Transcript of Jon Hamm New

Wer UVA sagt, muss auch UVB sagen. OIBOS Daily Ray Protect sagt zu beiden nein. Mit LSF 50+ bewahrt es Ihr Gesicht 365 Tage vor UVA- und UVB-Strahlung. Beugt wirksam lichtbedingter Hautalterung und Pigmentflecken vor. Der tägliche Begleiter für maximalen Sonnenschutz. Daily Ray Protect. In Ihrer Apotheke und auf oibos.de. DEBORAH] Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We have our old, dear, wonderful friend Jon Hamm joining us today, and we are so excited to have Hambones here today. We are gonna talk about so much good stuff. We're gonna talk about auditioning. We're gonna talk about the best position in baseball. We're gonna talk about Bad Bunny. We're gonna talk about what he thinks Don Draper would be doing now. And we're gonna talk about, uh, season 2 of his hit series, Succession. Hit Apple show, Your Friends and Neighbors. John is just such a dear tenderoni underneath all that Superman muscle. And, um, so we're gonna get into it today, but we're gonna start, um, our episodes like we always do by talking to somebody who knows John. And, uh, we've got a great one today. We have Roger Sterling himself, John Slattery, an incredible actor, director, writer, wonderful person who is like kind of one of John's chosen brothers.

So let's see what he has to say. Um, and get him on Zoom. Hi, Slattery! This episode is presented by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking that the fake roast chicken is, in fact, a fake roast chicken before chomping into a wing? Rookie mistake. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

Wow.

Well, we're doing it. Slattery, I'm gonna talk to Ham about this, but I just finished a Mad Men rewatch, by the way.

Whoa. Wow.

How long did that take you?

Couple months. God, Roger Sterling is such an incredible character. Such a complicated guy that you just cannot help but love. And half the time you're like, "Why do I love this guy?" Although, I mean, not just him, I think—

Everybody had, despite their wrongheadedness or whatever moment, like just when you thought, "Well, this is just somebody who thinks like this," they'd do something incredibly human or funny or touching or whatever. I mean, he's, you know, that thing. All those characters had that.

Okay. So, did you and Hamm know each other before you worked on Mad Men?

Mm-mm.

So, you met when?

I auditioned for his part. And they said— and I remember calling— I called my agent back and was like, "Are you sure this is the part?" 'Cause, you know, I was beyond that age. And they were like, "That's what they want." So, I did all my homework and went in and read. And then Matt and Alan Taylor were there. And then they said, "Okay, so here's the thing. We already have this guy." And I said, "Excuse me?" And they said, "Well, your part isn't really visible so much in the first— episode. So there wasn't much for you to read. We didn't think you'd come in. And, um, I was a little like, and then, you know, he said, but I promise you this will be a great part. So then I met him and I was like, oh shit, you know, well, they certainly do have that guy. Like, I realized, you know, oh, that's what that guy looks like, of course.

Yeah.

And then day one, he just sent me a picture the other night, two nights ago, of the— of his TV, some— wherever he was, And it was him at the desk and me sitting across with a drink. And I said, and I could tell from the suit and like my hair was diff something. And I said, is that day one? And he said, yeah.

No way.

Yeah.

I mean, what's so satisfying about your relationship from afar is that the relationship you had on the show felt very brotherly. It really felt like big brother, little brother energy. And if, and Is your relationship like that too? It feels like it.

I think our relationship is more sort of equal. Like, our age doesn't really come into it so much. And also, he's such a competent person. It isn't like I have anything to teach him. It's often the other way. I was thinking about, like, "Well, what would I ask him?" And it was, um, "Who does he look to for answers?" 'Cause sometimes I actually think, "What would Ham do?" in a certain situation or whatever, 'cause he just is good at most everything he puts his hand to, and smart and accomplished, all that stuff. And he kind of— So our relationship was more just kind of brotherly, but not like an older-younger, like it is in the show.

What do you think makes John so competent? In your words, like so good at so many things?

You know, you have to be smart emotionally to be that funny. And as you know, you have to be observant, and you have to listen, and you have to— So, all that stuff goes into being good at very different things. I mean, he's— It makes sense that he's as good at drama as he is at comedy because it's something that he's paid attention to. For a long time. I mean, when I was a kid, I couldn't— I would stand in front of the television. I wouldn't even sit down. I would just stand there with the clicker and go from Oscar Madison to Derek Jacobi to, you know, just get a chunk and then click and go to get another one and see what I just get. A piece of this and a piece of that. When it got slow or commercial, I'd go off to some other, you know, just like just to you know, a sieve open, just, just wanting to— I don't know why, I don't know what it was, but I just like wanting to, to absorb everything.

Wow, that's such an interesting and true observation, is that when I watch TV, I watched it like what I imagine athletes do when they watch sports, where they're watching for, you know, same. I watched performances unconsciously or subconsciously to get an idea of how to do it.

My mother was a big movie fan. My dad was too, but my mother would— she'd go, come in here, if you watch this. And I'd have my coat on, on my way out. I was like in high school or whatever. And she'd go, you come and watch, you have to watch this. And I— Sunset Boulevard or whatever, some— and I go, like, I have to go. And she'd go, just 5 minutes, just watch. And then An hour and 20 minutes later, I'd be sitting on the couch with my coat on next to her watching the movie. I said, "I watched at her funeral. I was sick. I watched more movies with my coat on because I was sucked in." Yeah.

Yeah. Well, Slattery, I love seeing you. I'm—

You too.

I hope we get to hang out in some real way again. We got to be on a— We got to do a couple scenes together once on a— silly show called Wet Hot American Summer on Netflix. We got to perform together, and it was really fun. So I hope we get to do something again someday soon. Me too.

You know, I remember being so impressed that the difference between my own ability to sort of improvise and yours, which was like, "Oh, that's how— That's a person who knows how to improvise on story." Like, not just— divert and use some nugget that you have saved up or something, but that you could do stuff that had to do with the actual action of the scene. And I was just sort of— You and John Early, I was watching this thing, and I was thinking, "Man, these people are—

This is different." Well, when you don't, quote, "remember your lines," you have to— You have to have a trick. Yeah, you know, you have to, you have to be like, look over there. Well, Slattery, love you, love seeing you. Give lots of love to Talia, please give her my love.

Will do.

And, um, thank you so much for this, and I'm sure Ham will be so happy that we talked.

Have fun saying it.

All right, buddy, thank you so much. Okay, talk to you soon. Bye. All right, listen up, Ralph's, King Soopers, Harris Teeter, Food 4 Less, Kroger, and more are now on Uber Eats, and you get 40% off your order of $30 or more. Maybe you're trying a new recipe and need some last-minute ingredients, or maybe the kids made a mess and you're lower on cleaning supplies than you thought. Whatever you need, you can get it delivered in as little as 25 minutes. So order now on Uber Eats and get 40% off your order of $30 or more with code KROGER2026. Plus, Uber One members get $0 delivery fees. Orders of $30 or more save up to $25. Ends May 31st, 2026. See app for details. You look great.

Winning a Golden Globe really changed you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, I have two of them, but yeah, so do I.

Yeah, two-time Golden Globe winner. It makes the first one that much more special.

It really does.

You know what you made me— you're making me think of that I feel like we should start with immediately is that you and I started something.

Loser's Lounge? Yeah, immediately.

Loser's Lounge, baby. Welcome to— first of all, Jon Hamm is here.

Hi, guys! Hi! Oh my God. Okay, first of all, I'm so deeply, deeply happy to see you.

Same, buddy. Same.

I can't— it's been way too long. Yeah, I haven't seen you forever. Yeah, but I've been watching your podcast, as I do for, uh, all my friends. But you— I just love what you've done with The Place. And this—

it's—

I remember doing with Nick Offerman a million years ago Smart Girls at the Party, and I knew then you did that you had your finger on the pulse of something very special and cool. And I'm glad that this is the further extension of that because it makes me very happy for you.

Thank you for saying that. God, you've done so many favors for me. But you did a— You and Nick and a bunch of people did a wonderful—

I made you have a baby. That's my first one.

We have so much to talk about. I literally was not pregnant when the week started.

I know. That was crazy.

And then by the end—

That was crazy. —having a baby. Well, and also, you know what's amazing about that is that there is a physical marker of that time.

I know. And it like, we have known each other now for— we're getting up on the 20 years. 20 years, which seems crazy.

It seems impossible.

It does. Everything that I think is 10 years now is 20 years. Yeah.

Pandemic really threw a whole weird thing in that. And the '80s to us are—

the '80s to our kids are what the '20s were to us. Yeah, exactly.

They're like, oh, the Roaring '80s when everybody wore tuxedos.

But I wanna start, Jon Hamm. The last time we saw you, you were getting on a hot air balloon on this podcast.

Yes, I was on a hot air balloon. I was on a hot air balloon.

I know, you were shooting on a hot air balloon.

In medias res.

And I hope you heard both the Adam Scott and Paul Rudd episode because we talked about you a lot. And, you know, we have talked about you on this podcast and that, like, early grouping of guys. And it does feel very fun and magical to talk about it, not only because everybody was young and like just beginning, but it feels kind of wild that you all met.

Yeah, it's crazy. And it's absolutely crazy through Paul, honestly. Here's how it started.

Tell us how all the Avengers assembled. Yes, truly at this point.

Yeah.

Paul went to— Paul's an Avenger, right?

Paul is an Avenger. Ant-Man.

Okay, that's an Avenger apparently. Yeah, if you ask him. What? What? Why are you so mad? Why are you so angry? Because you have superpowers.

You got a shitty superpower, you turn into ants. What the—

come on, come on, dude, wrap it up. You did it. Grow up.

Literally, literally, Ant-Man.

The next, the next movie is Grow Up Ant-Man.

Okay, anyways, um Paul is from Kansas City, Missouri. Yeah, I am from St. Louis, Missouri. Right. Paul went to the University of Kansas. My dear friend Preston Clark was his roommate freshman year at the University of Kansas. Paul would come back with his roommate Preston to visit St. Louis for holidays, long weekends, what have you. And we— that's when we got to know one another. I was probably a senior in high school and he was a freshman in college.

So that makes sense because there is this big brother energy that Adam and Paul have with you. Where you, where you feel like their big brother. You're only— which is weird— 2 or 3 years older. No, younger.

I'm younger than Paul and older than Adam.

Oh, really?

Yeah. But Rudd gives you— also doesn't age.

And yeah, he has made a deal with the devil.

There's, there's a very terrible painting somewhere that is just really rough.

But he gives you a lot of big brother energy in the way he talks about you. It's interesting. Why do you think that?

I don't know. I don't know why. I mean, I think I've always You probably have had this experience with me too. I always represented older than I am.

Yeah, I've heard you say that.

Even when I was like a little kid, I was not a little kid, but like when I was a teenager, they were like, you're buying the beer. Is it because you look kind of old? I'm like, what? Thanks.

Is it because you were tall? Tall.

I have a deep voice. I got a beard early. Like, I was just— I don't know what it was, but it was, it was very much that. Yeah, I played all the adult roles in college, you know, like high school and college.

All the real fun dad roles.

You know, great. You should talk— I mean, like, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? When I'm like 19.

Like, you should talk to Paula Pell, who also talks about she always did the old, like, same, same thing, same energy.

There was something there. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. But anyway, so that's, that's how I met Paul. And we're talking like 1989, right? Maybe.

So you're in Missouri when you know each other. Yeah. And you— do you say to each other, "I want to be an actor." "So do I." Paul decides he wants to be an actor.

He transfers from the University of Kansas to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena.

That's where he meets Adam. Right. I see. Adam's the California kid.

California kid who came down from Santa Cruz. And then we all— then this would have been in the early '90s. I graduate college, I come out here in '94, '95, something like that. And we're all— there's this little percolating group of friends that nobody has a job.

Um, well, that's what I'm kind of— except Paul.

Paul was already famous. Like, he, he had gotten early success with whatever it was. Um, Romeo and Juliet, maybe? Yeah, Clueless. Clueless and Romeo and Juliet kind of were back to back.

But what's fascinating is you, unlike some other people who like go through a pipeline before you start working, like, you know, the— like a Juilliard Conservatory or like Second City or whatever, you kind of go cold into LA. Like, come in, arrive.

I knew one person, Paul. That was it. And I had an aunt and uncle that lived out here, so I had a place to stay. Yeah. And then I moved, you know, I found an apartment, found a house to live in out in Silver Lake, which was very, you know, urban pioneering back then. Wasn't cool. I mean, it was cool, but it was very out on the edge.

Yeah. The swing you took to come out here is very impressive to me because it is like Did you grow up knowing any actors? Did you know anyone that was an actor? No. And did you, when you were in high school and like, like when did you, did you do plays? Were you like, were you like the jock that did plays? Yeah.

My high school was one of those magical places that you were just encouraged to do everything. You weren't siloed. If you were a jock, you weren't just that. Yeah. And it was small. But everybody kind of knew each other. My graduating class was 95 kids. Yeah. So I knew everybody in my class and we were kind of all friends. Like you were friends with the violin kid and you were friends with the weird, beautiful artist and the kid that could sing opera somehow at 16. You know, there was a lot of talented kids there. And in fact, from my school, Ellie Kemper. Yes. Was one of my students when I went back to teach.

I know. So great.

Heather Goldenhirsch, who's a Tony-nominated actress. Stephanie Sanditz, Leslie Stevens, all these kids that— Sarah Clarke, who was in my class, was on 24, who dated Paul Rudd, believe it or not. So we had this kind of weird, concentrated energy that was very creative, but we were encouraged. So it was— I didn't know any actors, but I thought, well, why not me?

And they were like, we need a Willie Loman. We need a tired salesman.

We need an 18-year-old Willie Loman with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Shoulders. Ham will do it.

Do you ever feel though that you like could have been a— were you ever good in a sport enough that you had like dreams? Like every—

I thought I was going to be a— I thought, because also the other half of my growing up was my best friend John Simmons. His dad was a professional baseball player. Ah, so I was like, so you knew a professional baseball— I didn't know a professional baseball player. And I was like, man, one of these days, me and John Simmons, we're going to be— we're going to play for the Cardinals together, probably.

What position did you play? I was a catcher. You were a catcher? Yeah. I always think of the catchers as the little, little, little people.

The stocky guy? No, I was kind of the— I was always this shape. I was always lanky. Mm-hmm. Lanky? Yeah, right? Wouldn't you say I'm lanky? Kind of lanky.

I mean, I don't want to describe your body back to you, but I wouldn't use lanky. I feel lanky.

Yeah. Am I using that word wrong? Well, I— Limbed and—

But I feel like you've got shoulders. I feel like you landed—

Well, you have to carry the weight of the world.

You need it for your briefcase.

Both of those sample cases that I— Oh, God.

Okay, so catcher, which I have to say, in all— I used to play softball. In all the positions, my two favorite positions were catcher and second base.

Interesting.

Catcher, because I felt like catcher— catcher's—

you're in every play.

Yeah, you're in every play, and you're just like, you're kind of like a coach in a way.

Yeah, a little bit. You're telling everywhere to go, and you're running the, running the room. That's what I liked about it.

And second base for almost the opposite reason, which is you're like, I, I don't— I thought you had it. Like, second base is a little bit like, not on me, over here.

It's probably a shortstop's ball.

Like, you know, just like—

and honestly, in the hierarchy of who gets to call like a pop-up Second base is like the last.

Yeah, second base is like, I wanted to get it. I just was over. I thought closer to you, but you can chat. You can chitchat. Oh yeah. Second base and a short throw.

Short throw to first. Oh yeah.

I mean, I didn't have the arm. I never had the arm, but I had the mouth. I bet. Yeah. See? Okay. So, so there was a part of you that was like, I'm going to catch for the Cardinals. And then. Yeah. And then.

But here's, here's what it really was, is that I realized probably even when I was still in high school, I was like, oh, there's people that are way better than me at this. Like, like way, way, way better than me at this. Yeah. Yeah. And so I kind of like I was early disabused of that notion. Very, very just it was kind of like, yeah. Yeah. And also I realized that and I have a lot of friends now that are, that are professional athletes and you're like, it's a job. Yeah, big time. It's 24/7. Even in the offseason, you're training, you're training. So you better love it.

I know.

And I was like, I like it.

Yeah, I love it. I know. And with sports, when I watch sports or when even when I played sports, I was— I didn't feel like I was playing or watching to like know how to do it for life. You were enjoying it. Yes, it's like a hobby. But with television and film, I definitely watched it very intently.

Me too. Yeah. So to put a point on the end of that story of like not loving, not loving it enough to want to do it professionally. I love what I do now. Yeah. I mean, I really do. Yeah. And getting to do things like SNL and getting to produce and develop stuff. Yeah. Getting to have this kind of length and breadth of a career that you can look back on and go, man, I'm pretty proud of that stuff.

Yeah, I love that. You did Shakespeare and do you— do you do Shakespeare in theater?

Yeah, in college. Yeah.

Do you understand Shakespeare?

What's happening there? I thought it was pronounced Hamlet. Apparently it's Hamnet.

Yes, I just found out it was Hamnet.

I did. I really loved reading. This is part of when I kind of figured out maybe I was going to be an actor, is that I would read plays as a little— I read like a bananas weirdo when I was a kid. You were a single— a single mom. Yeah. And an only child. Yes. So there was— that was it. There were no internet, there were no phones. Video games were rudimentary. Yeah. So it was about reading and we had tons of books everywhere and I had a library card. So I would go to the library, I would check out books, I would check out comedy records. Yes. Those are the two things that I got. What did you check out?

Do you remember?

I mean, it was bananas that I was a 7-year-old boy and I had like Richard Pryor records. Yeah. The name of which I will not say out loud. Yeah. But you can find out what it's called. Yeah. And but also like Steve Martin, Bob Newhart, George Carlin. Yeah. Just stuff that was whatever was there.

And what were your series? What books were you reading? Like, what kind of series did you love as a kid?

I read— there wasn't really— I don't, I don't remember there being like YA, you know, stuff like that. It wasn't really like—

I mean, I feel like Little House on the Prairie was for us, kind of like—

kind of, yeah, which I didn't really read. It was kind of for girls. I know it's for girls, um, but I read— it's for boys too. It is for everyone. It's a lovely story. And by the way, I did, I did read, I did read those. Um, I read plays, and it was, it was something that I would— I don't know why I was attracted to them or whatever. I think I was You said earlier about watching TV and like watching it to learn about it. Yeah. And that was what I thought the plays were. And I would read them and I would read them out loud to myself. Yeah. So my mom was like, you're a weird kid. But it was— I would— that was the— looking back, I think that was the first time I would think, oh, maybe I want to do this for real.

Your mom passed away when you were young. When you were 10. What was she like?

She was a professional secretary. She was a very accomplished lady. She was the oldest of 6 kids. Um, she was— I don't know, she was just— she was my mom, you know? It was like one of those— I loved her. We had an amazing relationship. Um, it's— I say this to people all the time, there's never a good time to lose a parent. It stinks. It just does. I lost my mom when I was 10, my dad when I was 20. But I have friends that are our age now that just lost their parents that are just as devastated. Yeah. So it was, um, it was brief, but it was significant. Yeah. Uh, my relationship with her. And, and I still have probably the closest family member in my life is my aunt, her younger sister. Yeah. Who was the cool aunt because she moved out here to California.

Yeah. And that's who you lived with when you came out here? Yeah, my Aunt Sue. Yeah, yeah. Because I mean, it feels like Hambones, the, the, um, theme of a lot of your work and the things you do is like, like finding your family, like collecting them, choosing them, making it like— and you're in a, you're in a business that does that too.

Yeah, you kind of, you know, it's like the circus comes to town and you make new friends. And, um, you know, being on a show as we both were for an extended period of time, yeah, you definitely, you definitely forge relationships that are, that are pretty solid, you know, and, and, and don't really, uh, dissipate once the, once the circus moves on.

Yeah, I know.

If you're lucky. If you're lucky. And that's the, that's the thing you were talking about, I think, with the people part of it, is like, yeah, you know, you meet— we're all kind of crazy weirdos, you know, with different talents. But boy, when you see— when certain people come through your orbit and you're like, man, that, that person's amazing at that.

Well, you must feel that way about people too, because I mean, do you ever get this feeling? I get this feeling a lot where like I meet somebody and I'm like, oh, I, you know, we've known each other before in another way, right? A lot. And I kind of— am I wrong that Slattery feels like that for you?

Yeah, that's my big brother. If I, if I had a big brother, it would be him. Yeah, I was I was just watching— I had— I've not watched Mad Men back since, uh, I just finished.

And I've been— and I, I think I say sometimes on this podcast, the best thing about knowing other actors is sometimes you get to text them and be like, I'm watching your show right now, you're so good. And I think I just did that to you recently.

You did watch it? Well, that must have been the impetus for me starting it because Anna, my wife Anna, and I had— hadn't really— I hadn't watched it back. Wow. Since the first time. And so we're on like episode 5 or 6 now. And I texted— What happens? Don't tell me. I texted Sly, took a picture of it and texted Slytherin. It was just like, remember this day? It was the first day we shot. And I just remember all that stuff. And it was wild. It was very wild. Obviously, that was 20 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. Well, we—

I don't usually bring this up early in the podcast, but I will now because it makes sense. So, you know, we do this thing where we talk well behind somebody's back before, and we talked to Slattery today. And he's the best and he loves you. And we talked about just that, about— and it was funny because I said, do you feel like a big brother to Jon? And he said, in a very big brotherly way, he was like, I feel like we're equals. I feel like I learn as much from Jon as he learns from me. I feel like I'm not teaching him things. I just feel like we're— But that's also a very Big Brother thing to say, by the way. Yeah.

And I mean, part of it was, you know, it's funny for me too, because I remember the first couple episodes or the first season of shooting the show, and his son Harry was 6, as was Kiernan, who played my daughter on the show, Sally. And now they're 26. This lightning in a bottle thing that just all of a sudden happens. I point to Mad Men and think, like, "I worked very hard to get in that room." Well, I think a lot of people know this.

You worked hard and you grind. You were really grinding. For sure. Like, you were— You were working probably for 10 years in different—

a lot of different things, and not quite 10, but, but a solid 6 or 7 years as, as a working actor. Yeah, on stuff that nobody watched. Um, just—

did you ever get close to stuff where you were—

everything. I was, I was the other guy in everything. And in fact, the year I, I got Mad Men, I had, I had tested when we used to do that 7 times. I'd gone to the network, the last step before you get hired, 7 times. For 7 different projects? 7 different projects. Oh, for 7. What do you—

do you remember what some of them were? I don't. Yeah, I really don't. Like sitcoms and stuff.

Yeah, you know. Yeah. That, you know, and in the old days— now it just feels like everything gets, gets produced. In the old days, it was like they do a pilot, they test it, they'd see if it worked. Maybe you'd get fired, which I did on several occasions. And it's such a bananas way to do it, but that was how it was.

And the Mad Men audition process, you've talked about many times, but it was arduous.

Arduous. It started— I started at the very, very bottom. The first audition was a pre-read, just reading with the casting directors. They didn't know my work, not that they would. And it was in Santa Monica. And I lived in Silver Lake, so it was like an hour and a half to get across town in the rain on a Friday. And I met them and there was another kid sitting in the waiting room and he was like, it's like a 16, 17-year-old kid. And I was like, am I in the right place? Like, what's going on? He goes, are you here for the toothpaste ad? I go, what? Uh, no. Then I was like, what, what toothpaste ad? They're looking for somebody. An older guy, the weight of the world on his shoulders, brush his teeth. And it was literally, they were casting a the other room was casting a commercial and this was— they were like, no, no, no, we're in here. Hi. Sorry, sorry. And I was like, hi, nice to meet you. Wow. The next day was another one of those. A few days later was— then more and more people are in the waiting room.

Then you start to see people that have signed up. You're like, recognize that guy's name. He was on Sports Night. He'll probably get it. Yeah. And it was that, that, that, that, that 6, 7, 8 times. And then they finally— I got to New York. They flew me to New York. On somebody's miles. Wow. And, uh—

When you went in for that last one, did you—

The last one was meet the executives. And Matthew Weiner, to his great credit, he goes— I go, "Do I have this job? What's happening? You're flying me to New York." He goes, "I'm gonna walk you around the production office, and I'm gonna introduce you as Don Draper, and you're gonna act like you have the job." Oh, God.

That's giving me anxiety.

And I was like, "Okay." And he's like, "Hey, this is our Don. You know, it's Jon. Say hi to the costume designer and the hair and makeup, and we're gonna do this." And he's walking me around this whole thing, and I'm like, "I've not heard officially from anybody anything." Oh my God. So then we go to meet the executives from AMC, who are these 4 very young executives.

Yeah, AMC was a young company. Brand new.

Brand new. Hadn't done anything. We go and we have drinks, and we're having a drink, and I'm with Matt and Scott Hornbacher, the 2 producers, and the 3 executives, and the— kind of holding my drink and I'm like, what are we— what is this? What are we doing? Is this— this is— if this is a prank, this is the most elaborate, meanest prank. Yeah. And so we're having drinks and they're like, here's to the show. And I'm like, yeah, here's to the show. And I drink the drink and we go and, and I'm like, we get into the elevator. They still haven't said anything. And the lady who's in charge finally turns to me and goes, you know, you got the job, right? Oh my God. No, I didn't. This would have been way more fun earlier when we were having drinks to toast and do that. And I said, no, we didn't. And so we go down the elevator and the elevator doors open up. There's a million paparazzi in the lobby of the Maritime Hotel. And I'm like, oh my God, like, wow, that was fast. Like, holy shit. But they're all speaking German.

I'm not making this up. In the elevator with me was a very famous German football player named Franz Beckenbauer, or one of the like The Lions of the German Bundesliga, what have you. And I was like, "Oh, it's there for him.

Never mind." You're like, "Guys, guys, guys, I'm not giving interviews yet." Not yet.

"Let me get some rest." Oh, in German? Yeah, that's him.

Okay. Just a few Mad Men questions. I know, you know, the show is— I just— Jon, that part, you— That writing, that show, that show is Hall of Fame. Thank you. And Hall of Fame performance.

I don't disagree. I think it's a great show. I was pleasantly surprised watching it back to not be mortified.

I'm so happy to hear that because it is just pristine. And your performance is so good, so measured, so controlled. And it, like all the characters in the show, starts to unravel in the perfect way. It does pay off.

That's what's really, I think, really nice about the show is that— Yes. Yes. As it does unravel, it kind of is a satisfying payoff for kind of everybody.

Thematically, this idea that, like, the character of John Draper is being presented in this way, which we, like, project all this stuff on him, just like we would any ad, any version of, like, a person. And then we realize he is a person like we all are. Like, but— Heavily flawed. Heavily flawed. But yet, what I love about the show is people change, but not a lot. So, there's never, like, not—

Matt has said, and I think it's a great way to describe it, he said, "I want people to realize that the characters are going to be just a little bit better at the end. Just a little bit." Yeah. A little bit. Just a little change. And Don, my God, you know, the whole arc of the final season is him sort of shedding everything. His family, his job, his stuff. And he ends up on the end of the continent, Yeah. At the very end of the continent. And that's kind of when he realizes, like, "Oh, wait, I'm really good at this job.

I should probably just go back and do the job that I'm really good at." And my question to you is, having rewatched, and I don't know if you remember, but at the end, you're, uh— Dawn lets everything go. Can you just tell me about the scene in the group, uh, the group therapy scene where that wonderful Day player— Sorry, I don't know his name, actor. Breaks down because he feels invisible. Can you tell me about that day? And reading that, because that's a big scene to do at the end of 7 seasons with someone who's not— you don't know.

I don't— that was the whole last half of that season for me, was being away from everybody that I had spent 90 other episodes with.

That's right. That's right.

Slatty and I did our last scene, And it's kind of a weird little nothing scene. It was just us in a bar talking about something. And I said, "You know, this is our last scene together." And he goes, "What?" Because it was like 3 episodes before we were done. He's like, "No, it isn't." I go, "Yeah, it is." He goes, "No." I go, "Yeah." And it's kind of great that it's just that moment. It's just— that's what it is. And then you don't see that guy. So there was a lot of that stuff for me. And a lot of— it was tremendously difficult. Yeah. Because I was handling a lot of personal mishigas in my life, a lot of craziness. And just being on a show for that long is a lot.

And saying goodbye to it.

Saying goodbye to it. It's a grief. It's a grieving process. You know it very well. So that particular scene, and we were— we shot out of order. That wasn't the last thing we shot, obviously. But we were on location. We were up in Big Sur. So we were even physically separated from most of the stages, all this stuff, our trailers. I was living in a hotel. Like, it was— it was so— it was like 4 or 5 days in a row up there. And it was heavy. It was super heavy work. Yeah. You I very much felt the weight of the end of the show and the responsibility of like, don't fuck this up. You can fuck anything else up, but you cannot fuck this up. This is the end of a very, very, very long story. And if you shit the bed on this, it's not going to— that will be what you are known for. But I do remember that thinking that I was like, "This kid is killing it." He was wonderful. And everyone in the— There were a lot of writers, interspersed in the crowd.

And for those people that have never watched Mad Men, don't listen to this part. But it is— There is a moment, not to give too much away for people that haven't seen it, but I mean, it has been 20 years, but where—

We're past the spoiler part.

Where Jon is gone, basically, to an Esselen retreat, and to basically, to your point, he's lost everything, and he's in what is— an early version of group therapy and the closest he's ever had to actually really, truly sitting in his feelings. And a man, another man who he doesn't know, is expressing this thing that Don understands really well.

Deep dissatisfaction, deep un— What's the right word? Unworthiness. Unworthiness. Yeah, maybe it's just—

Not being seen, not being loved.

Invisibility, you said earlier, that whole kind of thing. And there's a refrigerator and all this. It's like, It's a beautiful piece of writing, and it's an incredibly emotional moment, not only for this man, but for Dawn. And there's a connection that they have.

Okay, well, I want to slow it down because, you know, I like to talk to the TV.

By the way, I did not know that, but I can imagine it.

I'm an old lady.

I can imagine it now.

I also am an old person in a younger person's body. I paused in this moment, and I was just like, "This is Jon Hamm." Like, I was like, "This is—" Like, the moment when you approach and hug that man is such good acting. It's like, Jon, it's so, so good. You did stick the landing. You nailed it.

Well, thank you. I felt very, very good about what I did on that show.

And it was like, It was like masculinity, which a lot of the show is about, and we are all like, look like Don Draper, Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler, we're all living in a patriarchal world and trying to figure it out and suffering in different ways. That moment when two strangers, men of that generation, are hugging, it was so moving.

Well, and it's because you don't really— Don gets there under such duress, and it's such a strange journey that he ends up there. There, and he's lost this connection with his job, his family, his everything. It's really the Siddhartha kind of moment of just shed everything and to discover who you really are. And there's a moment, and of course, the opening sequence of the show is this man falling out of a building, and everyone's like, "This is where he does it. He's gonna jump off the cliff. He's gonna kill himself. This is the end of the show. He's gonna die." Right. And it's— It could have gone that way. I think there's a version of this story where Don doesn't get it and doesn't allow himself to understand it and is so overcome with his emotion and his feeling of inadequacy and failure and what he's— what he has failed at as a husband, as a friend, as a father, as a fill-in-the-blank, that he does do that. Yeah, but he doesn't. He kind of takes it in, takes the moment, feels the feelings for real, and has the moment of clarity where he goes like, you know, and it's beautifully rendered with Coke, the Coke ad, the iconic kind of moment of this.

And he's like, "This is who I am. I'm an ad man." So, he goes—

Do you think he goes back? Yeah. And what do you think happens for the rest of his life? Like, what is the last act of Don's life? What do you think it is? Lung cancer.

Yes. I mean, for sure. I think he goes back. He is a successful advertising executive, and I think he finds happiness and peace. I think he connects with his children. Yes. As we know, Betty passes away. Yeah. You and January.

You and January. You and Lizzie. You and Slattery. You and— Oh my God.

Incredibly, incredibly lucky. One of my favorite scenes in the whole show is the scene between— I can't remember, I think it's season 5, season 4, where we see Don and Joan kind of going out on a night on the town.

It's incredible. I mean, Don and Joan never had enough scenes together as far as I was concerned.

I mean, that's what kind of made it great was that there was like 2 or 3.

Everyone in that show is just pitch perfect. And you brought up the smoking. What did you have to smoke?

They were like those fake herbal cigarettes. But I think somebody did— Somebody watched the pilot, just to watch how many cigarettes I smoke. And I think it was something like 80 in a 1-hour pilot.

So, uh, Parks and Recreation and Mad Men were on at the same time.

We were, we were fellow travelers.

We were fellow travelers, and we shared, um, uh, you and I shared two things. We shared a production designer in Dan Bishop, who did your show and did— we used to brag like, oh, the bullpen of, um, you know, the offices of Parks and Rec were designed by the same guy that did Mad Men. People were like, cool. Um, I can tell that was a big brag. We were like, um, and he's a genius. Yeah, he's a great guy. And, um, the other thing is that you and I were at award shows many, many times on the losing end.

On the losing end.

And so, uh, I gotta get to Slattery's question. Sorry, I'm all over the place, but I gotta get to Slattery's question. But before that, let's talk about Losers Lounge, which you mentioned the very beginning.

What was The Losers Lounge was a thing that we decided to do after being fed up with losing. Yeah. Like, let's take— let's turn this frown upside down. Yeah. Let's not live in the—

We're not losers. We're winners. We're winners. Only losers lose. Only losers lose.

And we are not losers. No way. So we decided that. And I still think this is a great idea. I think we should have patented it and I think it should have been permanent.

Minute.

Yeah. That— because also any awards night, there's way more people that lost than won. Oh yeah. So we decided that there should be a celebratory place for the losers to hang out, the Losers Lounge. And if you wanted to come and you were a winner and you had a statue in your hand, you had to pay.

Yeah. You had to pay up.

You had to pay up. To charity. To charity. It was all a charity thing. It was a lovely charity. Worldwide Orphans, I believe it was. That's right. And the rest of us could get in and have a good time for free. And it was a fun party. We—

so we threw a party a couple years in a row.

SoHo House, I think it was, or something like that.

Yeah, a couple different places.

We had a dance-off. We had a pants-off dance-off.

And everybody wanted to get in. And the highlight for me was— I think I told you this story. The highlight for me at the Emmys was the great, my hero, idol, Frances McDormand won for, I believe it was maybe Olive Kitteridge, or one of the many incredible things she's done. Sure. She won. And as she was walking up the aisle with her Emmy, she turned to me and she goes, "Does this mean I can't go to the Losers Lounge?" And you said, "Yeah." And I was like, "Yeah, you're gonna have to pay." And I was like— But she did. She did. She came and paid. She came and paid. That time of being at those places together and losing was so fun because, of course, who cares? And also, Everyone's work was so great. Everyone was such a fan of everybody's work.

We were all doing great stuff. 'Cause Tina was on 30 Rock at the time. You were doing Parks. I was doing Mad Men. We had that one crazy fun night.

I broke my toe. Where you broke your toe.

Uh-oh. And we were like, you and me and Tina and Claire Danes, and we were all dancing like insane people. Like it was the last night on Earth.

Yeah. And I was— Tina had to get on a plane the next day.

And she describes getting on a plane, and like looking at the floor and there's like a pile of hair. She was like, what happened?

I'm gonna beat that. I had just had my second child. Oh my God, I know. And I flew in for the weekend because I was— well, yeah, I must— I forget. I was in New York and I flew to California for the thing. I broke my toe on the banquette dancing. I'm a mother of two. I can't—

two very young, young children.

I can't walk in the airport. I'm like, I wake up the next morning, I'm like, I can't walk. Oh boy. I have to get on the plane. I mean, I put like a hat on and sunglasses and like tape my toe and like try to walk to the— I'm like, I can't get a wheelchair. This is like too much. So I'm like walking and I hear Amy and I look and it's Bradley Cooper, the lovely Bradley. He goes, Amy. And I'm like, hey. And I lift my head like, and he's like, hey.

No, it's not Amy.

So I look over and I'm like, hey Bradley. He's like, are you okay? And I'm like, nope, no, I'm very, very bad. I'm very, very bad. Okay. And so he has to hold me like an old— like, talk about old lady— like hold my elbow while I can shuffle in. I got a little escort. That's nice. I got a— I got an A-lister escort. Wow, that was a fun night.

Amy, the last thing you want, the last word you wanted to hear.

No, but But worth it. Worth it. Worth it. Worth it.

I will never forget that night. Lauren was there and moving and grooving. We had a time. Lauren loves to dance. We had a time.

Okay, let's talk about you hosting SNL though. And I mean, are you a 5-timer? 4.

I just had my 4th. I did 3 in 2 years. Took a 15-year hiatus. Yeah. And came back this last year. It's been said, and I think I've been listening to Seth's thing with Andy and the boys, The Lonely Island Boys.

Oh, you were on it too, I think, right?

Yeah, that was an amazing— your time there was an amazing time. They're all great. You can't— you literally can't stack them up against another because they're all different and they're all great. But it was so fun to be there with you, with Maya, Bill, Fred, Will, Kristen. Yeah. I mean, Seth, those guys you guys were— I felt like we were just— talk about speaking the same language. It was like I felt so comfortable there, which was, you know, part of, part of it was you're a guest in somebody's home, so you don't want to be too comfortable where you're kind of being shitty. Um, but I really did feel welcomed there. I mean, because first of all, all— I'm sure you've told this story, but pitch on Monday, my first time hosting, you guys all roll in in costume.

Oh, that's right. Let's tell that story. Mad Men costume. We all decide to dress up as the people from—

for 60's gear for pitch Monday night, which is 35 people in a room, maybe a little bit bigger than this. Yeah. So sitting on the floor, on the sofa, everything, everyone is in 1960s period gear. Yeah. Hader was in drag. Oh yeah. Lutz was in drag as Joan.

Lutz was Joan.

John Lutz, writer. Paula Pell had a cigarette taped to her finger because she didn't know how to smoke. So she's like, I'll just tape it. And she would pitch like this. And I was— I didn't know this wasn't normal. Right. I was like, this is okay.

They're like, well, they really pull it out on Mondays.

They really do it on Mondays. I thought it Oh, there was a whole thing? Okay, well, nice. This is so fun. And that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship, not only with that show, but with so many of you guys. Um, sitting around that whole week shooting with Jim Signorelli. You're 95 months pregnant. Yeah.

And we've told the story a million million times, but the fast version is Friday, I was supposed to do the show on Saturday and then give birth on Sunday.

And there was no doubt in your mind that you were not having this baby before?

Yeah. You know, women listening, it's, you know, First kid, you assume you're going to be at least a few days late. I was weirdly feeling good. I was told, you're not going to be giving birth on— before your due date, no way. Go finish your last show, kill it on Saturday, and put your feet up. Yeah, my first lesson in mothering, which was like, nope, nothing goes away. You think it's gonna go, and I really did think I would do the show on Saturday and then give birth on Sunday. And Friday night. We were shooting Friday night and, um, we were doing like a pre-tape and I got a call from my OB-GYN office, of your OB-GYN's office. My beloved OB-GYN passed away that night. And so, you know, for people who don't know, when you get really connected to your doctor and you kind of think about your birth plan and you think about how it's gonna go, and all of a sudden, you, you know, you realize, well, you realize two things. One is that a lot of people can deliver a baby. Yeah.

And to, um, Seth had one in the lobby. That's right, Seth.

Seth had his in a lobby. That's right. But he didn't have it. No, he didn't. Very true. He didn't have it. He wore the same jeans that day that he wore the next day. Um, no, but, um, yeah, a lot of people can do this, and it's not the end of the world. Got the news that my OB-GYN died.

I started to cry. I mean, heavy sobbing, right?

Which is horrifying. A giant pregnant woman crying. It's not— it's really scary. And Ham leaned in and said, I know this is hard for you.

I'm really, really sad. But this is a big fucking deal for me. So you better pull your shit together. And that's the face she made immediately, which I was like, talk about in a world of big swings, that's a big one.

That to me is, and I've written about it—

That's why you had the baby. That's something happened because you laughed that hard.

I think so.

I think a big hard laugh. Ooh. I was like, Please let this go. Please let this go well.

And to me, the crying-to-laughing switcheroo, that's like— We get about— We get a few in our life where we're really, really deeply sad, and then someone says something to make us laugh. And that— Those two against each other feels like— I think it extends your life.

The Friday night was like— 'Cause everybody's so punchy by then. Mm-hmm. It was— And I was— I wouldn't— You couldn't drag me out of that studio. I was having the greatest time.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, now it brings me to Slattery's question, which I thought was just such a sweet question, which is, and kind of back to what we were talking about, about this idea of like finding community and family in places, all different kinds of places. But his question was like, who do you look for for answers when you're feeling frazzled or lost? 'Cause I was saying you have a big brother, you have a big brother vibe with a lot of people. He feels like a big brother to you, but he was saying, I feel like I think a lot about like, what would Jon do here? Like, he takes a lot of counsel from you. Who do you look— where do you go? Where do you look?

That's a really good question. I don't have a— I don't think I have a go-to, honestly. I've been on my own in one way or another for a very long time. So I, I'm, I'm very self-dependent. I think part of my therapeutic journey has been sometimes to a fault where I won't reach out. I'll just— I got it. Yeah, I'm learning to get better at that for sure. But people, uh, like Lauren, for sure. Lauren, I've definitely reached out to when I've had instability in my life. And part of the magic of that man is that he's so inscrutable and so Canadian that it's a koan in some way. You get some kind of weird thing where you're like—

Wait, did you say koan?

Yeah, like a Zen koan. You know what that is? It's like a saying that— How do you spell that? K-O-A-N. I don't know that word.

Sorry.

Koan. I'll be interested because I don't have a great definition of it.

It is a paradoxical anecdote, question, or dialog. Well done. Okay, continue. So he'll say, "Well, you know, eventually you'll just be on the t-shirt." And you're like, "What?" You know, it's that thing where you let go and suddenly you're finding yourself on Mulholland.

And then maybe Mick will come by and you'll say, "Oh, great." Great. Um, everybody does it. That— it's so great. But, but I— people like that, I, I find that I very much enjoy talking to my elders. Yeah. Uh, I was— not to be super name-droppy, but last night had an amazing dinner at the Bruckheimer's house. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced Top Gun. I think you worked for Jerry. Uh, have you?

Not that— to my knowledge.

What's the— the Squeakles? No, they weren't. Oh, he was, um, yeah, Jerry.

I never met Jerry in the booth when I was Eleanor in The Squeakquel. Um, fair enough. But Jerry, thanks for the job. Hey. Didn't know that you were the person that hired me. Thank you for the job. Thank you for the job. Sorry that I dressed up as Eleanor when I came in for the audition. You've been in some monster hits. Bridesmaids.

Bridesmaids.

The Town. Bridesmaids, you're so funny in it. What a funny, what an incredible movie.

Yeah, I mean, some fun movies for sure.

Some big fun movies. I love it. How did you learn how to do a Boston accent? How did you?

I don't know, like anybody, just— Not like anybody.

People can't do it really well.

Well, I mean, I famously did it in The Town, but I was making fun of Ben. That was part of why it was easy for me. My guy wasn't supposed to be from Boston. Right. When I met all those FBI guys, none of them, the Boston PD guys are from Boston. The BPD, the local guys.

Well, even the way you're saying Boston, is the correct way to say it. Well, I—

Trust me, we were immersed in Boston.

Oh, yeah. You do a movie in Boston, everybody's in the movie. Yes, indeed.

Your cousin, your uncle, everybody, your friend. And talk about making a movie about Charlestown. Mm-hmm. Holy moly. Yeah. Talk about the guys coming out of the woods. Ben told me we were gonna— You were gonna cast Tommy and the other guy. Yeah. My friend Charlie's here. You're like, "We're here.

Where's the paycheck?" Yeah.

And where's craft service? Yeah, that's possible.

Nobody said you could be— everybody—

yeah, they said we're in the job, don't worry. Yeah, yeah. You're like, okay, okay. We had guys that would show up and then we're like, oh, but I can't shoot here, I'm on parole, like it's too close to a bank.

You're like, you can't be near a bank.

Sorry. Oh man, there were some characters, and it was a blast. It was a blast.

And what about, um, 30 She-Rock working there. Let's, uh, Tina Fey.

The show or Tina Fey? Discuss Tina. I credit Tina along with Lorne for allowing me to be in comedies. Nobody thought— it's not like when you do Mad Men, they're like, I bet that guy's real funny, he's probably got a bunch of impressions and bits and jokes.

True, you're very serious in Mad Men.

I I mean, yes. Yeah. So when Lauren asked me to host the show, I was like, oh my God, that's the only thing I've ever wanted to do since I was— since ever was be on Saturday Night Live. So I, I was very excited. And then as we discussed, you guys very welcoming. Here we are, everyone's in costume, it's very funny. The, you know, read-through that week is a packet of 50. I think you were right next to me, I can't remember where set. Oh, so, so fun. And then, uh, I remember, I think it was after read-through, or maybe it was on Thursday, but I was going down to the— to 8 to do blocking of something, and the phone in my— in the dressing room rings. Jesus, that's weird. It's like when a hotel phone rings. You're like, who's calling me? Who's calling in the room? This is very weird. And I picked it up. I was like, hello? Is this John again? Yeah. Oh yeah, hi, it's Robert Carlock. We just want to know if you wanted to come do this thing on 30 Rock. Uh, it's kind of a love interest for, for Liz.

And we're— I was like, huh? Like, the other thing that I wanted to be on is that. And Tina, unbeknownst to me, had called Lauren after read-through and said, is this guy funny? How is this guy? As Tina is wont to do, like, give me the, the straight dope. And Lauren, yeah, yeah, I mean, it's like when you're in that space, you'll like them. We were on parallel tracks. Like, we shot our pilots in the same studio at Silvercup, right? Um, so we kind of— we were— and, and they were, they were winning for comedy and we were winning for drama, and it was like Mad Men, 30 Rock, Mad Men, 30 Rock. It was great. Well, you weren't winning, but they were winning the show. You were in the loser's lounge. Loser's lounge. Thank you.

Tina's love language is writing incredible material that you get to do. Like, that's like how she— like, it's like, it's the nicest gift is that she gives you.

I recently got a text from Tina that was the beginning of my character arc on the show where I played a perfectly normal human being. Now cut to season whatever where I have two hooks for hands and am falling And the reason I have hooks for hands is because I thought I recognized my old football coach when I was getting out of a helicopter and I waved.

Yeah, twice.

So she was like, remember when this guy was a normal person? Well, it didn't last long.

Okay. And then the last thing, Ham, I want to ask you about, because I love of it is I loved you at the Super Bowl enjoying Bad Bunny. And I love people. Bad Bunny came at a time where for a lot of people it was like, we were, you know, we're looking for something, anything, any, any expression of joy would be helpful there. Any, exactly, any artistic expression of joy. I know you are a huge fan of his. You went like, what was it like watching that?

And tell me why he's important to you. Here's My wife, Anna, who I met on the last episode of Mad Men.

Okay, can you tell everybody who she played in the last episode?

She plays the receptionist of the Esalen-like place, the girl with the pigtails. Incredible. Who then gets put in the Coca-Cola commercial. Yes. So this woman clearly has an effect on Don and clearly had an effect on Jon. We ended up getting married at the same place, same location. No. Yes, ma'am.

They better have given you that for free.

We worked out a nice deal. Incredible. It was a beautiful, magical experience and lovely. So Anna had gone to Colombia with her sister and her best friend on a girls trip, and they would go to the dance clubs at night after dinner or whatever and shake their butts and have a good time. And they were like, there's this guy that keeps playing Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny. No one had heard him. This is like 2018. He wasn't even played on the reggaeton stations in LA or New York. No one had heard of him. And we had started to kind of see each other a little bit here and there. And we go out in New York City and they play me this Bad Bunny. Who is this? Our text thread is called Bad Bunny's. That was just our first. And I was like, I fucking dig this guy's energy, sound, whatever. Yeah. Our relationship. This is the soundtrack to our relationship, really. Aw, that's so nice. So it's— and it's just organic. It wasn't— Yeah. So we had heard about— he had hosted the show, or he was a guest on the show on SNL. Got to go to that.

We found out he was doing this residency in Puerto Rico. I was like— and to Ana's great credit, she's always like, "What if we did that?" And it was a blast. Yeah. That was the first time it went viral, was in the casita. Dancing. Dancing. Just dancing. It was fun, man. He's fun. He's fun. We had a dance party at Smart Girls.

I love dancing.

Me too. And so there's, as you said, the world was a little— is a little of a bummer.

A lot of a bummer. A lot of a bummer.

Yeah. But boy, man, for 15 minutes of that halftime show. Yeah. No kidding. And what a message. And not for nothing, you forget that he had to perform that. No kidding.

I mean, I think so.

You think like, "Oh, he's singing along to a track or whatever." No, no, no. He was jumping off a roof, climbing on a pole, spiking a football.

You're like— Doing a trust fall. Doing a trust fall. Like a real one, not a fake one. Up in the air.

10 out of 10, no notes, perfectly executed. Then you go and you listen to the words and you're like, oh man, that's a nice sentiment as well. Yeah. Maybe if we look back in 5 years, this is the tipping point. And if it is, what a kick-ass thing to do. Yeah. Remind everybody that maybe together is a little better than siloed and apart. And yeah, and that joy is kind of great.

And then there's a million ways to be an American. And that music is like, like that when music does that. Yeah, I feel like, you know, I mean, I know you feel this way about music too. Like there's something about music that can shortcut. Yeah.

In a way. Universal language. They say it always because it doesn't matter what kind, it doesn't matter what it is. It can be aggressive, it can be soothing, it can be all of the things. But man, when it hits the right buttons, yeah, feels good. Juan Ramón. Juancito Ramoncito. Juancito Ramoncito. Little Johnny.

Amy, do you speak Spanish?

I do speak Spanish pretty well. You do? I do pretty well. I've— how did you learn it? I learned it in high school and then I worked in a million restaurants in Los Angeles. Yeah. And then you get really good at it.

Do you have a Spanish accent, like a Is it— do you have a—

Spanish?

And the last question I have for you is, what are you laughing at these days? What are you watching that's making you laugh? And it can be— it doesn't have to be—

you know what I watched recently that really made me laugh that I think you would really like? Yeah. It's a show out of Canada called Heated Revenants. No, it's not that. That's a bit.

That's called a bit. Um, it's—

but it does have to do— it is Canadian. It does have to do with hockey.

It's a show called Shoresy. Oh, I love Shoresy!

That is making me laugh. And you know what it's also making me do?

Yeah, cry. It's making—

she's a really great— it's a great show.

Okay, I've only watched clips of Shorzy, because, you know, I, I, I, I've seen him on 6 episodes a season. Oh really? Oh, I love that.

You can watch all of them in a half a day.

And, uh, him— okay, let's watch.

So Jared Kiso— okay, tell me more— uh, uh, was on a show, created a show called Letterkenny. Yes. Which is a very, very Canadian show. Yes. Uh, but very specifically funny. Maybe not to everyone's taste, as, as, as things should be.

Yeah, comedy is very subjective.

Subjective. And the reason he did this was because he came to LA and they were like, you're too Canadian, you're too this, you're too that. And he's like, fuck it, I'm gonna go back home and I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make my own show. Um, and he did. And then he spun it off into this thing, Shoresy. And it's— Shoresy's about this, um, kind of local hero legend. He plays on the local men's hockey team, and it's kind of the point of pride for the small town in Northern Ontario that they live called Sudbury. And over the course of the series, they win the championship. Then he becomes a coach and he tries to teach the kids. And it's a tremendous show because it highlights most of the people in power that are running things are women. Many of them are First Nations, Indigenous Canadians, and it's not made a big deal of. It just is. And his relationship to all of that while being this bruiser is very soft.

Yes, yes. I mean, I've seen—

And he's got this real high-pitched voice, and it's really kind of funny.

And he always interrupts people. They're always interrupting. They're always— And their overlapping dialog is really funny.

It's tremendous. It's a tremendously ambitious show that delivers. So I'm trying to pump their tires a little bit.

I want to find, though, the scenes where he's hitting on—

Uh, oh, when he hits on the girl who he really loves. It's so—

I'll make you so happy. Okay, that's the stuff that I see, and it's so funny. It's such a funny moment.

It's also like— it's also deeply sentimental and heartfelt.

Agreed. That was— I was like, oh, I want to watch the show because his move, his comedy move is like, I'm gonna love you so hard. So hard. She's just like, I'm not interested. And it's so good. Sure, you're gonna want enjoy the perks that come along with that. It's summer in San Vegas.

It's not fucking Playa del Carmen. It's not fucking Belo Horizonte.

I'm ready to take things to the next level, but I need to be sure that you're sure. Oh, so good. Such a good show. Okay, we gotta check that out. Um, well, Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler, bear buddy. I don't have a lot Straight men on the show.

So I break down a lot of doors, a lot of walls, you know.

It's nice, you know. Um, and, uh, I should probably—

the guys you do are great, are buddies too. Uh, great. All of our buddies. Yeah, I know.

All of our buddies. And it's nice to be, uh—

first of all, it's so great to see you. I, I really do miss you. Um, we don't hang out enough, but I'm glad we got this one Conan. Um, same. You are the best in the biz and, um, consistently make me smile and happy. And I look forward to your new show, which I know is coming out. I was talking to Cher about that.

We didn't even talk about Your Friends and Neighbors season 3 coming out. It's so great. It's so funny. Congratulations on another big hit show for Apple.

Yeah, season 3 starting— we'll start shooting that in, uh, in, uh, late April. Season 2 will come out in early April, and it's very fun. It's so fun stuff shooting in New York City. I know, but lots of nights. Yeah, well, it's a night's book.

I saw in that first season, I was like, "Oh, you have to break in at nighttime." They almost broke me on that one. I bet. I was like, "We gotta find a way to break into these houses during the day." Well, I'm very happy to call myself one of your chosen sisters, Ham. You are too. I'm happy to be one of them. So, thanks for doing this.

Thank you, Amy. Love you. Love you too.

Thank you so much, Jon Hamm. It was so good to have you and see you, and I love talking to you. And, you know, John and I talked about a lot of things, and I mentioned a very brief anecdote about probably my favorite actress, Frances McDormand. And so, for this polar plunge, I just wanted to remind you all how great she is. I just rewatched Nomadland the other night, and oh God, that is a good performance. She's just good in everything. She's so interesting and smart and— Just so cool. And Francis, if you're listening, I love you. Never change, please. I'm just a big fan of your work. And check out Francis's work. You know, it's these kind of polar plunges. Thank you, Francis, for your work. And thank you, Jon Hamm, for coming today and for your work. And thank you just for— Oh my God, I don't know how to end this. Okay, bye everybody. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Xeneres.

For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles. I am the one who wants a really good hang.