The acclaimed television show Mad Men is synonymous with the name of Emmy Award-winning actor Jon Hamm, who starred as Don Draper on the popular series. For Hamm, it was a breakthrough role after spending a decade in relative obscurity. However, Hamm almost didn’t land the part that made him a star — speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Hamm reveals that he was partially cast as Draper because the producers weren’t looking for a recognizable star for the role.
Hamm notes that he feels that his physical appearance held him back from early acting success. He recalls, “I just didn’t fit. I was the guy who was 25 but looked 35. It’s like I fell between two barstools. I mean, I didn’t look like I was in high school when I was in high school. I don’t know if it was losing my parents, but I looked older.”
However, Hamm soon found himself interested in roles on two monumental television series — Mad Men (which he got) and The West Wing (which he didn’t). He explains, “I got the Mad Men script, and I was like, ‘Shit, this is really good.’ And it’s a good lesson in not getting ahead of yourself because I remember thinking, ‘They’re never going to cast me.’ Because I’d had an experience with another really good script that I read and I was like, ‘I would do anything to get this part.'”
Recalling that experience auditioning for The West Wing, Hamm shares that it set him up to doubt his chances to land Mad Men. He continues, “It was The West Wing. Rob Lowe’s character, Sam. I thought, ‘I could murder this part.’ And I was great in the audition, but I saw the casting director’s face, and I knew this part’s already cast. Then it was like, ‘Oh, it’s Rob Lowe. OK, I get it.’ So I thought the same thing would happen on Mad Men. I’ll give a great audition, and they’ll give it to a movie star. The first time I went in, I was the only person auditioning, it was so early in the process. And then as I’d go back in and go back in, I started seeing names that I recognized on the sign-in sheet.”
As it turns out, Lowe was also considered for Hamm’s future role on Mad Men, though he never auditioned for the show. Hamm reveals, “[Creator] Matthew Weiner, God bless him, basically said, ‘We can’t have a superstar. If Rob Lowe plays this part, it’ll be the Rob Lowe show, and we don’t want that. We want it to be a mystery about who this guy is.’ And to my tremendous benefit, that worked.”
