Mad man Hamm talks waltzing with Young Doctor Radcliffe
“Dan’s on the West End doing eight shows a week, so that’s a far bigger challenge than it is for me,” says 42-year-old Hamm, who’s dressed in light brown trousers, checked shirt and blue baseball jacket, a cap perched atop that handsome face.
Following a successful first series, Radcliffe and Mad Men star Hamm are reuniting for a four-part follow-up to A Young Doctor’s Notebook, which was based on the experiences of the writer Mikhail Bulgakov as a newly-qualified medic during the Russian Revolution.
Radcliffe and Hamm star as the younger and older versions of the same man. Surreally, they sometimes interact, most memorably in the bath tub during series one. “We figured we didn’t need to revisit the well on that one,” says Hamm, laughing. “Once you have that image in your head, it’s pretty much seared there,” &says the actor, who’s also executive producer on the series (produced in association with Points West Pictures which he and his partner, actress and screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt, run).
The new series begins in 1918 as the Civil War rages throughout Russia, although it hasn’t yet reached the young doctor’s remote little hospital in Mureyvo, where life meanders along.
Fast-forward to 1935 and the old doctor is in Moscow, being discharged from the institution he was sent to at the end of series one. Cured from his morphine addiction, he’s feeling bright and upbeat.
“He’s basically gone through withdrawal and detoxification, although detox was a little more sinister and intense in the early 20th century,” quips Hamm.
The older doctor then returns to his memories of 1918 where, in contrast to series one, he’s no longer sneering towards his younger self — though he is concerned, as his morphine addiction looks set to spiral out of control.
He might attempt to dissuade his younger self from heading down the wrong path, but it’s a fruitless task, says the actor.
“You can’t talk your younger self out of anything,” he explains. “That’s part of the fun we have, with a lot of time jumping. But it’s a general theme of the show; if you could talk your younger self out of the mistakes you made in the past, what would you say and how would you say it?”
Having been brought up on the likes Monty Python, Hamm thought the “strange and unique” nature of the comedy-drama would appeal to British audiences.
Hamm stayed in central London for the duration of the shoot, and admits he’s feeling more at home than ever. “I successfully navigated myself after dinner last night without having to check my phone,” he notes proudly, adding that he isn’t harassed as much in the UK as he is back home in the States. “People are far too polite to break my stride,” he says. “It’s much better than the States, where you get insulted by cameras and people screaming.”
He’s even been tempted to pop into a nearby pub for a drink, he reveals. “It was around 6pm and everybody was getting off work and congregating around pubs and I was like, ’Wow, it looks so fun and everyone looks like they’re having such a great time’.”
He didn’t go in the end, but no doubt the workers would have been shocked to see Don Draper, the charismatic ad executive he plays in Sixties-set Mad Men, walk through the door of their ‘local’.
The role has earned him an army of ardent fans as well as five Emmy and five Golden Globe nominations, including one win, but it very nearly didn’t happen.
Like thousands of others, he moved to Hollywood with aspirations of making it as an actor but spent the majority of his twenties subsidising bit parts by waiting tables and teaching, and even had a stint as a set dresser on a soft porn production.
He gave himself a deadline: make a living out of acting by the age of 30, or pack up and go home.
Almost immediately, work started to pick up. There was a ‘blink and you miss it’ part in Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboys, the indie movie Kissing Jessica Stein and recurring roles in TV series Providence and The Division. Then in 2007, despite reservations from network bosses who were looking for a ‘star’ for their new drama, Hamm was cast as Draper.
“When Mad Men became successful, I was offered every role with a tie, hat and coat, but I’ve veered sharply the other way,” says the actor.
Instead, he chose roles such as Kristen Wiig’s arrogant boyfriend in Bridesmaids and Tina Fey’s love interest in 30 Rock. “These things are about as polar opposite to Don Draper as possible, and it’s fun when you have the freedom to go whichever way you want. No one wants to be pigeon-holed and you are ultimately in charge of that.”
Having seen Radcliffe on stage, Hamm admits he’s tempted to tread the boards in the UK.
“I haven’t done theatre in a long time but I was trained at university and enjoyed it,” he says. “It’s not exactly the most lucrative thing you can do, so you’ve got to do television and film to subsidise having a theatre career in many ways.”
He at least has the new series of Mad Men to help him out on that score, and what about a third series of A Young Doctor’s Notebook?
“Well, never say never, but the way it ends is a little bit tricky to continue,” he laughs. “But anything’s possible when you’re dealing with myself and Dan...”
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