Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Services
    • Aircheck for Actors
    • Demo Reels
    • Audition Prep/Self-Tape Reader
    • Mailing Labels
    • Contribute
    • Industry Links
    • Advertise
    Daily Actor
    Daily Actor YouTube Page Daily Actor FacebookDaily Actor Twitter Daily Actor Instagram Daily Actor Pinterest
    • Acting Tips
      • Actors on Acting
      • Advice Columns
      • Acting Quotes
      • Audition Tapes
      • How To Become An Actor
      • How to Memorize Lines
    • Monologues
      • Monologues from Plays
      • Monologues from Movies
      • Monologues from Musicals
      • Comedic Monologues
      • Dramatic Monologues
      • One Minute Monologues
      • Monologues for Women
      • Monologues for Men
      • Monologues for Teens
      • Monologues for Kids
      • All Monologues
    • Acting Resources
      • Acting Resume
        • Acting Resume Templates
      • Acting Classes
        • Los Angeles Acting Classes
        • Las Vegas Acting Classes
        • San Diego Acting Classes
      • Acting Schools and Colleges
        • Los Angeles
        • New York
        • BFA Acting Schools
      • Casting Websites
      • Headshot Photographers
        • Los Angeles
        • New York City
        • Headshot Printing
      • Acting Techniques
        • What is Method Acting?
      • Stage Directions
      • Demo Reels: Everything You Need to Know
    • Interviews
      Featured

      Interview: Donna Benedicto: “Not every character needs to fit into a box”

      Recent

      Interview: Donna Benedicto: “Not every character needs to fit into a box”

      May 1, 2023
      Jesmille-Darbouze-A-Dolls-House-Broadway-Interview

      Interview: Jesmille Darbouze on Her Role in ‘A Doll’s House’ on Broadway, Working Without Props and Why She Almost Stopped Acting

      April 27, 2023

      Interview: Lilah Fitzgerald Talks “Dream Come True” Roles in ‘Monster High’ and ‘Lucky Hank’

      April 13, 2023
    • Actor Blogs
    • Reviews
      • Movies
      • Theater
      • Books
      • Products
    • Actor Services
      • Airchecks
      • Demo Reels
      • Website Design
      • Mailing Labels
    Daily Actor
    Home » Actors on Acting » Chelcie Ross, ‘Mad Men’s’ Conrad Hilton: “In a script, I don’t want to know what other characters are doing”
    Actors on Acting

    Chelcie Ross, ‘Mad Men’s’ Conrad Hilton: “In a script, I don’t want to know what other characters are doing”

    Lance CarterBy Lance CarterNovember 20, 2009Updated:November 3, 2021No Comments6 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Chelcie-Ross
    From chicagotribune.com:

    Q. You and your character seemed to fit right in from the start on “Mad Men.” What was it like to work on the show?

    A. There are places you go to work where you’re immediately made to feel at home and everybody’s there because  they want to be there. Nobody’s just putting in time. That’s the atmosphere on “Mad Men.”

    In my considered opinion, (the tone is set) from the top. And the director and producers of “Mad Men” couldn’t be nicer. That’s always been one of the things that has made an experience exceptional –— when the director absolutely believes in what he’s doing and he’s filled up with the prospect of bringing this (story) to life and making it as real for everybody else as it is for him. I used to work with a director named David H. Bell at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. He had that same kind of infectious quality about him, (the attitude that) nothing is small about what we’re doing if we don’t belittle it and (if we) believe in what we’re doing.

    Jon Hamm is truly a down-to-earth Missouri guy, he brings his dog Cora to the set most days. I had a great time with Robert Morse, he’s fun and he’s so good and his resume is jaw-dropping. He’s really an actor’s actor. It’s a good group. I’m glad that it looked like I belonged there because I’d like to go back.

    Q It’s obviously too soon to know what “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner has planned for Season 4, but the door was left open to Hilton’s possible return someday. Would you like to go back?

    A. Of course. It’s a great character. You know the saying about people living lives of quiet desperation? That’s really the essence of almost all drama, the desperation in people’s lives. I think that Connie sees in Don the kind of active desperation, not quiet desperation, that (Connie) had in him when he was a young man. That same sort of drive. That’s why they  complemented each other so well.  Connie is a bigger-than-life character to begin with, and Matt and the writers sharpened that.

    Q. There were so many levels to that relationship between Don and Connie. Do you think that Connie really thought of Don as a son, or was that something he told Don to get him to work harder?

    A. There are levels to that answer too. The fact is that Conrad Hilton had a history of finding the brightest and the most eager, putting the leash on them for a little while and getting what he could, and then turning them loose. With Conrad Hilton, it was and always is a testing period. “I threw you this little bit; let’s see if you can do that, then I’ll try you on bigger things.” If circumstances had not conspired against the continuation of the relationship, I think that he would have given Sterling Cooper and Don Draper more. [But the agency merger] made that impossible for him to do.

    I think the fact that Connie puts it right back in his face when Don starts whining a bit –— it’s that next level in the Connie test. “You did good so far; you were what I thought you were. Now it’s time to go out and do it on your own.” That’s the impetus for the next chapter in the story. Don sucks it up and says, “Yes, this is a turning point.”

    I had an interesting conversation with (“Mad Men” creator) Matt Weiner one day. He told me that way back in Season 1, he and Jon Hamm had a discussion in which they decided that there was no way, if the series continued, that Don Draper could stay at Sterling Cooper (indefinitely). It would not be a fit. It would be way outside his character to end up there (for his entire career).

    Chelcie-Ross-as-Conrad-Hilton

    Q. Did you do a lot of research on Conrad Hilton before playing him?

    A. With actual characters, with historical characters, I like to get as much information as I can, as long as it’s information that the character would have. In 1963 (when the third season takes place), Conrad Hilton was 76 years old, so anything that happened to him before that was useful to me. Anything that happened after that or any comment we make on him in retrospect, I don’t want to see that. A lot of times in a script, I don’t want to know what other characters are doing, because it has nothing to do with me and it may be great entertainment when I see it on the screen, but I don’t want it to color my performance.

    And thankfully in this case I didn’t have to answer to Conrad Hilton. When I played Dan Devine in “Rudy,” (he didn’t like it). He thought we portrayed him as a really mean guy. Well, he’s a college football coach; I mean I can’t imagine him ever yelling at anyone [laughs].

    Q. When I was thinking about Connie, I was thinking of words like “evangelist,” “idealist,” “businessman.” How do you see him?

    A. I’ve used those same words. I think he’s a zealot, and his zeal was focused on one particular area — his business. They don’t get into it on the show but Conrad Hilton’s private life was just about as rocky as Don’s. He left behind women, he worked all the time. But his zeal for what he’s doing relates to his business and his belief in God and America and what it can bring to the world. He feels that’s his mission — to bring America to the world, and he has bought into it 100 percent.

    Q. His zeal takes a toll on the people around him, though.

    A. Oh yeah. But Don comes out of this fine because he’s got that backbone of iron, like Conrad Hilton is. He’ll drive right on. But other people that he casts aside are maybe not that strong.

    Related

    Previous ArticleJersey Boys’ Travis Cloer: “I left New York to get a job on Broadway”
    Next Article Jason Schwartzman on ‘The Fantastic Mr. Fox’: “It’s the best movie I’ve ever been a part of”

    Related Posts

    sally field lee strasberg

    Sally Field on Working with Lee Strasberg: “He was one of the best acting teachers”

    May 22, 2023

    Elizabeth Banks on Acting ‘Rites of Passage’ and What She Learned from Ray Liotta

    May 16, 2023
    Tramell Tillman on His Breakthrough 'Severance' Role

    Tramell Tillman on His Breakthrough ‘Severance’ Role

    May 12, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Popular Pages
    Become An Actor | Acting Tips | Acting Quotes
    Acting Resume | Resume Template
    Headshot Photographers
    Los Angeles | New York
    Print Your Headshots
    Acting Schools & Colleges
    Los Angeles | New York
    Monologues
    Movies | Plays | Comedic | Dramatic
    Men | Women | Teens | Kids
    • Contact
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Resource Listings
    • Write A Column
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer: Daily Actor at times uses affiliate links to sites like Amazon.com, streaming services, and others. Affiliate links provides compensation to Daily Actor which helps us remain online, giving you the resources and information actors like you are looking for.

    © 2023 Daily Actor

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.