As Mad Men begins to wind down, Jon Hamm is facing both an end and a new beginning. Meeting GQ‘s Stuart McGurk on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental New York, our latest cover star reveals why he’s feeling optimistic about life after Don Draper in our September issue. With his first shot as a Hollywood leading man –Million Dollar Arm – hitting screens this month, the actor sheds light on his chequered upbringing, becoming an orphan at 20-years-old and why he had to grow into being hireable. Although you’ll have to wait until Thursday 7 August to read the interview in full, take a look at our preview images from our photo shoot with Hamm here, and read some choice excerpts…
On carving a successful career post-Mad Men…
“There’s no road map for this. You look at someone like Matthew McConaughey – ten years ago, you wouldn’t have said he’s going to be an Oscar-winning actor, you know? The guy from Failure To Launch? You’d have been laughed out of the room. You look at a person’s success like that and think: God speed. And hope you’re given the opportunity. It’s hard because Hollywood is a lot of things, but it’s not the biggest risk taker.”
On his late career-break…
“Flick through the TV guide in the Nineties – I auditioned for every one of those shows. It wasn’t just my looks. My energy wasn’t right. You know, [affects hyperactive teen voice] ‘Hey guys! I think there’s been a murder! And have you seen there’s a dance?’ It wasn’t me. I had to grow into being hireable. People said to me, just wait until you’re 40. I was like, 40?”
On the attention he receives from playing Don Draper…
“I can literally be walking through Central Park and every third person will be like, ‘Can I have a kiss?’ No! Absolutely not! And Jennifer [Westfeldt, Hamm’s long-term partner] will be right there! It doesn’t make you feel good. I’m like: how were you raised?”
On leaving Mad Men behind…
“We all want to know what that final episode says, and how it says it. And it’ll be really hard. A decade of all of our lives. John Slattery was saying just the other night, what would we all have done without this show? It’s changed our lives so profoundly. And of course the unspoken thing is: what are we going to do next? And no one wants to think about that.”
On losing his father aged 20 (following his mother’s death when he was 10)…
“It just changed everything. It was just a profound sense of being alone. And that lasted a while. I was in college, and I had to start over again. It was definitely a moment. I was at a crossroads. It really could have gone the wrong way.”
The new issue of GQ will be available on 7 August.
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