By Alan Sepinwall. Jon Hamm has had plenty of memorable moments in his career, particularly during the seven seasons he played charismatic ad executive Don Draper on Mad Men. And walking onto set, there was a huge American flag. This is very, very cool. This is going to be so fun. It has been a longer wait than anyone expected. Hamm had some waits of his own during the pandemic. He spoke with Rolling Stone for the Last Word interview earlier this spring, right before heading out on a multinational European vacation with his girlfriend, actress Anna Osceola — a belated milestone-birthday gift to himself.
You were 15 when Top Gun came out. What did you think of it? I did multiple viewings. And that also coincided with the golden age of home video, as well. So the copy of it at the local video store was pretty worn out, too. It was a very big, important movie for kids my age at that time. Because it was so cool. Tom Cruise was in that sweet spot of being twentysomething years old. I mean, he was great looking. He was an amazing actor. We all saw the writing on the wall as to what he was about to become.
You had a pretty, pretty solid lineup. You had a young Meg Ryan in a very small role. It was just a cool movie that really somehow tapped into that Reagan-era zeitgeist of being a little jingoistic, but not too much to where it hits you over the head. And obviously, the overarching vibe of the way that movie looked was just to make it look cool. I mean, it seemed like every shot was at sunset and everybody was sweating just enough to look extra awesome.
Were you Team Maverick or Team Iceman? Obviously, Tom Cruise is who you want to be. You want to be Maverick. Part of it is in the writing. His questions to Maverick are real. Why are you still a captain in the Navy? You should have been running things by now. There is what becomes of begrudging respect. And he can see a lot of himself in Maverick. As Mad Men was winding down, what did you want your career afterward to look like?
You have this legacy, right? That never goes away. Mostly, I just want to do things that I would want to go see. You became famous for drama, but you go out of your way to do a lot of comedy. It always feels nice to be invited to play in that sandbox.
