Source: GQ
Date: January 2010
By: Benji Wilson

He embodies the show, and Jon Hamm’s character is the Mad Man we all want to be. He’s probably the Mad Man Jon Hamm wants to be, too. The actor explains all…

Don knows he may well be doomed
“If Don seems like another type of man compared to men today, you’ve got to remember that he’s also sort of a dying breed in 1963 when we pick up this series. Don is very much set up as a bridge between the old Eisenhower-era WWII crowd and the young kids who are coming up, who will be the Vietnam-era kids and the counterculture, baby-boomer generation. He’s right in the middle of those two worlds, with a foot firmly planted in each.”

To understand Don, don’t (always) focus on the drinking, smoking and casual sex
“Don is not a pure libertine; there’s a case to be made that he’s sort of anhedonic. He never feels joy or anything else because he’s so repressed in this character he’s assumed.”

Sharp suit aside, Don’s openness is the key to his success
“Don can talk to anybody. No one’s above or below him because he’s come from this place of poverty and has risen to this place of privilege. He has a merit-based code and there will be no judgments. I think Peggy is respected by Don in many ways because she adheres to the same ambitious code that he does – if the work is good, you’ll be good. The fact that she’s a woman doesn’t come into Don’s decision-making process.”

“Old Fashioned” is both Don’s drink and his modus operandi
“For all his faults, Don has at least got good manners. I was born in St Louis, Missouri, and I was brought up with a very profound sense of politeness. The way women are treated today, the objectification of women, is in many ways worse now than it was then. At the end of the day, you treated women well because they were somebody’s mother, somebody’s wife. There was a level of respect. I think that’s gone by the wayside a little bit, and it’s a shame.”

The only way Don will survive series Three is to adapt
“Does Don fundamentally change? I think he tries. This series, he is trying to be a better person, trying to be a better husband, trying to be a better father, trying to be a better man. It’s just that maybe he’s not cut out for that.”

And if all else fails? Man up and reinvent yourself
“Think about Don – he fought in Korea, he assumed this dead guy’s identity. Think about the actual logistics of having made that decision and having to stick with it every day of your life. How psychologically damaging must that be? Yet, here is a person who is able to take all of that really messed-up energy and turn it into ambition, focus and drive. Now that’s cool.”