Jon Hamm has often been the man we love to hate on screen. Whether it’s his chilling role in ‘Baby Driver’, his crooked sheriff in ‘Fargo’ Season 5, or his powerful tech mogul in ‘The Morning Show’, Hamm has consistently brought depth and charm to characters who don’t always play by the rules.
In a recent chat with ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, Hamm opened up about why he’s naturally drawn to playing flawed, even villainous characters.
“People can relate to bad decisions,” he said, adding that it’s something universal. “We’ve all made them.”
The ‘Mad Men’ star admitted that he tends to lean towards roles that explore the darker sides of human nature. “I don’t usually play the saint,” he joked. “It’s usually the sinner.”
For Jon Hamm, perfect heroes like Superman just don’t hold the same appeal. “Superman can be kind of boring,” he quipped, though he was quick to add that he wishes the best for the new Superman actor, David Corenswet.
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Throughout his career, Hamm has taken on all kinds of roles, but his villain portrayals have particularly stuck with audiences. His characters may be making terrible choices, but Hamm makes them impossible to look away from.
His ability to make “bad behaviour look extremely attractive,” as ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ puts it, seems to be part of his signature.
Interestingly, Hamm reflected on his most famous role — Don Draper from ‘Mad Men’ — and suggested that people misunderstood the character. “Don got celebrated for all the wrong reasons,” Hamm said. “People thought he was the ultimate man, but honestly, he was pretty messed up.”
He compared his experience to what James Gandolfini and Bryan Cranston went through with ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Breaking Bad’. There the audience rooted for deeply flawed men who were never supposed to be heroes.
Though Hamm said he was satisfied with how ‘Mad Men’ creator Matt Weiner wrapped up Don Draper’s story, he acknowledged that it was a tough journey.