Jon Hamm Struggled With Serious Typecasting After Mad Men Success

Mad Men, the AMC period drama about Manhattan advertising executives in the 1960s, was the major turning point in Jon Hamm‘s career. Starting out in the art department for softcore adult movies, Hamm landed the leading role of Don Draper in the series and his career skyrocketed exponentially. A complex and emotionally selfish survivor of the Vietnam War, Draper is one of the leading executives in Manhattan with a convoluted past strung on a web of lies. However, after the show wrapped its 7th Season in 2014, Hamm struggled with typecasting, and had to make a drastic change to prove casting agents wrong.

Hamm appeared on the latest episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Roundtable Series, alongside actors like Nicholas Galitzine, Matt Bomer, and David Oyelowo, and discussed his typecasting following Mad Men. “Every script I got was a cigarette, and a hat, and a cocktail,” Hamm said. While the actor said he’s incredibly grateful for the opportunities Mad Men has afforded him, he was looking for a change. He described working on Mad Men as his “day job”, saying “that’s what I do six months out of the year.” Hamm knew he had to make a bold change to prove casting agents wrong, which led to the then rising star shifting tones from a 1960s set, suave drama, to appearing in as many comedic projects as possible. Hamm continued:

“That was why, for me, it was a very conscious decision to lean into the comedic side of stuff that I wanted to do – whether it was
30 Rock
, or
SNL
, or fill in the blank – because I knew I had [
Mad Men
] going. That train had left the station, very successfully. It was nice to earn credibility on both sides of the dramatic and comedic isle.”

Jon Hamm Wore Prosthetic Nipples in Fargo Season 5

Following Mad Men‘s finale, Hamm has appeared in multiple comedy movies and shows, including Bridesmaids, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Minions, and Good Omens. However, he still dips his toes in the dramatic waters now and again. Hamm played the narrator in FX’s Legion, a murderous criminal in Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, and as a new character in Top Gun: Maverick. Post-Mad Men, Hamm’s biggest dramatic role is in Season 5 of FX’s seasonal anthology Fargo.

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Hamm played Roy Tillman, a sheriff and the main antagonist in the show’s fifth season. Despite his devout religious practices, Tillman had an edgy past, and it required Hamm to don a surprisingly comic prosthetic. Under his rancher’s jacket, Tillman has pierced nipples, and Hamm had to wear prosthetic covers over his own to avoid going true method actor and getting piercings himself. During his appearance on the Roundtable, Hamm was asked about the nipples, and he revealed that he didn’t keep them after filming wrapped. Clive Owen then joked that he’d seen them at a Hollywood auction.

Hamm’s next role sees the actor lend his voice to Sentinel Prime in the animated Transformers One movie, alongside Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, and Scarlett Johansson. Transformers One is currently scheduled for release on September 20, 2024.