Mad Men at PaleyFest LA 2014: Full Conversation

you I'm Mike Schneider the LA bureau chief of TV Guide magazine and this is Mad Men at the PaleyFest we're here at the Dolby theater here in Los Angeles California which if you haven't been here it's kind of like Detroit with palm trees so you guys get that let's introduce our panelists now we've got a great one for you first up her calendars full you recently saw her on flowers in the attic on lifetime but of course she plays Sally Draper miss Kiernan Shipka all right next up everyone sing along with me zou Bisou Bisou you've seen her in Hot Tub Time Machine and Jack and Bobby and of course she plays Megan Draper miss Jessica hooray earlier we saw this amazing clip of mr. Robert Morris how great was that I mean this is a guy his credits go from great movies like the the proud and the profane the loved one a guide for the married man he's been an Alfred Hitchcock Presents love American style so much through the years he's a Tony winner and of course he plays Bertram Cooper on madmen mr. Robert Morse [Applause] next up as she's said in the past one day you're on top of the world to the next some secretaries running you over with a lawnmower you've seen her on shows like ER and Firefly and life she plays Joan Harris on Mad Men Christina Hendricks [Applause] next up her name is Peggy Olson and she wants to smoke some marijuana she just won a Golden Globe for top of the lake you know her from West Wing but of course you especially know where as Peggy Olsen Miss Elizabeth moss all right I need your help on this one how you doing thank you thank you thank you sir right there you've seen her you've seen him rather on Angel he does a voice on axe cop and of course he plays Pete Campbell on Mad Men mr. Vincent Kartheiser [Applause] and finally he doesn't talk for long stretches but then he's incredibly eloquent you you know him from Children's Hospital 30 rock and the unit but of course you really know him as Don Draper mr. John Pam well thanks guys for coming it's PaleyFest it's Mad Men and we're just a couple weeks away from Season seven though the final season of Mad Men and you you guys are about to go back to work in a couple of weeks a couple of days to start shooting those last few episodes last seven next Friday which from today will start shooting and then by the way thank you all for coming it is impressive to see this many people this far in and thank you so very much well talk about where where are you emotionally in terms of going back and doing these final episodes is it hitting us yet that this is it or IIIi don't know and I certainly can't speak for everyone but I think that it's it's we're in some phase of grief at this point it's probably denial yeah and and because we are I think collectively starting to realize that the end is is coming rather faster than we thought it was and there's no there's nothing you can do to prepare for it it just is so I think that's going to be at least my operating agenda is just have as much fun as we've always had making the show until we can't make it anymore and that will be emotional but it's inevitable and saying goodbye and saying and it's saying goodbye to people as part of life and then we have to do that and and it's it's been amazing to have as much experience with this kind of thing to have the actual final goodbye mean as much as it no doubt will Elizabeth what what's it like for you so far big are you starting to think about this are you starting to plan for what that's going to be like when you wrap for the last time yeah I think when we started the last 14 we all sort of felt like it was very normal and we were just shooting the show and trying to make it as good as we could and and I think now that we're approaching the last seven you know seven episodes goes by really fast for us and so I think there's definitely a I was texting Matt and I was like I'm starting to feel like the boulder in my chest you know it just it's definitely starting to sink in that we're gonna have to say goodbye to not only this work and our characters but you know this sort of family I don't plan on seeing any of these people since many more sort of panels and get-togethers in the future what about you how you feeling what's uh me Robert Cristina I probably started being emotional earlier than everyone I sort of think about it a lot and and it's gonna it's gonna be hard for me I'm already grieving and you you try to prepare yourself but you have no idea because I've never had an experience like this so I'm just bracing myself and I think we're all sort of savoring every last second and and really appreciating every moment well Robert let me ask you I mean you've had such a storied career that that spans a long period of time I mean what is madmen meant to you well ending ending madmen is difficult everybody in this audience probably has to end things and go on to other stuff or wonder what they will go on so there's an empty feeling because you're used to seven years of being together and doing the best you can and all of a sudden it's over and you sort of walk around the house and put the Celtics game on and you're not going to go to work next Tuesday or whenever the next season is or there's only the seventh year seventh year of the shuttle so unless we can change his mind and everybody here we're going to miss it I know it's an empty feeling and it's something we all have to adjust you and it's something that happens in life and yet you grapple with it you go on Jessica how you feeling about sort of coming toward the end having to having joined the show midway through but you're quickly sort of incorporated in as a part of this family yeah it's terrible horrible I don't want it to ever be over I mean I think that it's it's a privilege to be able to tell the end of the story I think that for storytellers you know you want to be able to articulate at the beginning the the middle and the end and and it's a luxury that not many other TV shows cut so I think that's a privilege and I also feel very fortunate to still be a part of it and that I that I get to see it out but I also I think I cry every day [Laughter] about doing this panel well I know we're not there are no spoilers here but so I have no idea if you're still on the show maybe I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks none of us are first not answer of the night here then you grew up on this show yeah so what's that been like sort of you know as America has watched you grow up and how is this sort of sort of impacted you and what's that gonna be like to no longer be on the set I mean I've been on the show longer than I have so weird think about but it's true so ask your life on bad man yeah yeah so it's I mean it's been like the best experience ever I've had so much fun so for it to be ending and like to not know what Sally's gonna be up to anymore sad Oh Finn said I saved you for last since you asked me specifically not to ask you any questions help you out you know that's what I do on the helper what's it gonna be like for you when you don't have Mad Men to go to everyday I'll find out I don't know I don't know I'm scared I'm scared I hope that's something to go to I'm gonna miss these guys they're pretty all right thanks Vinnie pretty alright hug it out hug it out John let's talk about Don Draper and 1968 and I feel the love there you go you guys just want a hug now we'll save it okay Don Draper 1968 I mean this this was this was a rough year for him I mean in the season opener we saw him reading Dante's Inferno and we proceeded to see him basically drop into hell I mean this was the closest to hell I think he's probably experienced up to Sally walking in on him not easy sorry about that what what do you make of his downward spiral and and has he did did he hit bottom I mean there's there's some hope at the end of that that final episode well I think we've obviously seen Don have have personal struggles in various parts of his life over over the course of the show he's had a marriage fall apart he's had trouble with his kids and his ex-wife and but the one constant that I feel has always been there for Don is that it has always been the one thing that he could go back to even in episode the last time we saw Don get pretty dark was it was with season four where where his marriage to Betty had broken up and in who's losing you know everything moving in an apartment living in a different place drinking too much and and the only place he could go you know sort of culminated in the suitcase episode with where he and Peggy kind of work everything out over the course of a long evening was work he had work could always go to work and that was always still good and now at the end of season six we see that not only is its marriage in trouble this his relationship with his kids is tricky at best and now work is not there and I think that's a that's gonna be a big hurdle for him to have to get over somehow but it's a challenge and it's and if there's one overriding principle of Don is that he's a survivor and and generally rises to challenges so you know he keeps making the same mistakes though it seems don't we all true mm-hmm what talk talk about that Hershey bar scene that was that was pretty incredible I mean that's the moment where we see him drop the facade and for a second there he's he's Dick Whitman right there and yeah it's it's it's a culmination of what we saw kind of the whole season coming up too and in a way was done trying to process his his life and his place in his job and it's in his career his family and everything and it just all for whatever reason I think that was completely right and that was a completely honest moment for him of just saying like I'm gonna I'm gonna try this because maybe this will be a step in the right direction and of course it was step in the exact opposite direction but yeah it was an incredibly well-written and it was it was hard to do because it was unlike any kind of Don that we've ever seen in the office so it was it was Challenge and and it's it's a you know I think very well rendered Matt Winer has said many times that Sally seemed on in that moment with Sylvia is the worst thing that's ever happened to Don and that seems to be that moment maybe was his rock bottom well that we've seen there's a whole nother season coming but he he writes it so yeah I I that I can't a man I don't have children but I can't imagine that that would be a fun moment for anyone involved let's talk about that final scene that moment where you your character finally sort of maybe gets her dad for the first time and you guys sort of played it very very subtly I mean there was just that glance that looks so much has said in that look what was sort of going through your head at that moment I mean I sort of I got that I was really the first moment where I think Don and Sally had a real understanding like that was the moment where basically his childhood was right in front of her and she didn't know really anything about that before so it's just it was it was a beautiful thing it's one of my favorite scenes just the Judy Collins song that everything was really a fun scene and then yeah I just I mean just playing that look was it was really it was a very pivotal moment I think for for both characters yeah for sure Jessica let's let's talk about Megan's relationship with Don you know obviously she she wants something from Don Don wants something from her very different though I mean Don wants her to be pregnant and be okay with him philandering and and sort of you know live in his life and and they can obviously want something different what do you think she wants from Donna do you think they can ever make it work well I don't know that Don wants her to be pregnant necessarily and at home I might take issue with that - he's on the hashish I think there's the you know that it's it's a time where feminism is sort of bubbling up in the culture and and it's I think Megan takes it more sort of for granted that she can have everything that she can have a career and have a family and a husband who loves her and supports her and I think you know Don wants to be that man he wants her to have what she wants as well but it's it's not it's not an easy switch to flip you know and in terms of I think that Megan sees done in a light that no one else sees him and I think she thinks he's you know charming and funny and warm and open and sexy and and these are not the ways but like people in the office see him and maybe it's nice but I prefer to think of it as optimistic I mentioned the the hashish episode where there's a lot of stuff going on and that sort of triggered this crazy internet rumor or discussion that maybe Megan was actually dead maybe this was a ghost maybe there was a little sixth sense going on do you you guys remember this this was a big rumor for a while that maybe she was even involved in some sort of Sharon Tate storyline you guys remember this yeah you remember this what did you make of that and do you do you pay attention to what people write on the internet and did you think that was just bother me I don't I just as far as the show goes I pay attention to the writing of our writers because they generally know yeah that said I haven't I don't know what's gonna happen with the end of the season so maybe Meaghan is maybe we're all dead guys get the internet started do not toy with the other Elisabeth Moss let's talk about this real quick can you guys one more shot of that so you've been the star of Mad Men all along I did write that obviously it's gonna say Jon Hamm has very nice things to say about you in this article yes let's interesting year for Peggy you know and some great lines I mean the line that basically you know what that she says to Tennessee at the end of that episode you know must be nice to have choices I mean Peggy this year everyone was making decisions for her except Peggy but there is that great final moment where she's sitting in Don's chair the camera turns and it's that Don Draper sort of back shadow look is is is this maybe a turning point for Peggy do you think she's finally maybe a little more in control of her own destiny or I mean I think that her story it's look I can look back on it now I think her story is one of finding out who she is and I think that her battle all along has been trying to figure out should she be Dawn should she be Joan should she be someone's wife she should be someone's mother and I think that she's I don't know that she's figured it out yet but I think she's finally asking the right question which is just you know Who am I and happen and I think she's starting to realize that she has strengths that are actually going to get her where she wants to go and that's something that she shouldn't run away from and I think that that's the story of you know women in the workplace at that time that they weren't necessarily and I you know I think the the beginning they were like should we should we be more like the boys you know what's our role here and I think that she's finally figuring out my role is actually as a woman and as Who I am as Peggy and and I think that that is you know kind of you know looking back I think that's become her story I don't think that she's necessarily figured it out yet by the end of season six but I think that she's starting to maybe ask the right questions do you do you think she would have been happy with Ted or do you think not even married this is true Ted probably would have never left his wife I mean you know I think that you know she's an optimistic person you know she is a person who believes the best in people and she's young and she believes in love and I think that she fell in love and and that's all should all that she saw and I don't think that necessarily even Ted misled her I think that he thought that maybe he was going to leave his wife but that's the way you know crumbles cookie wise and I love that I didn't write that that's from the apartment but I think that you know that line that she has that great line at the end and at the end of season six she says how I know how nice for you to have choices or whatever it is it's it just sums it all up you know it sums up the story of women you know at that time you did get to stab your boyfriend this season yeah I have a couple claps out there Christina let's talk about Joan this season some serious Joan fans out there does she I mean she's kind of felt undervalued and underappreciated there at Sterling Cooper and and she's the feeling though it wasn't the reality what do you make of sort of Joan's sort of status there and and sort of you know as she tries to sort of be more a part of the action and and you know we saw her a couple times trying to you know what they Yvonne for example what what can Joan do and and do you think she's still kind of finding her place she's absolutely finding her place she has a new title the way she got there is so you know she's she's engaging her situation and also having to be incredibly proactive herself she knows that someone's not just gonna turn and go WOW your partner great we trust everything you say and and here's a great bit of work to do that's never happened for her so she's making it happen on her own and and treading carefully but also showing sort of her feelings and emotions about it towards other people in the workplace a bit more and you know sort of seeing her own talents gauging gauging where her strengths are and at the end of the season she opens the door for Roger to at least have relationship with with the kid that that relationships always been interesting between Joan and Roger do you do you think she's managed to find a balance or is that just going to be a whole new complicated morass I think ultimately Joan is a protector and a nurturer and so I think she's been trying to figure out the best way to take care of her son many of the decisions that she's made in the last couple seasons have been to take care of him and to protect her family and and and sort of fiercely protect them so you know Roger secretary and says he's down and these sort of things and she you know has deep feelings in a lot of history with him and and I think she's you know considered what's best for my son and can I can I open this up to a more modern situation can we figure this out and it's just opening the door so we don't know where that will lead but it's keeping an open mind to the possibilities of that let's talk about Joan and Peggy for a second we got some Joan and Peggy shippers out there we don't see you too often enough in scenes but when we do there's something there's some magic and in sort of this this complicated you to the two characters can be so cold to each other but at the same time ultimately they've got each other's backs what's that talk about working together in those scenes and what that must be like in sort of playing these two characters in this complicated time for both these powerful women you know trying to you know make their way through this male-dominated world yeah I mean I it's always there always somewhere my favorite seems to do and it's true that we don't get them very often but I think that somehow makes them really special when they happen there's sort of these two planets orbiting each other and in the office and they just you know the collide on big events I think that they're two very different women and they're both very strong and powerful that's what's interesting there's not you know Jonas it's always been sort of the more dominating force you know she's always gonna be smarter than Becky she's always gonna be a little bit more on top of things than Peggy but she has a respect for the past that Peggy's taken and I think that Peggy you know is that and and I think that you know they've kind of come to terms on the sort of equal ground now and it Matt always said that you know they were never gonna be roommates they were never gonna be Laverne and Shirley you know [Laughter] exactly although you'd watch it you know they're not never they're never gonna be necessarily friends it's it's a different relationship but it's a it's a very strong and interesting one and I think it's very common for many women especially in the workplace I think Leslie's saying that the key word for me is that they respect one another and you know in the beginning of the series you saw Joan telling everyone what to do and I know best trust me and and the secretaries did what she said and this was the first person who was like wow actually I think I'm gonna try it this way and I kept seeing her succeed and so I had to start believing her and and I think she Peggy helps change Joan's strategy she sees how hard she works and that it the results are climbing the ladder and success and acknowledgement and I certainly think that's affected how Joan's proceeded in the last couple seasons now she's become a teacher in many ways Joan probably wouldn't admit it but Vincent let's talk about Pete Campbell this has been quite a year you ruined your life Pete Campbell good job wait what what it was a rough year for Pete Campbell you know what you're isn't yeah what do you make of it I mean he kind of blew things up but there's there's this escape route now he's going to LA so there's an opportunity for him to remake himself but was was I mean obviously he was his own worst enemy would you say I mean talk about sort of Pete's journey this year and what it took for him to realize that he had really messed things up well I think the big thing that's happened for Pete is that the one thing that was always consistent was Trudy and she's had enough and you know Pete doesn't have a lot of friends you know we're really any friends he thought he had a friend in [Music] Bob [Laughter] you know but I think I don't think his mother passing was as it wasn't as big of a isolating moment in his life as much as Trudi reaching her point of you know fed-up adness if you will and he did it to himself of course she allowed him certain and certain things but he people one of those guys who kind of is always sticking his his toes in the mud you know he can't help but get get a little bit dirty and it's just always he always seems to pay for it well it doesn't really get away with him the scene with Trudi where he says to her you know I didn't expect this to end up this way and she says well now you know and and Pete now has this knowledge that he didn't before it may be and sort of you know how he operates what he should do and what he shouldn't do is that do you think that's a good thing do you think that informs maybe what Pete can now do going forward well I think the thing that we find at least I found in my own life is that you can have that knowledge and yet make the same mistake anyways um and I think Pete has had some growth in his life I don't think he's you know I don't think he's like this character that is stuck in one place and just kind of insanely repeating the exact same thing [Laughter] well Pete Pete's always kind of wanted to be Don Draper he's always sort of but what's happening with Don Draper is that you know everyone wanted to be Don Draper season one and slowly but surely less and less people do heavy is the head that wears the crown I didn't right yeah I've gotten off course somehow but that being said Pizza yeah he's in deep [ __ ] right now well you uh you mentioned Bob Benson let's let's talk about him for a second that was sort of the enigma the entire season what did you guys make of the I mean did you pay attention to just the phenomenon out there where everyone wanted to know just what is Bob Benson we finally figured it out at the end but did you early on have your own theories or did you sort of pay attention to everyone with their crazy radical theories out there I think it just goes to show and it kind of highlights what you're talking about with the sort of Megan Sharon Tate mystery as well but like the way the show doles out information and tells the story is is is very oblique sometimes and when it's when that is the case I think people if they're invested in the show are invested in the characters tend to start trying to fill in blanks and trying to well what if it's this this this this this in a in an attempt to get ahead of the story for some for whatever reason but what it really means is people are engaged in what we're doing engaged in the narrative and so from that respect you know we meet Bob in the first episode of last season and I don't even know who he is but who are you like who is this guy two coffees and like a lot of words and and it kind of carries it kind of carries it through the season and but yeah it's it's what it mainly is is a tremendous compliment to us as the people that are making the show and that people want to need to know that information yeah yeah and now as we know he's working to have Robin Williams ad for yeah so it's doing okay from if anybody hasn't seen it by the way you all need to go on YouTube someone cut together a an intro to the sets of the theme music from this Robert Guillaume show Benson that is basically like if if Mad Men was a sitcom this would be our it's 45 seconds of your life and then you're gonna watch it ten more times amazing who's Krauss Robert yes let's talk about Bert and as the per the decade has progressed and society has changed the world's changed advertising has changed where does that leave bird how is how did how has he adjusted to all the changes in the world well I think he's adjusted real well one of the major things that I am very grateful for as someone who was in this cast and becomes a Bertram Cooper is and I think we all feel this is the brilliant writing and producing and directing of Matt and the crew to put this together because a lot of us or I can only speak for myself do not know exactly what it's going to look like when it gets on the screen I mean sometimes and sometimes there are things that we go oh my god what a moment but while we're filming it sometimes we don't think of it as a moment we might think of it as oh my god damn lying I my next line is the order the bar Kevin is wish should I movement it so there are moments in this show that the artistic people who write and produce and direct in the masculine at all they make such wonderful things happen now I mean just watching this show tonight it's unbelievable I mean it is unbelievable I mean I sat over there and then I sat backstage I didn't want to leave they were pulling me saying come on get in line I just know I got to see this and I want to say no no it's serious it is absolutely it is phenomenal you know we talk about moments sometimes actors don't know what a moment is and sometimes actors don't want to know what a moment is I've known people that have come up to me during the years and said ah that moment when you picked up that thing and walked over to there and did this I said really they said oh it was so touching brilliant and wonderful I when I did the next night I tried to do the same thing and I never got it again because someone told me about the moment so you never want to know but all of a sudden but to it you know you and and dawn that last scene everybody has a different idea of what the meaning is but it is touching it makes you cry there's something about it but to it fully explained it we'd all we have our own opinions of it but it's the people that write it and put it together and the actors that stand there and all of a sudden you see it and go oh my god who thought of this who thought of making that scene at finding that house and Dawn and you know it's unbelievable so I so to explain how Bertram where he goes you know I I get a script all you got to do is say the words say I'm loud and clear and some days you do and some days you don't and of course there's other things that go into it but I think in all humility it is the writers and the producers and the directors and the talent on this stage that all puts it together and then when we see it we go oh my god did I do that whiner I think we have Mad Men fan number one right here on the stage mr. Robert Morris for all you guys first off matt said he said in interviews in the past that he figured out the finale what the finales going to look like between seasons four and five do any of you know you don't obviously aren't gonna tell me what it is but does anyway between season four and five he locked in what the end is gonna be really where it's bad do any of you know you know obviously you're not going to tell us what it is but I know are you excited to find out to know what the end is I think some of us know what our characters where they're gonna be I don't think any of us have any idea what the scope or look or tone or vibe of the whole will be and I think that's probably been consistent through the majority of the show that will tell us certain things are kind of ask us certain things about what's going on with our characters and somehow that will inform something somewhere down the road but between four and five makes sense because I think that was right around when we knew we would have a definitive end of the show I mean there were there were after we shot the pilot we were like well that was fun I'll never see you guys again and and it won't get picked up like 999 percent of pilots and we had fun but that was that at the end of season one took a long time to get picked up we didn't know we'd overcome there's a writer's strike we didn't know what's happening season two the same thing it's all this you know kind of drama around if and when but mostly if the show would come back and then once you know season 4 season 5 happen I think that we realized that we would have a definitive end and I think that that's must be an incredible gift for a writer to know that you have okay I've got X amount of episodes left to fill up a story and I know that I have to get to the finish line by by this number and so you can write to that and I think that that's what without putting words into his mouth because he [ __ ] puts enough in the moon that photo is going to be across the internet tonight you're a producer on the show as well so [Music] one representative of the PGA's has your role as a producer evolved over the years or sort of what what what what do you get to do extras not not especially I wouldn't say it's evolved I think it was basically just giving a name to the to the function that I serve outside of my function as acting on the show which was kind of a sounding board and I mean I'm just there all the time so it's it's it's kind of effective to have someone there that's you know knows you know significantly more about the day-to-day operations of the show but it has I don't I don't sit in on meetings that I'm if I'm only if I'm directing do I sit in on meetings no basically it's a nice it's a nice title to have and it's nice to be considered in that aspect but I'm not I'm not having to call the Teamsters and deal with something they're super fun to talk to the stories let's talk about you guys on set because one of the interesting things actually in this article besides the fact that we learned that Elizabeth moss is the true star of Mad Men is that it's out now it's on Stan's now I don't know why I'm selling New York magazine it sounds like you guys have a lot of fun on set that you've got this base camp and and apparently Elizabeth you're the president and and John is the sergeant-at-arms which what what does that mean by the way we do but the thing is is we've always had that like it's obviously as the years have gone on and we've had more stability we've been able to sort of spread out a little bit but we've always moved what's happening I just got fired one of you will not be on season seven so we you know when when we were making the pilot we would hang out and the boys all became friends and would go out together and when we were shooting season one we had a little table and folding chairs and then we got it a picnic table and then a little up with him got a little umbrella and and we went hang out and we would talk and and then so it's always sort of been this camaraderie and we like to hang out together and and we like to be at work it's crazy but we love it there and we love we were very very lucky you know we have the dream which is loving what you do and loving being there it sounds like the the hippest bar in all of the downtown town LA you know at the madman can see we've got a question from a fan watching on the PaleyFest app AL assalamu that's their handle alasa llama we've got your question asked madman is known for having a lot of silences how challenging is it to convey things via silence rather than dialogue what's to grab that John you want to grab that what oh we're doing this we're doing this [Applause] [Laughter] you're not gonna win you're not gonna win just kiss him I just can't this is the story I'm going to tell for years so now I want a staring contest with Jon Hamm it's happening [Applause] all right good night everyone [Applause] alright alright do you want me to stop guys they don't know all right we're gonna take some audience questions now we're take some audience questions now so if you have a question wait for the microphone and then when I call on you let's ask some questions we've got some mics all over so start raising some hands let's get some questions for this cast I know we just three for a loop here but red shirt in the back I beat Jon Hamm in a staring contest yes sir so much commitment from all of you on the show I could say beautiful things about all you but my favorite thing in the last few years is the fact Vincent's been shaving portions of his and was that just a personal choice you want to make with your character and how far are you gonna take it are we gonna see you totally bald by the end of the show or what I don't know how far we're gonna take it I do know we can't take it much further my makeup and hair regimen has gone from being 15 minutes to an hour and 45 my friend this is not fun no you know it's uh it was an idea of Matt and I I like it it's it's not like you know it's a physical thing but it plays into his his his psyche and his aging process and it's fun just to just to do it every day cuz I can I really feel like I'm transforming even more you know that's the fun part and also you know just having a bald head is kind of fun mm-hmm nice I don't know how to answer that but I tried oh good good enough more questions right there in the front bit of the black shirt yes you man with the glasses is there any chance that we will see Sal anymore [Applause] well he's not dead as far as I know I haven't run into in a while but it's what we do do with the characters we they all still work in New York and you run into people we saw it a little bit I think it was season two or three with with Don running into Rachel Menken sort of surprisingly and we do have these people that blow in and out of our characters lives so I certainly wouldn't rule it out I it's not up to me but we've we've always been good as a show at keeping that universe very real got a watch next up how about you sir right there at the end I'm curious if any of you have had any dreams involving your characters or any of the other characters [Laughter] I once had a dream that Pete camel was looking in a window at me that's true I did kick me out the camera looks really creepy anybody I don't think so I dream of John dream I knew Erica dreams of John we're gonna see all right more questions how about from up here yes sir right there the glasses in the black shirt hi I had a question with respect to the wardrobe and production design about your relationship with Janie Bryant and how she does such amazing foreshadowing through the Wardrobe and the production that is the same thing what's your relationship like with her and what's that like well it's a part of one of the most amazing experiences and directing the show was to getting getting involved in how much work goes on before we start shooting and you mention production design we are constantly running up right up to the very end building sets designing sets decorating the sets and painting all this stuff is constantly happening from two weeks before we start the show till right up to the very end and Janie puts as much forethought and work into all that as well we all of us go through constant fittings and changes in this and that and alterations and all this stuff most of these most of the Wardrobe that we wear is is rented it's it's from costume shops but Janie does make a lot of that stuff too by hand and it's impressive so it's it's a you know they're all incredibly talented artisans and craftspeople and and artists that put every bit of their art onto the screen and I mean the girls have it a little harder come from a costuming standpoint but but it's I we love Janie we love our whole our whole art department fantastic Elizabeth I mean Peggy's wardrobe has really sort of gone through a transformation especially this past year we saw a lot of things that we hadn't seen her in before you just saw that she had boobs for the first time very surprising I was Miss a pantsuit I was good I was folks I was being a gentleman and they get pants ya know I I mean I think that's a lot of by virtue of our age you know she starts out at the showed 20 and you change a lot in your 20s and you try different things and you try different styles and she starts to make more money and she starts to sort of advance in the world and have a slightly tiny bit more sense of fashion and I think so I think it's it's you know her just kind of growing up and you know and learning where her place is in this in this office you know because she you know she can't pull off what this one pulls off and you know and she's not Betty and and so I think that she's finding her own way she's a woman in the workplace alright more questions okay you guys are finally getting over your shyness yes sir right here at the glasses what was the casting process like did any of you audition for other roles in the show or did you ever think you weren't gonna get the role that you got turnin it was just a couple auditions for me like maybe three and sort of doing pilot season and I was so excited when I got it I was I was doing like a spoof for Jimmy Kimmel like I was driving down the parking lot because I used to do those like spoof things and then got the call I just remember screaming that's it's my experience Jessica what was it like for you join a show that was already in progress and you had a different experience from from everyone else and sort of knowing what you were yeah I did I mean it was it obviously all that much more exciting because it's such a it was such a hit show it is such a hit show and and and that much more into as well but everybody is so wonderful and they were very welcoming and and it's such a it's such a great group of people and there's so much talent so it's it's really fun it's fun to work with these guys and and you don't want to be the they hole that drops the ball so gotta get it together yes green shirt over here so our Betty and Don giving back together here you just had to ask [Applause] probably not that's one spoiler you can give away all right how about over here and there great jacket I remember watching the very first episode and I was so intrigued by the very contemporary graphics of Don falling through the air and the very contemporary take on these all bossy and graphics but I viewed it as a periscope looking back at Madison Avenue in the 60s and I was wondering if you've ever met any of the people who actually were there at the time and what they think of the stories and your portrayals he met me funny enough season 1 there was a New York New Yorker magazine that had a review of Bobby and Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and it was a range we I think bunch of us have met people from the from the era and they generally fall into two distinct categories people that were like none of that happened like that you guys are crazy and the other half is like yep all of that happened so maybe maybe half the people just didn't get invited to the party all right up here yes the woman standing up in the black hi this questions for Sally Draper we've seen you develop throughout the seasons and in the season six finale we hear betty express that she comes from a broken home what are your thoughts on your parents behavior and how do you feel like it will affect Sally's character in the future it certainly affected her for sure I mean just when her parents told her that they were getting separated you could obviously how much it affected her emotionally I think in a lot of senses it it made her really strong I mean she handled it better than I would have I mean she handled it really really great actually so um yeah overall I mean I think it's just it's a part of her now I mean that happened in her life and it's definitely made her a different person I think you know since Megan came along and just a lot of different things have happened because of her parents divorce I mean she's definitely in a different life place because of it there's no doubt about that all right we've got time for a couple more questions I've been neglecting up here so let's get a few more from our parent yeah that your hand what long hair yeah you you're aggressive I like that so go for it so when you guys are like at work for so long do you ever like when you go home think of yourself like in your character like I'm gonna make some breakfast that like John would want or like do you ever like think like like thinking as your character or does that happen Jon Hamm do you like old fashions particularly laughs I think we're all pretty pretty good at leaving work at work thank God yeah you emulating Don Draper would not be a go all right a couple more the woman way in the back with her hand up yeah hello I really love the show you guys are amazing I've been watching since the beginning and I just want to know is there gonna be more of Joan's personal life on the show because it's too many men but I know it's called Mad Men but I want to see a little bit more of Joan obviously we don't want to reveal anything because we want you to be excited and watch but I think that's one of the fun things about about the character of jonna's you you do get to see sort of her in the office and who that person is and when she's at home a very sort of different person and it's been very fun for for me to do as an accurate but you know you'll have to watch to see exactly have you what what's gonna be there I know Matt Winer has had no spin offs but if any of you ever thought like this would make a great spin-off you know young dick dick Whitman's whorehouse chronicles maybe [Laughter] we are doing like a Peggy John that's happening I would so watch that I think we have time for one more question one more two more questions all right good okay back there with the black hair in your hand up this being the last season for Mad Men I just wanted to know what the most memorable moment was for all of you as a cast member it's a good way to kind of end things if you want to go down and maybe so far your your favorite moment or sort of either for your character or from the show for me it's a probably the first day we started shooting the the knee trembling abject terror of taking this from the theoretical realm into the actual realm and having to say all of these words that I've been thinking about practicing and rehearsing with for however many weeks the first day and meeting all of these people for the most part and seeing this set and seeing all of this stuff come together and being at the center of it and being terrified and exhilarated and and all of that all at once that that never gets old but it was it was pretty great then and especially in retrospect when when you see the impact that the show had again this was a pilot that we did for a network that had never produced anything original they've literally just ran old movies and so it was a big it was a big gamble and we all knew that part of it but we also also knew that we all found this material something special so that was probably one of the best one of the best moments for me Vinnie well John [Music] yeah I mean there's trying to be funny right now there's there's a lot there's so many amazing moments personally and all those I guess I'll pick one for me as Pete my it was season 1 and up until this point the character had been kind of cocky and just very strong and know-it-all and even though he didn't know anything but there was that scene where I chase you down after I've threatened to tell on you basically and I'm chasing you through the the office and I just the desperation of the character started to kind of sneak out from underneath its its shell and it was the first of many kind of layers that I've had the pleasure of you know trying to portray this is less so are your time you know checked out [Applause] more this is more of a I guess a personal moment than a scene but um remember I don't know if Matt remembers this but remember when we shot the pilot at Silvercup Inn in New York and we were standing on the roof and looking at the skyline and the Sun had just set and we were looking at the skyline and remember just we were standing there we just sort of looked at each other and we were like well that was really wonderful and I really hope that we get to come back and and do it again and I hope we get to do more and I I really enjoyed that and it was just this really simple honest moment and I you know eight nine years later I look back on that with a lot of fondness it's a very special moment for me so I guess the first thing that popped into my head was when I received the script in season 1 for episode number 5 called Babylon and it was it was the first time that I sort of had the storyline that was sort of a bigger story line and was revealing some things about Joan that I didn't know about her yet and she was doing stuff that I would never do and I went oh my god that's gonna be so much fun and I just I started to get to know her and I was just so excited and so tickled and I I learned every line the very first day I got it and I went over and over and I was just it I just remember that feeling and it was really special and exciting yeah I think it was in her dressing room [Laughter] [Applause] no actually Vincent Vincent Kartheiser touched on it when he was he ran into my office when Don was there and it was one of my I loved this moment and he said he's a fraud Don is a fraud he shouldn't be here you know who he really is and good I done get rid of him and I remember I was told to go slowly by the desk and it's not gonna be a big moment here but to me it was go by the desk can look at right in his face and a who cares [Music] [Applause] and then dawn said fire of if you want no I said fire he never got fired and he's my best friend [Laughter] well there's so many memorable moments obviously but the one that I that I will tell you is because it was a one that dovetailed so nicely with with my characters moment in that episode was the finale of season 4 when dawn proposed to Meghan and I didn't know what was gonna happen so Ellen who's here please play your Scrabble move she came in she popped master and she came in and she was like I don't know how to do this but I need to measure your ring finger and I was like she was like putting the ring on my finger and I was like dear Ninh in in season three episodes three and four were probably like some of my favorite episodes for Sally and episode three like her grandfather visits and there is this moment where she was eating an ice cream with her grandfather and he basically told her that she could do anything and she had never really heard that before so I think that was a really pivotal moment for her character and I think that still affects her now in the show and then in she's in three Episode four he passes away and that was one of the more emotional things I had ever done and I mean I really enjoyed doing it and as an actor that's like a standout moment for me so probably those two for different reasons actually got time for another question so raise your hand now's your chance ask the cast see how happen we hit yet want to get group okay right in the front in the flower dress this is for mr. Morris [Laughter] after the show is over will you go back to song and dance I'm gonna go what when the show is over will you go back to Sonic song and now go back to Broadway oh no I don't think so no I don't think so III have trouble walking off this stage at my age eight shows a week is probably something I couldn't do but call [Applause] you know one quick thought that nobody's hurt but Woody Allen was asked the same thing and they said well we'll give you 40 thousand dollars a week if you come back and he says hold the line I'll put mr. Allen on the phone so that's how I feel I'll I'll always say no I say no a lot and I shouldn't do that so much I should listen little and maybe say I'll put mr demoys on the phone I'll be there yes so maybe the Bertram musical is the spin-off this would be a great venue to rock well guys Mad Men returns to AMC on Sunday April 13 at 10:00 9:00 central thank you to the casts the crowd loves you you

Channel: The Paley Center for Media

Views: 118,885

Keywords: Paley Center for Media, Paley Center, PaleyFest LA 2014, AMC, Drama, Mike Schneider, Matthew Weiner, Jon Hamm, Don Draper, Christina Hendricks, Joan Harris, Elisabeth Moss, Peggy Olson, Robert Morse, Bertram Cooper, Vincent Kartheiser, Pete Campbell, Jessica Pare, Megan Draper, Kiernan Shipka, Sally Draper, Advertising, Ads, Executives, Madison Avenue, NYC, Sixties, Ambience, Costumes, Women Workers, Progress, Office Romances, Women At Work

Id: Fj_cZqeDDIU

Length: 68min 26sec (4106 seconds)

Published: Tue May 19 2020