- Emily Procter
- Occupation
- Associate White House counsel (seasons 2–3); Deputy White House counsel (season 3)
- Nationality
- American
Facts from the source article.
Creation and development
Ainsley Hayes first appears in the second season episode "In This White House". Emily Procter, then a struggling actress living in a Beverly Hills apartment, read for the role. She later told Empire magazine that she had driven a run-down car to the audition and that her "strange, pulled-together outfit", which included purple pants, required her to return and repeat the audition. Originally scripted as a Republican from Montana, Procter read her lines with a Southern accent. On her first day of work, show creator Aaron Sorkin asked if she would like the character to be from North Carolina instead; she accepted, later calling it "such a sweet thing to do". Sorkin wrote in the official companion book that Ainsley was created to attract younger women to the show and to counter a trend he perceived of "young, blond, and leggy" Republican women working as unintelligent commentators. The character has drawn comparisons to real-life commentator Ann Coulter, but Sorkin countered that "Ainsley Hayes has an extraordinary sense of duty". In her first scene, other characters assume she embodies the stereotype, with Sam Seaborn calling her a "young, blonde, leggy Republican", but they are proven mistaken when she reveals her debating prowess. Ainsley never became a regular character; Sorkin was concerned about including another character in every episode, telling Empire he "already had eight mouths to feed". He later called this the biggest mistake of the show's seven-season run. Procter had expressed a desire to become a regular early on, later commenting it was a miscommunication: "If I had in any way known that this was a possibility, I would have stayed there forever! Ainsley disappeared after the third season, reappearing in the seventh season episode "Requiem", for a total of twelve episodes.
Character role
Ainsley Hayes serves as the Associate White House Counsel on The West Wing. She is introduced on a fictional political television program called Capitol Beat. Ainsley had a promising future as a Republican pundit but told the White House counsel furious over her hiring that she wanted to "roll up [her] sleeves, set aside partisanship, and say 'what can I do? In "The Lame Duck Congress", she dresses down Republican staffers who question her view on a nuclear test ban treaty, countering that they want to score political points by killing ratification. When Sam asks her to summarize a 22-page paper on a commerce amendment in two pages, Ainsley reverses his position and convinces him of her own viewpoint. She also argues with Sam on the Equal Rights Amendment in "17 People", calling it "humiliating" to believe a law is needed to declare a woman equal to a man. In another episode, she prevents Sam from disclosing privileged information to force an oil company to pay for cleanup, arguing it could have gotten him disbarred. Ainsley and Sam engage in flirtation; in "Bartlet's Third State of the Union", she asks him to dance while wearing a robe and playing "Blame It on the Bossa Nova". Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club quipped "when are they going to bone already? Author Patrick Webster speculates in a footnote that the two were already having sex in "17 People".
Reception and legacy
Reception for Ainsley has ranged from mixed to positive. In a 2014 list of 144 West Wing characters, The Atlantic ranked her 14th, writing she had potential as a major character before Procter left for CSI: Miami, and called "And It's Surely to Their Credit" her signature episode. In a 2012 list of 38 Aaron Sorkin characters, Vulture's Margaret Lyons ranked Ainsley 26th, complimenting her ability to foil Sam and her strength of character but criticizing a scene where she "tearfully stood up for her co-workers and insisted to her GOP pals that they were, sob, 'patriots'. Oy." Steve Heisler initially was not convinced Ainsley would be a positive addition, but later wrote that "Bartlet's Third State of the Union" reversed his opinion, complimenting her slapstick wit and charm. In the 2020 production A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, Procter returned to read stage directions, introducing every scene over three days due to COVID-19 restrictions.
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Elsewhere in The West Wing
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