Jon Hamm Breaks Down Fake Cigarette Routine on ‘Mad Men’ Set: “We Can’t All Be Brad Pitt”
Before Your Friends and Neighbours, Jon Hamm was a serious guy in AMC’s period drama series Mad Men, but things actually weren’t that serious on the show’s set. Here’s why the actor started appreciating normal breathing even more after filming Mad Men.
Even with Your Friends and Neighbours’ first season wrap just days ago and a memorable part in Landman’s first instalment, Jon Hamm might still be Mad Men’s Don Draper for most of his fans.
The show, launched back in 2007, ran for 7 seasons and eventually came to its end in 2015, remaining one of the greatest TV series of all time and probably Hamm’s finest work on TV yet.
However, the whole drama unfolding in Draper’s advertising agency wasn’t really a thing on Mad Men’s set which, according to Hamm’s latest revelations, is now forever associated with the smoke of fake cigarettes — and, well, onion water too.
Jon Hamm Recalls Smoking 75 Cigarettes Per Episode in ‘Mad Men’
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It’s never easy to run one of the most ambitious companies on the New York City market, so Hamm’s Don Draper was getting a cigarette break anytime he could, resulting in the actor’s increased appreciation for fresh air.
“I think somebody did a count, and in the pilot alone, I spoke 75 cigarettes… They are fake cigarettes, but that just means that there’s no nicotine in them. It doesn’t mean you’re not burning something,” Hamm revealed during the ATX TV Festival in Austin last weekend.
It was also reminded that, despite Mad Men’s storyline unfolding in New York City, the entire production was set in Los Angeles, so there was no way the team could go outside of the studio.
“We didn’t go outside, which was awesome and not awesome. The whole thing, the whole stage is full of fake cigarette smoke”, the actor added.
Still, even with all those hardships Hamm and co had to endure because of the abuse of fake cigarettes, Mad Men just wouldn’t be the same without this very 1960s-coded feature.
“I remember at some point, having a conversation with the executives at AMC. They said, ‘Do they have to smoke?’ That was like, Are you f—king kidding me? Yes, they literally have to. They’re addicted to cigarettes. It’s kind of why they’re sold. They’re super popular!” Hamm recalled later.
Jon Hamm Was Also Forced to Drink Onion Water and Eat Small Food Bites on the ‘Mad Men’ Set
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It’s not just about cigarettes when it comes to Mad Men’s behind-the-scenes big secrets since, according to Hamm, he was also used to drinking water with onion floating in it which, in its integrity, was supposed to imitate a vodka martini.
“Pop another pearl onion in your glass of water, and then smoke 26 more fake cigarettes and it’s 9:30 in the morning!” Hamm said, also highlighting that “the breath was lovely”.
Apart from that, the actor had to follow another harsh rule with the food, saying that both he and the rest of the cast just couldn’t eat it normally and were supposed to move it all around the plate while taking the smallest bites possible.
“We can’t all be Brad Pitt. Would that we could!” he concluded.
However, Hamm also reflected on the impact that Mad Men had on his life, suggesting all those on-set issues eventually paid off when he looked at them in hindsight. According to the actor, his experience on the set “literally was picture perfect.”
