It’s a mad world, indeed. Fans of AMC’s hit drama Mad Men are anxiously awaiting the April 7 season six premiere to find out what’s become of Don, Peggy, Roger, and the rest of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce gang in the 10 months since we saw them last. (SPOILER ALERT.) Did Don (Jon Hamm) cheat on new wife Megan (Jessica Pare)? Is Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) finding success at her new job? How has the season five suicide of Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) affected SCDP’s finances?
Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is keeping a typically tight lid on spoilers of any kind. So in lieu of answers to those questions, here are five revealing quotes by and about the show’s star, Jon Hamm, from Rolling Stone‘s recent cover story on the actor.
Weiner on the parallels between Hamm and his character, Don Draper: “None of us were attracted to show business because we were secure. Jon’s humility is not an affectation — it’s because deep down, like anyone in this job, there’s a lot of self-doubt and a lot of history that he’d like to rewrite. Him being able to exorcise his demons in this fictitious environment, as painful as it is, is a gift. The correlation between Jon and Don Draper is 100 percent — but lucky for us, it’s happening on a stage with a net, and we can say, ‘Cut.'” (Hamm, for the record, disagrees with this.)
Moss, on Hamm’s lack of vanity: “I mean, of course he’s going to say [he doesn’t think he’s handsome]. But I think he actually doesn’t get it. I’m like, ‘Are you insane?’ But he’s one of those people who’s good-looking and smart and funny and talented, and I don’t know if he fully gets that about himself. Which, thank God: If he ever realized how great he is, he’d be a f–king a–hole.”
Hamm, on the recent obsession with his private parts: “Yeah, I’m familiar. Most of it’s tongue-in-cheek, but it is a little rude. It just speaks to a broader freedom that people feel like they have — a prurience. They’re called ‘privates’ for a reason. I’m wearing pants, for f–k’s sake. Lay off. I mean, it’s not like I’m a f–king lead miner. There are harder jobs in the world. But when people feel the freedom to create Tumblr accounts about my c–k, I feel like that wasn’t part of the deal. But whatever. I guess it’s better than being called out for the opposite.”
Hamm, on how he relates to Don Draper: “There’s a desperation there, and it ties into fear of dying and fear of becoming irrelevant and fear of losing whatever it is you have. He’s managing this seismic change in the culture, trying to ride the wave, and in many ways, he’s failing. What happens to me as an actor when no one wants to hire me? None of us are getting younger.”
Weiner, on Hamm overcoming the loss of his parents when he was just a kid: “Jon could have gone nuts with what happened to him. There’s certainly a little misery that goes with success, and we put it in the show. Success is lonely. Your struggle has ended, but you don’t trust it. You want to eat with both hands. Granted, Jon never did what Don did. But damn if he didn’t feel it.”
For more from Hamm and the cast of Mad Men, pick up the latest issue of Rolling Stone.
