The news that Jon Hamm checked into rehab for alcohol addiction came at either the best or worst possible time, depending on your perspective.
The actor’s announcement came just weeks before the final episodes of Mad Men begin airing on AMC (April 5), and Hamm bidding farewell to the bottle served as a fitting coda to the end of his tenure as troubled ad man/professional drunk, Don Draper.
And hey, the surge in Hamm’s private life also serves as a bit of free publicity for the final run of a show that’s sometimes struggled in the ratings.
Unfortunately, by going public with his struggles, Hamm has also opened up the door to questions about whether the toll taken by playing such a dark character caused him to veer into problematic boozing. (One interviewer even compared Hamm’s plight to the final days of Sopranos star James Gandolfini.)
As part of his promotional tour for the much-hyped conclusion of Mad Men, Hamm sat down for a lengthy interview with Variety in which he opened up about the strain of portraying one of television’s most complex and endlessly melancholy characters:
“Playing this guy does not come without its own difficulties,” Hamm says. “It’s not fun to live in this guy’s headspace year after year. The darkness in Don has not abated, it’s gotten worse year after year. It’s relentless.
“It can be hard on you as a person. I love coming to work; I love the people I work with. But it’s been rough.”
Hamm says he’s eager to move on to his next big role (Who wouldn’t be, after seven seasons as dour Don?), but it seems there’s still one order of unfinished business he’d like to take care of before he bids adieu to his pomade and Canadian Club for good:
“The minute you start crying about not winning awards, it seems a little weird,” Jon says, when asked about the fact that he’s never won an Emmy. “I’m in a very good group of people who have never won. I’ll live.”
Hamm seems resigned to the fact that he may never take home the gold for his work as Dick Whitman, but we’re sure he wouldn’t mind of the series’ final episodes bring him the Academy recognition he so richly deserves.
If you still need to get caught up for the finale (What are you waiting for?!), watch Mad Men online at TV Fanatic. And, of course, feel free to relive Mad Men’s most memorable moments in the gallery below:
