As the show’s second season wraps and its fans anxiously await this year’s addictive installment of Madison Avenue exploits, Flyer found Hollywood’s next rising star to be as beguiling as her character is—just a whole lot nicer.
Why do you think Mad Men feels so relevant right now?
I think it’s hitting home because it’s smart, sexy and written so beautifully. [The ’60s] are an interesting, fun era to explore dramatically, and to look at the differences between that time and now, because so much has changed. Male-female relationships, for one! But there are some scary similarities, as well...
The show can be biting in its satire and seems to work in layers: first, how the characters interact through the conventions of the time, and second, how a modern audience judges, or even smirks at, these interactions.
[Creator/producer] Matt Weiner is concerned most with great storytelling. He gets into these characters’ interior lives—who they are as people when you see them in the office, or just alone. And then suddenly you get all these deeper meanings. I think we watch it now and we all still relate, in spite of the setting.
You play a redheaded Kim Novak clone who’s tough as nails. Did you land the part right away?
I auditioned for it during pilot season—pilot season is sort of the Olympics for actors—when I might do three auditions in one day. I even kept a change of clothes in my car, just in case. It was brutal! Then I read Mad Men and I immediately cancelled my other appointments. I thought, I want this!
What made it so special?
Oh, I knew right away. I read so many scripts—all actors do. And there are so many similar storylines... we actually talk about pilots together and can get them confused because they all sound the same. This one stood out. I said to them, ‘You know the one set in the ’60s?’ They all knew the role. I said, ‘I’m the one who got it.’ But I was still nervous, because I had no idea what [network] AMC would be like to work for, or how they would promote the show.
And how has it been?
AMC has no previous history with this kind of work... but I really wanted to do it. Hollywood can be so ugly. Everyone has their story, and mine is this: [My agency] William Morris dropped me when I booked the pilot for Mad Men. They wanted me to do another pilot that would have paid me a lot more. But I didn’t want to do that one; I wanted to do this one. I stood by that decision, and I’m glad I did. I wish it hadn’t worked out the way it did [with William Morris], but AMC has been amazing. Even the executives are cool.
You spent your childhood in Idaho and your teen years in the quiet D.C. suburbs. What prepared you to so artfully play jaded Joan Holloway?
I wasn’t prepared. The writing is so beautiful, it makes it easier. I just hunker down and learn my lines, justify them. But Joan is a combination of people I have observed growing up, not just one person. I know this kind of person—someone who does something nice in front of other people so she knows everyone saw it.
It must be fun to play the bad guy. Or in this case, the bad “girl,” as every female character on the show is constantly referred to, no matter her age.
I love that Joan’s a little wicked! And I love playing her. But she’s the good girl, too. She’s not so specifically drawn—you see her at work behaving one way, but then she’s with her best friend and she’s wonderful, or as a lover and so sensitive and playful. Matt is great at fleshing out characters and making them real.
Have you ever asked Weiner about the ongoing theme of sexism in the show, and how he portrays women surviving it, or even working it to try to fulfill their goals?
When we get a script, we ask him about our characters. He doesn’t talk intention with us, so, no, he has never talked to us about sexism. He simply loves these individuals. When we finally see how everyone interacts, we realize he did have a grand plan, and it all comes together.
Do you think the show’s depiction of New York’s early advertising age is portrayed as glamorous? Or as the beginning of something sinister in our culture?
Both. It was a slick job back then. I think working in advertising [in the ’60s] is a lot like working in Hollywood now. Then, it was, ‘Wow, you work on Madison Avenue? How interesting!’ Now, when I tell people that I live in Los Angeles and work as an actor, people say, ‘Wow, how interesting!’ I don’t know if it is...
You’re a fan of the L.A. show Chelsea Lately. Are you drawn to acerbic humor?
I watch Chelsea Handler all the time. And you know what? We have to make fun of [Hollywood]. Too many people take it way too seriously. And I want to do more comedy. My favorite kind of humor is a bit absurd and bizarre: Arrested Development, Waiting for Guffman, that kind of thing. My dream is to be cast in the next Tim Burton film. But I want to do a western, too, and romantic comedies. I want to do everything!
You were a goth as a teen. That must have gone over well in conservative Fairfax, Va.
I moved to Fairfax when I entered high school. Coming from Idaho, it was the big city. Everyone at school seemed so adult and sophisticated. The girls all carried purses. … I didn’t really fit in. I got into the drama department … then started doing the goth thing … I used to go to the old 9:30 Club before it moved, and Commander Salamander to buy bright hair dye. Smash Records for T-shirts. I was into Fugazi, the local band scene.
Is your family still here?
My mom is in L.A. now. But my dad is still in D.C.
Tell us about the film you just wrapped with Dermot Mulroney and Hope Davis.
It’s called Driving Lessons. I play the sexy secretary role again—but she’s the opposite of Joan. She’s fun and goofy and silly. It’s a dysfunctional family movie.
What else is NEXT for 2009?
I am doing a recurring role on Life on NBC; I feel so lucky to get to do that. And I’m reading scripts and meeting people every day. Besides Mad Men, we’ll see!