John Slattery recently reunited with his Mad Men co-star and name twin Jon Hamm for the charming crime/comedy film Confess Fletch, but it seems like he had been holding a grudge against Hamm for quite some time.
Slattery admitted that he has initially auditioned for the rold of of the very dapper Don Draper, so he was a little hurt when he didn’t get the part. He went on to play Roger Sterling, a sly womanizer (and heavy drinker) who later became Draper’s firm partner.
Despite wanting to live that Draper lifetstyle, Slattery said that as soon as he saw Hamm as the suave main character, he knew that they made the right choice. “[Jon Hamm] claims I was in a bad mood the whole time we shot the first episode because of this, but I don’t think that’s true,” Slattery told The Independent in a new interview. “Eventually I saw him, and I was like, ‘Oh — they sure do have that guy.’” Not only did they have the guy, but he was often leaving fellow cast and crew speechless due to his charming personality and uh, above average looks.
Slattery explained that Hamm was often distracting people by being the most handsome guy in the room. “When Hamm walked into a room in that get-up, people would just go catatonic. Guest stars would sometimes walk up to him and their lines would go right out of their heads. They just wouldn’t know what to do. It happened on more than one occasion.”
Of course, Hamm is nothing compared to Christina Hendricks, who played the incomparable Joan Harris in the hit series. “Christina Hendricks would walk into the room and people would sh*t themselves,” Slattery added. “It was amazing.” Maybe that’s why Colin Hanks was in so few episodes? He just couldn’t handle it.