WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1010 - Christina Hendricks

Episode Date: April 15, 2019

Christina Hendricks can relate if you had a lousy time in high school. Between moving around a lot to her goth fashion style and music choices to her time spent with the school theater crew, Christina was a target of bullies and wanted to get as far away from school as possible. She tells Marc how this alienation led to careers in modeling and acting, and how her agents dumped her when she insisted on pursuing a role in a little show called Mad Men. Christina talks about growing along with the character of Joan and why she made the creators of her new show, Good Girls, make a promise to her when she took the gig. This episode is sponsored by Yousician, Ramy on Hulu, and Stamps.com. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Gold tenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those, too.

Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+.

We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global bestselling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life when i die here you'll never leave japan alive fx's shogun a new original series streaming february 27th exclusively on disney plus 18 plus subscription required t's and c's apply all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck nicks what's happening it's mark maron this is wtf my podcast i'm back i'm back in my house. I'm back in the temporary studio upstairs down the hall from my bedroom. I'm back with not quite a severe case of jet lag, but it's happening.

It's about to happen. I think it's about to happen. I think part of me thinks that we should be sleeping right now when I'm recording this in the middle of the afternoon. Part of me is asleep. I don't even fucking know if this is a dream or not to be honest with you that's where i'm at it seems to be happening a lot lately on either side of this journey i think i checked in with you when i got to london and i wasn't sure what i whether i was dreaming but i know i was in dublin yesterday morning and i know i'm in los angeles right now oh by the way to continue the narrative for some of you asking the question Oh, by the way, to continue the narrative for some of you asking the question, before I forget, I did not eat the pastries. I did not eat them. I got them out of the room. If you don't know what I'm talking about, catch up. mad men was a big thing but uh she's on that show uh that series good girls it just got picked up for a third season and new episodes air sunday nights at 10 9 central on nbc she's gonna talk

to me for a while um oh i remember what i was gonna say for those of you who are like enough with the tour dates uh go fuck yourself is that too harsh i apologize i know there's kids in the car sorry you guys sorry mommy didn't see that coming i um look it's the only way i mean i've got to tell you no one listens to anything consistently nobody checks their twitter consistently things get lost in the feed i just posted a a fucking video on uh instagram which i don't like doing. And my phone's fucked up. So it's got a buzz to it, but it's, it's the only way to promote. I don't have some sort of strange kind of natural cultural momentum where right when I announced something, it sells out because somehow or another people just breathe in the information. I have to make an effort. And there's some dates

that added that I added that a lot of people don't know. So I got to say it a few times. I don't know who I'm yelling at exactly, but it might be you. So up on the site at wtfpod.com slash tour, these are the theater dates. All right. There's some club dates coming up. Like I'm in San Diego this weekend. I don't know if it's sold out i should know but i don't thursday friday saturday at the american comedy club so here are the the theater dates coming up portland dallas that's portland oregon dallas texas not dallas maine austin houston vancouver seattle chicago detroit minneapolis philadelphia washington dc boston nashville Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Nashville, Atlanta, San Francisco.

And I will be adding a Toronto date. Now, the club dates coming up are Vermont sold out, St. Louis, San Diego this weekend, Madison sold out. But all I'm doing is if any of these seem possible to you or things that you might want to do, go to wtfpod.com slash tour and investigate if you can come. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it for everybody who tweets at me or sends me an email after I've announced this shit

a hundred times saying like, hey man, I had no idea you were going to be here it's for the it's for them all right all right so i love fucking ireland man i fucking love ireland fucking ireland i love it that's three different ways to use the word fucking in a uh compliment about ireland if that was part of the quiz can you use fucking in three different sentences uh complimenting ireland i did that i did that next question next question i uh okay i didn't tell you the story about my first day in ireland when i arrived there i think i've talked to you since uh the show haven't i what day is it monday maybe i haven't so i haven't talked to you since the show huh it was fucking great at vicar street

it was great there's something about ireland that i still love i love the irish people and i'm not being i'm not even being sarcastic there's some sort of kindred beautiful you know multi-generational centuries old heartache to ireland i mean the irish have been let down and uh left hung out to dry and and sort of uh misgoverned by several different institutions over the many years they've been around. And there's just a weight to it. There's a darkness, but it's beautiful. The darkness is there's a counterbalance, man. I went to Glendalough.

Me and Jimmy rented a car and we drove. It's great, man. If you got old friends that you haven't seen in a while just make sure you see him all right jimmy and i we don't see each other enough it was coincidental that he was in ireland and uh it was just great you know we we see each other each other maybe once a year once every two years and he's just one of those friends that you drop right into it. Not a lot of distance between us, who we are. And it's like no time has passed. There's a consistency to that.

Thank God for it. But so he rented a car and we just drove up. He drove because I wasn't going to deal with that wrong side. And I don't want to make a moral judgment. The other side of the street thing, because I just, I don't know. I don't think I was in the, had the vigilance necessary, but we drove about an hour outside of Dublin to Glendalough and it was beautiful, man.

There's a graveyard there. There's an old building. I didn't get the history. I didn't, I wasn't in, I was just talking to Jim, spending some time with my friends. It was a beautiful day, which I hear is rare.

And we took a big long walk and there were sheep and hills and a bog, a bog. There's a bog. See, that's the thing, is Ireland is by far one of the most beautiful places you can ever go,

yet there's this darkness to the people. There's this counterbalance. It's like, walk outside, almost everywhere is stunning in an old-timey beautiful rustic way even the modern cities have elements of that but yet there's this there's this brooding is down comes up from the bog i don't can't do an irish accent maybe i can what what are you doing in ireland that's what the customs guy said to me when i got there the customs guy what are you doing in ireland i'm performing at vicar street looks at my passport i've never heard of you uh that's fine bonk stamps the passport that was it welcome welcome to ireland but there is this i there

there's something about my heart that connects to the people there they're not gonna it's just they'll they'll take you down a notch just innately because they live there and they have forever and it's part of their perception their their life, the lives of their grandparents. Though it's very progressive there now, but there's still that element. Don't look for compliments in Ireland. Where's that T-shirt? Huh? But Glendalough was beautiful.

Had amazing food in Ireland. I just don't understand on some level how there is that. I guess it is the balance i guess if it wasn't so beautiful and it wasn't so sort of comforting and grounding and and just that if it wasn't that they'd be an incredibly existentially dark people but there's just a balance has something to do with the bogs against the the stunning green the bog people they found mummies perfectly preserved in the bogs the darkness is in the bogs of the spirit of the heart the bogs of the mind the spiritual bogs of the heart i had some amazing food i ate at a place called uh the winding stair which was genius i had a place called the pig's ear in dublin which was fucking amazing i ate at a place called eli's

wine bar which was great the fucking produce the fish the meat everything about the stuff there was just great yeah i had great food in England, too. I think times have changed. They've come around. They realize, like, we're sitting on a gold mine of really clean food here, and we should use it to our advantage and send a few of our guys out and let them learn how to cook in an amazing way and then come back and then honor the cuisine of our forefathers in an updated beautiful way

they do it i didn't eat the pastries oh so the show at vicar street went great i did i had a woman um open for me emma doran and she was great and uh the people at Vicar Street were great the crowd was great I just I feel I just felt totally like comfortable like I was barely um like I was barely doing a stand-up comedy mark oh pal I'm drinking tea I'm drinking this high-end um assam tea harare golden tips or something spent some bread on it maybe that's why i'm loopy okay it's almost time to wake up for me this dream has been interesting like in this dream what happens next is i talk to

christina hendrix this is how weird i know it's going to happen in my dream i know it is how do i keep losing the copy for this show come on how does he keep getting under there so christina is in a new series it's not that new it. It's been around for, what, two seasons? Good Girls. It's on NBC, Sunday nights at 10, 9 Central. And there's new episodes up. So this is me talking to Christina Hendricks. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence.

Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means.

I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun,

only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun. A new original series streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required.

T's and C's apply. So what have you been running around doing the thing? Yeah, I've been doing a little bit of the thing. Yeah? Were you out today? I went out today. I've got a couple things today. Went to New York last week.

Really? Yeah. Did that stuff. Did you live in New York ever? I lived there. When I was 19, I've got a couple things today. Went to New York last week. Really? Yeah, did that stuff. Did you live in New York ever? I lived there. When I was 19, I moved there. I lived there for almost three years. And now I kind of go back and forth because my husband's show shoots there.

Which show? Madam Secretary. Oh. But you weren't, you didn't, so where do you come from? Grew up in Idaho. Idaho? And Virginia and Oregon. You're like, wait, back it up. one says idaho and gets away with it well kind of i mean i i mean i have such a a weird kind of mixed uh um probably bad instinct about idaho what is your instinct well that

there's some like horrible white people in idaho uh in terms of well literally i think there are some like white nationalist movements stationed up there but there's also the large TM community I know is in Idaho but I also know it's beautiful but I know it attracts off-the-grid whack jobs. It is

absolutely beautiful. It's a very large state, so you're going to get a lot of different things. The white supremacist situation you're talking about, I know up north in idaho for a long time there was a thing going on i commented it this is a funny story yeah years and years ago i did a few episodes of er yeah and in my interview when i just went to meet them and hang out yeah they asked me where i was from and i said i'm from idaho i said the mormon part not the white supremacist part yeah and they changed and they used the line on er they kind of like

stole it but they said um i can't remember what they said but it wasn't the mormon part it was the something part not the white supremacist and And they got so many letters. Oh, really? At ER. From regular Idahoans? Yeah, that were like very, very defensive about this. So I don't have the facts, guys. Yeah. But you got a feeling. But the rumor is that I have no facts. There's some bad news in northern Idaho. And people are, you know, protective of it because it is a beautiful place to live. And they're amazing places like Boise. And I lived right on the Snake River Canyon. Oh, wow.

Pretty gorgeous. So why there? My dad was in forestry. What does that mean? Is there a title? Forest scientist? Forestryian? He was in forest planning.

Oh. So by the end of his career when we were in D.C., it was in forest planning. Oh, so by the end of his career, when we were in D.C., he would it was international forest planning. So meet with people from other countries, best way that they had found to preserve things, sharing ideas with other countries, working together to, you know, make it as. Yeah, as good as possible and maybe not burn down that kind of stuff. Engineering. Yeah. Discuss discussing all that stuff. Ear cutting is controversial, but going through just whatever someone's got an idea that's working. He's a forest specialist.

Yeah. And he worked for the government? Yeah, U.S. Forest Service. That seems exciting somehow. He loved it. He absolutely loved it. Very passionate about it. Seems like a great job. What are you doing? Going outside? Yeah. service that's that seems exciting somehow he loved it he absolutely loved it very passionate about it seems like a great job what are you doing going outside yeah i mean at the end he

didn't get to go outside he was in an office but he did start out as a forest ranger oh with the hat with the hat sometimes he would dress as smoky the bear like on when we had like school look at my shirt like oh my god you're Bear. I mean, that is actually really coincidental. I'll say. Yeah. Yeah, your dad was Smokey the Bear and I'm wearing a shirt. He would come in the suit. I remember once he came to our school, we were having like a school fair.

Yeah. And these crappy little kids came up behind him. Because you're in a bear suit, you can't see. And tried to light him on fire. Oh, that would be ironic. Yeah. Jerky kids. Yeah,, that would be ironic. Yeah. Jerky kids. Yeah, it's pretty jerky.

Yeah. But I mean, but it's pretty specific. Yeah. Let's see if we can burn Smokey. Yeah. Yeah. Clever in some horrible way. Yeah, in some horrible way.

But did you, so were you like a camping family? How many people in your family? Camping family, my brother and I and my parents. Oh, tents. Tents. Digging holes. Mil tents militant camping whether you like it or not camping oh so it's like that some some families have the skiing thing where it's like come on we're all going but you were like get get ready it's like 5 30 in the morning 5 30 in the morning rain or shine hike i still kind of when my alarm goes off and it's dark outside which you

know we have to go to work sometimes so early and it's still dark out. I still get the, like, convulsions. Like, I have to pack up the VW van with the tuna sandwiches and, like, you know, have Danish. Where are my boots? Yeah, like, still traumatized. I'm like, I'm in the middle seat.

I get the middle seat. Yeah, that panic of, like, you know, packing that shit, right? Awful. Do you have your shovel? What? Yeah. Oh, yeah. We weren't allowed to stop for food or anything like that panic of like you know packing that shit right awful do you have your shovel what yeah oh yeah we we weren't allowed to stop for food or anything like that because it was too expensive so we would pack a cooler and because i was the younger kid it went like in between the front seat anyone who

knows the volkswagen vans like it goes in the middle one so i was the middle kid so i never had a really a place for my feet so i I had to like- The torture. Yeah. And we had no radio, so I would sing and drive my parents crazy. Well, maybe that was the beginning of everything. It was the beginning of something. Was it the van that had the pop-up top? No. Not the camper van? I think that's the Vanagon, possibly.

This was the classic VW bus, the good old hippie bus that you imagine in your head. And you all slept in that or you had tents? We had tents. Oh, good. If the conditions were really bad or if there were bears or something, we would go and sleep in the van. But no, we had tents. We'd all sleep in the big tent as a Hendrix family. Wow.

Whew. A lot of togetherness. Yeah. Were there bears? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oftentimes bears. Wow. Whew. A lot of togetherness. Yeah. Were there bears? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oftentimes bears. Yeah.

I've not had any bear experience. I've had skunk, possum, coyote. And that's just here at your house in LA. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Scary cats.

You don't have to go camping for that. Nope. Right here. Those dodgy deer that wander around LA. Oh, yeah. Sometimes I go out on the mountain here and you see them. They're mule deer, I think. I'm not sure what they are.

They don't look healthy. They look like downtown deer. I know. And you barely ever see them. I know. And you're like, oh. What's the matter? Are you lost?

Yeah. Why are you so? It looks like they're kind of strung out. Yeah. It's like when you see coyotes during the day. You're like, that's not good. That can't be good. That guy looks shitty.

Yeah. He'll do anything. Exactly. That desperate guy. Okay. So you do Idaho, that's not good. That can't be good. That guy looks shitty. Yeah, he'll do anything. Exactly. That desperate guy. So, okay, so you do Idaho, and then you do D.C., and then where else? Well, born in Tennessee, then briefly in Georgia, elementary school in Portland, Oregon. Oh, that's nice. Then to Idaho, then to Fairfax, Virginia.

Portland, that's a lot of moving around. Yeah. So you're like one of those weird kids who would show up at school and they'd be like, oh, who's this? Yeah, you were the kid with the weird fashion because it was cool in the last place. But when you got to Idaho

and I was wearing the checkered van hat with the checkered van shoes and the fluorescent socks with the lace socks over it, they were like, we don't do that here. Yeah. Where's your farm outfit? Yeah.

They were like, we don't do that here. You're like the only one? Please adjust. Oh, no. Yeah. First day of school, you're like, I'll show them. And they use different words. I remember when I first moved to Idaho, I've told this to other people.

No one's heard of this at all. They called someone a beak. A beak. Like a bird beak. Like if someone was a nerd or not cool, they were like, what a beak. Pretty innocuous. Not horrible. I still don't know what it means.

Well, that's probably better off. I mean, if you're using a slang that no one really can identify. Everyone knew in Twin Falls. I know. Fuck them. But you went there after Portland? I went there after Portland. Do you have a family in Tennessee?

I like Tennessee. I moved when I was about two months old. So that was it. And I don't know it, but I have a fabulous uncle there who keeps trying to get me. You won't go? Well, he's invited me so many times, and just because of work, I haven't been able to. But I would like to go back and spend some time. What part? Outside of Knoxville. Ohville oh yeah I was born in Knoxville it's I I you know again

like you know I need to spend more time in Idaho maybe I'll change my attitude about it because I I go to the south like for years I was like the south and now I'm like it's the most beautiful place nice people you can I don't know what they're really thinking, but they're nice right to your face. There are tons of nice people in Twin Falls, Idaho, and it is a lovely. You're acting like

I keep riding this. Like, no, Idaho shit. You're like, I don't believe in that for a second. Well, I feel very, very close to it because it's where

I started doing theater as a child. And I was in something called Junior Musical Playhouse, Jump Company. So you go there age like in third grade or fourth grade? I was in something called Junior Musical Playhouse, Jump Company. So you go there age like in third grade or fourth grade? I was in the middle of third grade. Okay.

Okay. And so most of your formative years. Yeah. So you started doing like plays as a kid? Yeah. My mom wanted us to do something that would help us make friends that wasn't just at school. Yeah. Because the cliques of school. school yeah the horrible girls yeah and and my mom had always done theater in high school and

college and i think it's something she would have really liked to have pursued and she did a few community yeah plays when she was our mom right so she was like i'm gonna go see your mom yeah i remember i was really young but i remember her i think she had to kiss someone on stage, and she was in a costume, and it was kind of blowing my mind. Oh, right. I was like, this is not my mother. What is she doing? And that's what ended your parents' marriage. Yeah, it was that play.

No, I'm sure it started before then. Oh, they didn't make it? They didn't make it. No, they didn't make it. I'm sure it was more the camping than the play, to be honest. They would both agree, by the way. I want a city. She was like, I never want to camp again.

So, yeah. So, I felt very fond of that place because I was very happy there. Yeah. And what were you, when did you start doing the shows? I mean, I must have been nine years old or something. There was an audition to be in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Yeah. Do you know that book?

I don't. I'm sorry I don't. I wish I did. The people who know it go, oh. Yeah, yeah. Okay, wait. So it's about this. Do you know the book the best christmas pageant

ever oh i know yeah you did that so they were doing that as a play yeah and i don't know why we had to sing maybe maybe just saying christmas carols maybe i didn't sing on that one but the second one we were doing bye bye birdie oh yeah, yeah. And I went in and I must have been 10 years old or something, and I sang You Are My Sunshine. Oh. And I got the part. Oh, good for you. I was in the chorus. Yeah. How big of a casting

call was that? Who'd you knock out of the running? How many? Like 10 kids? Well, it's really funny. The girl, I wanted the part of Ursula, which is the quirky best friend. And Tana Studebaker got it. She was four years older than me, five years older than me. And I admired her so much.

She was so beautiful and talented and cool. She wore like Birkenstocks and MC Hammer pants before like anyone was doing that. Was there a lot of people doing that? And you know what? She's coming to visit me next week. Get out of here. From Twin Falls. Someone you know when you were nine?

Yeah, that I've admired my whole life. And we've remained friends. We sort of had a reconnection. And she's coming with her daughter to visit me next week. That's crazy. Full circle. And what business she end up in? She does teaching.

She actually very coincidentally, she now teaches jump company she helps direct some of their variety shows and does choreography and and direction for them and um she's been a teacher in many different ways in twin falls but she's still with the company yeah that's nice the same company with it's like uh jump company is the company that did the shows? Yeah. It's really funny. That's crazy. I was shopping for a table at Jonathan Adler about a month ago. And this guy who worked there, McKay, if you're listening, so nice. And he was like, are you from Twin Falls, Idaho? And I was like, yeah.

Thinking. And he goes, I was in Jump Company. So it's like, it's a real stepping stone there were a lot of really talented kids in it and a lot of them stayed in the arts a stepping stone

to furniture sales? well to to giving you confidence to get out if you want and go to LA and give it a go

I was just being a dick yeah I know you were being a dick I'm like it's so inspiring. God, you've got to trust me on the Idaho thing. No, I do. I like when, like, I think that people that come out of community theater or start that young and learn that thing,

it seems like there's always a bunch of grownups that come up in it and want to keep it going, that don't have big dreams, but know it's good for the kids and it's good for the community. It was such a part of our community that we would do performances at the local college and the whole town would come out. And at the time, that town was about 30,000 people. I think it's probably doubled in size now. But we were big shots in that town. Then I moved to Virginia. And if you were in the theater department, you were not cool.

Oh yeah. So I went from like this, this really supportive community that was exciting if you were in jump company to going and being in the theater department in high school

and everyone was like, I'm going to throw shit at your head and really tear you down. Yeah, nerd. Yeah. Beak. Yeah.

That's the nicest way they would, I don't think they use words that nice. Not in Virginia. Not in Virginia. More evolved slang. It was a little more sophisticated over there. Yeah, there's a historical foundation of intolerance in that part of the country. It's true, it's true.

But the fact is that, of course, an entire city would, it's like watching kids perform plays is like great. It's sweet. It's so great. I mean, there's definitely a waiting for Guffman quality too. Sure, of course. But if you remember waiting for Guffman, they were actually really good at the end, right? Yeah. But when you're a kid, like, I mean, I did meet me in St. Louis in seventh grade and I had a mustache on, but you really think you're doing it.

Like, you know, when you're that age, you're like, I'm doing this. Oh, no. We had people come up to us at the end and say,

listen, we saw Grease on Broadway and your version was better. And we were like, yeah. Like, we thought

we were as good as Broadway because we were being told. Yeah. We didn't know Broadway. And you probably were being at least more earnest. Maybe. When you're a kid, there's all that weird vulnerability and you're giving it your all.

Giving it. And there's no cynicism that has ruined it or no sense of perfectionism or expectation. You're just sort of like, I'm going to do it. And it was so sad because they wanted to give more kids opportunity. Yeah. So they made more pink ladies and more T-Birds just so that like. Yeah. So I was like a fake pink lady.

So there's like 20 of them? Like I made up my own name. Like it was just like. Oh, really? And then we had to change all like the dirty bits, like the dirty lyrics and stuff. What was your made up name? Do you think you remember? I was Cherry.

Good one. I came up was Cherry. Good one. I came up with Cherry. Good one. So what happens? You moved to Virginia, and now you're a genius actress. You've done important work by Birdie and Grease. Seven Brothers. Seven Brothers.

Just name a few. It's all right. It's all right. And you step into high school then? Yeah. Because your dad moved? Yeah. Your parents still together?

My parents were still together but my mom was like so help me god if you move these children and we were like we hate you don't ever take us away it was a really traumatic of my family bad car ride bad bad bad yeah bad in the vw bus oh that's a long drive too yeah so it's like and so right away to move at that age is the worst it's the worst i mean you're going to get it was the first year of high school and you've got all these amazing friends yeah back in idaho and you're all going to go to high school together yeah to a certain extent we were all different ages but but yeah i mean you had this you know a sense of like putting your roots down and yeah

and you know you're getting crushes on boys for the first time and and uh and it was a very sort of wholesome place to grow up sure too idaho like we would all get together as boys and girls and like we would play follow the dog and sardines and like we would all cook together and sing songs like it was really quite innocent yeah so then we got to virginia and all the girls were like carrying purses yeah i was like moms carry purses what's this like and they would all wear these um these chains around their neck you know with, with the Coke tops. Like, you would take off the Coke tab. Yeah.

And it was supposed to be how many people you'd slept with on the, and I was like, I haven't done, I don't. You mean like pull tabs? Yeah,

you would take the, like, where you crack the Coke open, that little tab on top. Oh, right, yeah, yeah.

Oh, that's right, that's right, I remember that. put them on necklaces. and that was your, how many people you slept with, supposedly? I'm sure supposedly. I was your, how many people you slept with supposedly?

I'm sure supposedly. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't do this in Idaho. I don't know the purses and the sleeping with people. Yeah, it was outrageous. So I was really intimidated. Sheltered, you felt? I didn't feel sheltered.

I thought that I could sort of sense that they were moving too fast. Right. I was kind of okay where I was at. Right. Yeah. Yeah. These were racy gals. Yeah.

They were talking about stuff that I was like, you're a kid. Right. Right. Yeah. And you didn't buy it? I didn't really buy it. You know, I sort of immediately went into that thing where I joined the theater department. Yeah.

And then we're that, you know, you're not really allowed in the lunchroom. You're not welcome in the lunchroom. Really? So, yeah. As theater department? Yeah. They'd make fun of you and call you names and things. So we all sort of sat in front of the theater together.

Yeah. We were like the little goth punk theater kids that would sit and all keep to ourselves. So we sort of protected ourselves from the stuff that was scary to me. The horrendous hierarchy of high school. Yeah, we sort of kept to ourselves. So when you, but it's always interesting to me

that the theater department provides this haven for fragile people, for creative people, for people struggling with their sexuality. You know, there was sort of an all accepting kind of like, we're just, you know, we're doing our thing over here. And there was a confidence in it, you know. Absolutely. A very scrappy, well-rounded group of people, but really the people who felt like they needed a little protection and their own family at high school.

That's where you find them, I think. Yeah, that aren't jocks or horrible people. Yeah, our teacher would even give us hall passes to get out of school assemblies, and he'd go, if you go spend time working on your play in the theater, then I'll get you out of the school assembly, because I know that it's torture. Yeah, he knew from generations of theater kids. Yeah, he was like, let me at least do this for you.

So you were gothy? I was gothy. That was your thing? Yeah. Dyed your hair black? Yeah, Black hair. I went through the gamut that started out with like the sort of cherry red and manic panic, you know, and then orange and purple. Who were your bands? I mean, what you'd think, Concrete Blonde, Sisters of Mercy, Suzy, Smith, you know.

The ones. Skinny Puppy. Yeah. Yeah. you know the ones skinny puppy yeah yeah and so it's weird how like that's how you kind of designed your identity around music i do i remembered when i lived in idaho hearing the cure for their first time and seeing a video it was off disintegration and i remember hearing joey by concrete blonde it was the first time I'd seen music videos. And it blew my mind. I was just like, wait, there's something else out there.

And didn't realize at that time, because there weren't goths and things in Twin Falls. So I went to Virginia liking that music. And thinking I was a bit liking that music. Yeah. And thinking I was a bit odd or different or something. Just for liking it. And then found all the people who were all listening to that music. Yeah. And I was like, oh, they all dress a certain way too.

Yeah. There's a whole thing about it. It's built in. Yeah. A whole lifestyle. So I thought I was just coming with some weird bands that I liked. And then I found out there was a community. Yeah.

A community. Yeah. And everything's taken care of. Yeah. Here's what you need. And they're like, oh, wait, you don't know this band yet? Hold on. Oh, that's the best.

Yeah, we'll take care of that. That's the best. Yeah. It is sort of, I guess it is sort of weird. Because a lot of people talk about it. And I don't know if I really think about it in my life. Where you do see something where you're like, there is something going on out there. And it's not here.

You know, and it's like big and grown up and exciting yeah weird i well i also i also remember it was my first week in virginia and i was waiting at the bus stop very early in the morning and my oh for the bus school bus for the school bus And my neighbor, her and her brother were standing there sort of scowling, and she was wearing a Cure t-shirt. And I went, oh, do you like the Cure? She was like, yeah, I'm going to go see them in concert. And I was like, watch them play their instruments? Like, I didn't know that you could go and see a band that you liked.

How old were you, 14? I was 13. Yeah. I mean, bands didn't come to you could go and see a band that you liked how old were you 14 I was 13 yeah I mean bands didn't come to Twin Falls either so I didn't even know

that that was a thing I was like you're gonna go and they're gonna be in front of you playing their instruments yeah she was looking at me

like I was crazy did you go I have seen The Cure probably five times now But not that time But I started to go to shows all the time in D.C. Yeah All ages clubs?

Or did you sneak in? I didn't really do that I mean we had these things called Jam for Man Where local bands would play And you'd bring like a can of soup or something And then you would get in And that was more sort of local bands But there was like a big scene of like

fagazzi and oh yeah no dc was big yeah and then there was the 9 9 30 club so like l7 would come in you would go see like built a spill and you know you would go see all that um that was and then there would be big shows too but that was a big thing those were big though that was your time those were the alt bands that were happening. Yeah, it was fun. L7's getting back together. Are they? Yes. That's pretty cool.

Yeah, I talked to Joan Jett, and I think she's helping them do a record, but I think they're coming back if they haven't already. I still have my L7 t-shirt from that concert. You do? Yeah. Do you wear it? Smell the Magic tour. Yeah. I don't know that I wear it very often.

It's slightly offensive. Like, you can't wear it out without being questioned. Right. Yeah. It's a bold move. Okay. I got it. It's a bold move.

Not when you're a teenager so much? It's more like a workout t-shirt. Oh, there you go. Yeah. So you're doing more theater in high school and you're learning things? Do you have a drama teacher? When do you start, like, taking acting somewhat seriously? Yeah.

And also, when did you learn how to play the accordion? Ah. Well, I... Two separate questions. Yeah. Difficult. So high school was the first time I could choose drama as an elective. Yeah.

So it was the first time I could have a class instead of it just being community theater. Right. So I was super, super excited. And I was a freshman, and they had auditions for their first play of the season which was Blythe Spirit uh-huh I believe yeah oh it could have been All My Sons I think it was All My Sons Arthur Miller yes they're doing that on Broadway we were doing some really heavy stuff that's heavy yeah I didn't you know I think that uh Tracy Letts and Annette Bening are doing that on Broadway amazing they're they're in rehearsals Amazing. I saw Laurie Metcalf

do it in London and she was so extraordinary. She's amazing. She's always doing some play and if you get an opportunity,

I've probably seen her in 10 different things. She's phenomenal. I've seen her sitting right across from me and it was a lot. Yeah. Yeah, I mean,

you're just sort of like, wow. She's just so incredibly talented. Yeah, it's like, it's kind of something. Yeah. But what is All of My Sons?

Is it called All of My Sons? All My Sons. It's a really dark family post-war situation. We should not have been tackling this stuff in high school. My teacher, then we did Agnes of God. I mean, it was really too much for the kids. But I got one of the starring roles, and I was a freshman, and some of the seniors were a little peeved.

Because they're like, this is... She's way too young to be doing this. So I started getting leads in the plays in high school and it was super fun for me. So I really dove into it. And then I decided to continue doing community theater.

So I would do theater. In Virginia. Yeah. So I would do high school theater and then I would go out to the local towns and I did some more musicals. So you knew it was your thing. I knew it was my thing. Yeah. I was also a dancer though at the same time. So I would study ballet every day. Oh, really? Ballet, ballet? Mm-hmm. Ballet, ballet.

Like up on your toes ballet? Yeah. In the toe shoes ballet. Man, that looks, I think that all helps. I mean, did you think you were going to be a ballerina? I wanted to for many, many years, and I studied as if I was going to be. And then, you know, a dancer's career starts when they're like 14 or 15. Right. So if you're not that good.

Yeah, if you're not a prodigy. Then you need to check yourself because you're like, this hurts a lot. Yeah. And you really, dancers really beat themselves up there's it's it can be mentally and physically right yeah exhausting and and a little bit masochistic yeah i saw black swan yeah you know you know you saw chorus line we all beat ourselves up, though. No matter what, if you pick a creative field. But I think that it is such an underappreciated art. And also demanding.

I think it's probably one of the hardest arts and the least appreciated. Yeah, yeah. But I think knowing it's good. Absolutely. For movement, for being in touch with your body and all that shit. Movement, discipline. Yeah. Being able to take criticism, wanting to do the work in order to get better,

all those things help in the arts, or probably with everything, really. So what happens when you graduate? Do you just start acting, or what happens? I did my senior year of high school at the community college because I did not enjoy high school. Why? There wasn't enough protection in the theater department no it it really had me depressed with how people treat each other and and the the way that people were allowed to get away with things being hurtful and physically hurtful to people.

You? Not physically. I didn't get in fights, but there were fights daily in my school where it was sort of Lord of the Flies. I mean, kids would just, some poor kid would be getting the crap beat out of them and everyone would be like, fight, fight, fight, fight. And it just horrified me. Yeah.

And I was too sensitive for it. It wasn't good for me. So I, unbeknownst to my parents, I and my best friend went to the community college and met with counselors and said, what kind of credits do we need to graduate from high school and also get college credits at the same time? So I did my senior year doing that.

Did you get, like, bullied? Oh, absolutely I got bullied. Horribly. By girls? Both. Really? Oh, yeah. From what? senior year doing that did you get like bullied oh absolutely i got bullied horribly by girls both really oh for what for the way i dressed for being in theater for my friend the kind of friends that i had yeah i had to move my locker from a certain area because i'd get like people would spit food at me and call me names what the fuck so I knew if my locker was closer to like a certain area that I wouldn't get bothered. Shitty kids. Shitty kids. Yeah.

Ironically, that high school is now a school for the arts, which makes me a little bit irritated and also so happy for them. But like, I'm like, really? You got to go back and give a talk. When I was here, showing your locker, I had to move from this spot. Yeah, you appreciate that locker. Yeah, because of this Locker. Yeah, exactly. I had to move from this spot. Yeah, you appreciate that locker. Yeah, because there's one asshole. Yeah, exactly.

So community college. So went to community college, continued doing community theater, and I was working at a hair salon. Cutting hair? As a shampoo girl. Oh, yeah. And a receptionist. Okay. And my mother decided to enter me into a modeling contest.

She had seen a contest to be in 17 magazine. Without asking you? I think what she said was look, tore out this page and said I think we should do this. But I didn't have any. You had to send in photographs and I didn't have any. How old were you?

I would be 17. Uh-huh. And a good friend of mine who worked at like the local record and tape exchange, it was like very high fidelity and I would hang out there after school. Sure. Hear the new stuff. Hear the new stuff.

We play records and like judge people. Yeah. And he was like, oh, this one guy comes in here all the time. He's a photographer. I've got his number. Maybe he could take some pictures of you for the contest. i called this guy and i said hi my name's he's like how'd you get my number and what yeah all right how old are you and what like what's i don't want any trouble yeah he was like so he decided to meet me at a bagel shop yeah we got to meet

in public and he was like bring whatever photos you have of yourself yeah and i brought a prom picture and like he goes oh you really have no photos like i thought like you would have like a you know something like no i really don't a prom picture yeah and what kind of tux was the guy wearing like a baby blue ruffles no no he was goth he had like uh he had a purple mohawk and Tails? He had tails on and knee-high docks and a nose ring from his ear. That was the first boyfriend? Yeah. I actually saw him last week.

He was also visiting. No. Yeah. That was really fun. I hadn't seen him in 13 years. We had drinks and dinner last week. And that was like your love? Yeah.

It was like my first love. And how'd he turn out? He's great. That's good. Yeah. Does he look normal now? Does he still have the nose ring? I think everyone at work

thinks he's normal. He's got a beard and wears suits, but then he's got all these piercings and tattoos underneath. Still? Yeah.

He keeps them active? I think he's got more tattoos now. He's got more tattoos now. Yeah, people seem to collect them. Once they start, it doesn't stop until they run out. Back in the day,

he just had those Celtic bands and a Sisters of Mercy star with the face. And now he's got full sleeves. Yeah, he's got full sleeves. Well, that's nice. Isn't this nice seeing him? It was so nice seeing him. It was really, really nice.

It can be kind of trippy to see people, but you've seen him since high school then, though. I'd seen him once, several times since high school. I hadn't seen him in 13 years, but we're still friends, so we text and we talk on the phone that's nice yeah sometimes i don't see people for like 15 years and then you see him you're like oh my god if that's happening to you it must be happening to me well you have the aging process i mean i was a little bit nervous for him to see me because i mean he could see me on shows and stuff, but he doesn't really watch my shows. Right. But still, just seeing someone in person is a whole different thing. Especially someone you were in love with. Yeah.

It's heavy. And I found myself sort of like dressing a little bit goth to go meet him. And then I was like, why am I trying to look like I... And then I started over, and then I just went for a whole different look. Did you really? But I found myself in a black dress and like a red lip. Really? And I was like, wait a minute.

I'm going to soften it up. I'm going to go more like gypsy. I'm going to be like gypsy Christina. It was like really. This is just recently? Yeah, last week. You were gothing out? I was gothing out, which is, by the way, fairly normal for me.

That's so funny though that you kind of lock into those old patterns. Yeah, I was like, yeah, like how would he like to see me probably the exact same way yeah it's wild yeah so all right so you get the pics the guy takes pictures so he took a bunch of test photos of me i sent them into this competition and in the meantime he introduced me to this husband and wife team who started hiring me as a local model yeah so i did a lot of like elegant bride and um these early things and then um and then i didn't win the contest right but i got all these nice photos and i started to pursue my career and so modeling modeling so probably did about a year of local modeling and then decided i had enough pictures in a portfolio

to go to New York City. And I went around and met all the agencies and then I moved to New York. What agencies did you sign with? The first agency I signed with was Pauline's. They don't exist anymore. And then I went to Ford and I was with IMG. So this was your thing, the modeling thing. That was my thing because I thought, first of all, I didn't know that I could be an actor as a profession. I just thought I'll always do community theater in the evening. I'll get a job and then at night I'll do community theater.

Yeah. And I had pre-auditioned and been accepted to Virginia Commonwealth and their theater department to go to that college. Virginia Commonwealth and their theater department to go to that college. But I had such a horrible time in high school that I was like the idea of like continuing education and being still around groups of people. I was like, this is not for me. And when I got this opportunity to move to New York, I just thought, I don't know really what I want to do, but I know this is closer. This is closer to what I want to do.

And it's getting me in a place that's not here. Yeah. New York. Yeah. Well, I mean, like, my first wife was a model who quit, you know, and like, you know, we talk about ballerinas, but like modelings, you know, I mean, she had to quit because of, you know, the expectations on you to maintain whatever look it is. But it just seems like it's almost inescapable.

Yeah, I mean. Eating disorders primarily. Right. I did not go through that. Yeah. I think I suffered a little bit of that when I was a dancer. Yeah. You know, some of these girls are just so damn young.

Yeah. Their bodies are like that. Right. Because they're like not developed yet. Like I was just skinny. Yeah. The girls I knew didn't work out. Yeah.

The models. Smoked. Smoked like crazy. Yeah. They drank beer and like ate pizza. Like, and then it's going to catch up with you. How often did they eat pizza really? I mean, it's all we could afford. We often do they eat pizza really i mean it's all

we could afford we couldn't like we weren't eating a nice restaurant so you were eating nothing or pizza i was eating a lot of sorbet yeah i remember eating a lot of sorbet yeah um just because it's what you could afford sure so it didn't fuck you up so but then these girls you know i i happened to be lucky i sort of of slowly transitioned into that. I started doing a lot of commercials. And then the commercials led into the acting and this and that. So I kind of slowly phased out where had I stayed in modeling, I would have come up to all of those things. Like my body's changing.

Things are not the way they used to be. I'm getting older. You know, whatever it is. Yeah, yeah. When you're 18, you don't have to worry about too much. So your timing worked out. My timing kind of worked out. Yeah, yeah.

So did you do like runway shit and that kind of stuff? I did a little bit. I was always a little short. I'm 5'8". So you never did that? You go to Milan and all that stuff? I did shows in London. And I did a handful of shows in New York.

Yeah. But I never did Italy or Paris. Yeah. And you liked it? I loved it because I was traveling for the first time. I was going out of the country. My first time out of the country was Japan. Blew my mind.

Loved it. To work? To work. To do a shoot? I would spend, a lot of models go there Because you make a lot of money Yeah

Very quickly So I would spend a month and a half There each time So I went there three different times Just to hang out? You just work like crazy You work Oh, oh, I see

Like six, seven jobs In one catalog So you get booked out Right Yeah You get an agency in Japan You go and live with other models And you just work, work, work, work, work, work

And you get to hang out in Japan You get to hang out in Japan You make a bunch of money And take it home And hopefully it sustains you While you're trying to get work, work, work. And you get to hang out in Japan. You get to hang out in Japan. You make a bunch of money and take it home. And hopefully it sustains you while you're trying to get work in the other city that you're in. Eat real sushi. Eat real sushi, which is a real treat when you're there. I've never been there.

It's awesome. Do you go back now even? I haven't been back for 20 years. Since then? Yeah. That's interesting. I would love to go back. You can.

I know I can. I have so many places to go and I never have a break. I know. You work too much. But I really, there's so many places I want to go. So you start doing commercials. I started doing commercials. And you get an agent.

Is that what happens? Yeah. So I started working as a model in New York. Yeah. So then I moved to London. Yeah. Which I fell really in love with. And so I actually like planted, like I actually moved there, moved there.

Yeah? Lived there for how long? I lived there for just over a year. Did you go see theater there? Saw some theater there. And lived with two of my best friends who were teachers. Yeah. And modeled there and loved it

but like just started running out of money. Right. And I was like, okay, I'm not, like I gotta do something. Work's drying up?

Yeah, I was like, you know, a couple pounds left in my pocket. My mom was like, I'm thinking about moving to LA.

My brother had moved to LA. Yeah. And your folks were split by then. They were split. One camping trip too many. She was like, I only live in Virginia

because of your dad and I hate it here. Yeah. So I want to go somewhere sunshiny. many. She was like, I only live in Virginia because of your dad and I hate it here. Yeah. So I want to go somewhere sunshiny. Yeah. She's like, do you want to come? And I said, I think you need a car or something. Like, I don't have that.

She's like, you can have the old Buick and I'll get a new car there. Yeah. So we moved out together. And I got a modeling agency in the meantime because i didn't know what i was going to do yet and i called some friends that i knew in the music business because i was so interested in music i was like maybe you could get me an internship and they were like it's a rough go in the music industry like it's not that it's hard yeah and they sort of steered me away from it and i got this agency and all of a sudden I started working more as a model in L.A.

than I'd worked anywhere else, oddly, because L.A. is not really considered a fashion city. Right. But it was because I was doing commercials. Right. For stuff. For stuff. Carl's Jr., Dr. Pepper. Oh, okay.

You know? Yeah, yeah. I can't remember. Doing music videos. Yeah. I didn't ever clear a video. And so I started learning things like how to hit your mark on camera. Well, how was the culture shock from, I guess it's not that much, but LA sort of, you know,

bit of a clusterfuck in terms of show business. And in terms of like, I imagine once you did a music video, you got a kind of a little glimmer or a glimpse into, you know, what movies and everything's going to be like i mean not kind of it still felt like i was i didn't call myself an actress yet when i was still called myself a model yeah so when i was getting those gigs i felt like I was getting the best modeling gigs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there was this sense of like, oh, everyone here is an actor. Right. Everyone's trying to do

the thing. Yeah. You would like drive down a street and there'd be all these people like with scripts on the street, like looking concerned and you realize, oh, they're in an acting class. They're running their lines. And I was like, oh, they're in an acting class. They're running their lines. Yeah. And I was like, oh, this is gross.

It kind of turned me off. Right. Because it's all anyone talked about and everyone was doing it. It felt less special. Yeah. Than anywhere I've been. Sure. It's a business of the city.

Yeah. Yeah. And then I started doing all these commercials and and that was going really well and i was having fun and then my brother was working next door to a manager yeah and he was like you should represent my sister i saw her in agnes of god she's really good and this manager was like yeah yeah everyone's got a sister that's good and he was like, yeah, yeah, everyone's got a sister. That's good. And he was like, no, I think my sister is really good. And he loved my brother. So he took a meeting with me.

And he was like, at the end of the meeting, I brought him like the commercials I had been in. And he goes, I'd like to represent you. And I said, I don't know what that means. I don't know what your job is. And he said, well, I'll help you get auditions. I'll help you get an agent. I'll help you get an agent and I'll, you know. And it turns out

at the time he had such a small group of people and he was in this weird little office but he represented John Hamm and Paul Rudd and like four other people

and me. Guys you ended up working with. Yeah. That's wild. Really weird. And we all like, when we see each other

we're like, remember when we would run into each other in that weird office? Who was the guy? Ross Brown. And he was great. Yeah. And I was with him for years.

He had a good eye. He had a good eye. Yeah. Yeah. That's so wild that you and Ham are being managed by this little rinky-dink operation. Yeah. And we were at the table read of the very first episode of Mad Men. And John was like, I don't know if you remember, but we were both, I was like, oh my God, yeah, I remember meeting you.

Yeah, it was really weird. So, okay, so now you're managed, and he got you an agent? I went around and auditioned for agencies. Like, actually, a lot of people don't do this. I don't know how they get around it, But I had to go in and do a scene. Right. So there was a very sweet, kind actor who was also with the same manager who would go and audition. I would do Meg Ryan scenes.

Oh, right. I was like, I'm a Meg Ryan type. Yeah, right. So I would go in and do a scene, and then I got my first agent. And who was that? It was Don Buchwald. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I think they're still around. I think so. The Buchwald agency? I remember that. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of people were with them. Yeah. That was sort of a big, not huge agency.

Yeah. So I was with them for about six months, and I got an audition for Beggars and Choosers, which was on Showtime. Yeah. And I got it, and that was my first series. Really? Mm-hmm. And how many episodes did you do?

It was one full season. I think we did maybe 16 episodes. I came in in season two. And did you do other parts? That was your first gig, your first job? I came in in season two. And did you do other parts? That was your first gig, your first job?

Before that, I did an episode of MTV Undressed. Yeah. I don't even remember that. No one remembers it. But anyone who was starting out got a job on that because they needed thousands of actors because it was one of these meandering stories where this story happens and then that character meets and that starts the next episode. So I did an episode or a couple episodes of that. And then I did an episode of Angel where I played an Irish barmaid in the 1700s or something.

Oh, well, that's dress up. That was dress up. Yeah. And I got to do a little Irish accent for like my one line or something. And then I got this series. So then I moved to Vancouver and started doing this show. Did 19 episodes. Did I do 19?

Yeah. Oh, more than I thought. I just checked. Yeah. Yeah. Vancouver's nice. Vancouver's very nice. It was not a great experience

for me. Why? I'm not going to lie. I don't think that people should be protected when they act bad. Our lead actress was nasty, nasty mean. Yeah.

She was just mean to everyone. And I came in in season two and there had sort of this precedent had already been set and the clicks had been set and people were scared of her and stayed away. And I was kind of the new kid who didn't know anyone. Carol Kane was on that show. She's sweet. And she is so sweet. And she came up to me one day and she was like, honey, you go stand right next to them.

You're just as important as everybody else. And I looked at her and I was like, Carol Kane's saying this to me. I'm going to go. And she gave me some pep talks. Yeah, she's great. She's great. So I felt a little bit trapped in Vancouver.

Yeah. But I made a couple nice friends. But then you just started working, it looks like. Like, you know, episode arcs, things. I did Firefly. I did. Movies. No, I did mostly television.

I started to get film roles through Mad Men. So that was the big break, really. That was the big break. I mean, to me, you know, just going to work as an actor. Yeah. My dad would keep being like, oh, you're almost there. I'm like, I'm on a national television. Like, this is, I'm an actor.

What do you mean I'm almost there? This is the dream. And then there's a, we don't get that station. Yeah. Yeah. And then, so then when you get Mad Men and then all of a sudden there's like a lot of attention, then you're like, oh, this is like the cherry on top of the career. Right.

Because now you can bring your daughter up and people are like, oh, I know her. All of a sudden your daughter's in like crossword puzzles and stuff. I know, the crossword puzzle. The coolest. That blows people away. Do you know you're a clue? Yeah, exactly. A Jeopardy clue.

Yeah, I got that. I got one of those. I got a couple of New York Times crosswords and one Jeopardy clue. That will impress the parents. Sure. Yeah. But how did that come about? Mad Men?

I'm sure you've told the story a million times, but I mean, like, how did you get that part? I mean, it was pilot season. So you go on a thousand auditions and a lot of people were talking about that one because it was really different. The casting. Talking about it. Talking about the script. Like actors who were going out to audition like, oh, did you read that one? Right, right.

Because that was like different. Yeah. And I remember very distinctly it was, you know, that casting studio out west that's like that little brick building on a cul-de-sac. I can't remember the name of it. And I went in there dressed like what I thought was like sort of 60s like and I auditioned for the Joan role. Yeah. And I remember it being nerve wracking. Yeah. And I remember it being nerve wracking. And then maybe a week and a half later, they said, they'd like you to come back and audition for the mid role.

And the mid role was the artist who did a greeting cards that has an affair with Don Draper. Right. Played by Rosemary DeWitt, who's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I went back and auditioned for that role. who's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I went back and auditioned for that role.

And then a couple weeks later, they said, why don't you come back and audition for Joan again? Yeah. I was like, I'm not bringing anything to this role. I was going over the lines with my best friend. And I started crying because that's what pilot season will do to you. It will beat you down. Yeah. And I was like, I'm not doing anything.

I'm just saying words. She was like, I think this is yours. I'm just saying words. She was like, I think this is yours. I think you're going to get this one. And I went back and auditioned for Joan again, and then it was, it seems like maybe a month went by, and I didn't hear a word. So I just thought it was another thing that I auditioned for that went away. What were the agents saying?

They weren't saying anything, because when you go, pilot season can sometimes be three to six auditions a day. So at the end of the day, they're like, yeah, they're going a different direction. Oh, they chose that. And if some of them just pass by and you never even ask about them. Because you're just like, if I didn't hear, then they didn't like me. Right, right. Did you want the role?

Did you like the role? Did you know that the role was some sort of portal into something amazing or no? I didn't know. I thought it was, I didn't even get to read the whole script. I read scenes. Right. So I liked that it was, I could tell it was different and I could tell it was smart. Yeah.

But I didn't know what this character was, if anything. She was a guest star when i auditioned for it oh really yeah so um i thought the mid role was more exciting right because it was sexy yeah um so i said i'll i'll do any role in this thing if right if it's a series regular sure and they said well it will become a series regular if we get like a season two or something like that. So like a month later, they called and said, you've got the part, which is weird because normally you would have to go through more steps like a network test and a studio test. But because AMC didn't have any other shows, they didn't have a system set up. So they just were like,

you're on tape, we saw it, you're great, you want the role. That's right, AMC was Mad Men's on AMC? Yeah, we were their first show ever.

Yeah. So, I was up for another pilot, and my agents really wanted me to do that, because it was the more prestigious, it was on a real network, and it just seemed more of a sure bet, and really put my foot down i was like i really i want this and my agents were like ah we think you should go for the other one and my manager really stood by

me and said i think this project there's something really interesting not the old manager the new manager the new manager yeah and i said i've done the projects that seem like sure bets and they didn't get picked up either yeah i'm sorry john wells sally field like what's like i thought i was on the new west wing right canceled in six yeah so i was like let's go for the cool one right and you did that and your agents did you fight with your agents they they let me go they let me go they were like basically my agent went on pregnancy leave and then no one wanted to take over being my agent you were working so much how is that fucking possible i was like i'm i have a series every year what is not like i guess it cost them a lot of money to send messengers and scripts to my house. It wasn't like they didn't see me going anywhere, I guess. So that was like shitty and snotty.

It was embarrassing. I was really embarrassed. Because your manager was like, this is what you're doing. The agent's like, well, fuck you. Kind of, yeah. And then you've got to, of no fault of your own, you've got to be like, you were dropped from your agency. Yeah. But then you have a sweet smell of revenge there.

Yeah. I mean, I didn't, I had people, Matt was like, do you want me to write him, Matt Weiner, the creator of the movie, he was like, do you want me to write him a letter? And I said, the great thing about this show is no letter needs to be written. It's, we all know someone fucked up here. Yeah, it's good to take care of it. And it here. Yeah, it's good to take care of it. And it wasn't me. It's good to take care of itself.

Yeah, don't need to write any letters. But going into this role, you know, given that, you know, once you got the part, you'd only read the sides. This was sort of, you know, in terms of female character, a kind of pivotal and unique character to be a woman who's going to eventually kind of fight it out and be judged by this, you know, these well-suited, you know, sexist, predatory men. Yeah. Of an era. But, you know, you were going to be the woman that sort of transcends in her whole you and elizabeth moss i believe if i remember properly took different journeys to exactly you know being you know realized yeah as powerful women but i didn't know i mean that is something that developed

for the character i mean it wasn't something that we knew in season one in season one matt weiner said you're gonna have an affair with Roger Sterling. And I was like, yes, I love that actor. He's so good. I've always loved that actor. I can't believe I get to have like scenes with him. So I was psyched about that. And that's the thing.

Like in season one, I'm kind of just this sassy bitch. Like I come around and I like give people the once over and I tell them my opinion and make people feel bad. And she's kind of this eavesdropper, know-it-all, busy bee. Yeah. Which was really fun, but also like hard to wrap your head around. Yeah. Who and why she's this way. Right.

And then as the years developed. They must have been writing for you after season one, seeing what you could do. And that must have given them inspiration to take the character places that you could take it. I think so. And Matt always said he couldn't see Peggy without Joan. He couldn't see Joan without Peggy because they were such different women. Yeah.

And it created such an interesting dynamic within that office space to see two women going about something so differently. Yeah. And almost being friends but bumping heads and just fundamentally different ideas of how to get ahead. So he loved showing their storylines through each other. And then I think as he got to know me, I think Joan softened up a little bit and she became a mother and a lover and a wife and you saw much more of her home life.

Yeah. Yeah. But it must have been like at least, you know, throughout the run of Mad Men, the character home life. Yeah. Yeah. But it must have been like at least, you know, throughout the run of Mad Men, the character kept evolving. Yeah. And it becomes like,

I imagine a joy to, to sort of be involved because, you know, it's not one of those shows that sort of levels off and creates a one dimensional character that you just refill every week. No, it was like you would learn something new about her each week and i mean as you know doing a show now for you know each season you get more history with

the other characters and so every scene becomes richer and deeper because you're not playing that scene you're playing six seasons right yeah emotions with someone every Every scene with Roger Stirling was so loaded. Yeah, yeah. You know, more and more and more. So it just became like a joy. And the thing just, you know, it kind of changed the culture, Mad Men. The culture of television

and the culture in general. Yeah. You know, and it's funny because I'm trying to see if I've watched, you did a lot of work since then. Another period, that's fun. I know those ladies. Yeah, they're great.

But I imagine that, you know, the baggage that comes from being a cultural phenomenon has got to be a little exhausting. I mean, there is no baggage. I mean, it's just the best thing that ever happened to my career. Sure, right, right, right. I mean, it opened up so many doors. Like I said, that's when I started doing films, getting offered. You know, I used to walk in a room to audition, and they'd be eating a turkey sandwich and shuffling through a million hedgehogs

trying to find the one that's you while you're doing your scene. Yeah. Taking phone calls. Yeah. And now you walk in and you walk in and there's a little bit of respect there already. Right. Because they liked your show. Right.

They are going to give you a moment. Yeah. To do your thing. Sure. Right. And like not have a taco. Yeah. You know.

Or fucking sit on their phone. Yeah. Or you know whatever it is you you get that five minutes is actually yours yeah you're you're a made person yeah yeah yeah so and and before i got madman i was getting a lot more sort of the quirky sidekick friend or the nervous girl or the um and no one had ever seen thought that i could do something with a lot of strength yeah and that character was filled with strength yeah it changed the type of roles that i've been offered and um but the nice thing is a lot of people in our industry watched that show

oh yeah exactly yeah but out in world, are you that person to people? Like, I mean, because like it took me a long time to not see Jon Hamm as Don Draper. Yeah. Like, I mean, I didn't think he would ever be able to kind of shift gears out of that. Right. I mean, for a long time, I think because I look so different than I did on the show. I mean, I always had the updo and and the very, very proper tailoring and stuff. So when people see us out and our hair is down and we're in jeans and stuff, people are like, oh my God, you're so young.

They had no idea. And because it was so specific in 60s, the second you take us out of the 60s, it takes a second, but then you can just get back to normal and be like, oh, she can play a woman who lives now. It's possible. It's so funny about the 60s. Like, you know, everybody looked old. Everyone looked old. Yeah, older.

If you were 30, you looked like you were like a grandparent. Yeah, it's weird, though, because like it was even that way with the people that were not all... It always blows me away that like Jimi Hendrix was 27, you know, when he died. Are you serious? I think so. Yeah. And Janis Joplin. And like there are these people.

Well, they were living hard. They were living hard, but they always seemed, they never seemed like they were in their 20s. No. Even though they were hippies or whatever. But like, but the people in Mad Men, like even, you just assume they're just full grown adults. But it's just, it's just the way it looked.

I know. I mean, that's what everyone would be like. You look exactly like my mom or exactly like my grandmother, exactly like my aunt. And you pull up those old photos. And it's like. And then you realize those people are 25. Exactly. They're not 35 or 40.

People thought we were much, much older on the show. That's wild. Yeah. I mean, I was 30 when I started the show. Yeah. older on the show that's wild yeah i mean i was i was 30 when i started the show yeah and so in and then this new show like you i mean you did other stuff but this is the big this is the next big thing right good girls really the movies so you did good movies drive was a good movie thank you did you like doing that i loved it yeah i've got a chance to do a lot of great films in in the time

and in in the break which one did you like the most? I mean. Like when you say that. Because Drive was like, that was an interesting movie. I mean, Drive, it's an interesting question. Which ones did you love

doing the most? Which ones came out the best? Which ones are you most proud of? I'm so proud of Drive and it's amazing. I wasn't there a ton. I have a small role right but it was it it was an important thing for me yeah um i just finished doing a movie last year

uh called american woman that'll be out in a in a month and a half or so that was just one of those things where it was like such a labor of love like it was just the most amazing experience. What's that about? It's about a family Sienna Miller and I play sisters and her daughter is abducted and it's about

this family sort of breaking down and then bringing themselves back together and bonding and how you get through trauma. Oh and Pat Healy's in it.

Love Pat Healy. And then I did I did Romanoff offs with matt weiner over in prague when is that going to be on it's already been on it's done oh it has yeah damn it that's the thing you can stream it my the hair person from glove was on that theresa i know theresa and you know lana and lana yeah two of my best friends they're your best friends i mean i worked with them they're like family yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was texting Lana yesterday. Oh, yeah?

She told you you were coming on here? I didn't. I didn't. I forgot about the connection, oddly. We were just talking about like stupid shit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Teresa made me look like I was from the 80s. She's so good. I mean. I love them. They're great. The way that she has done everyone's hair on that, I was like. It's crazy. It made me get a perm, first of all. Yeah. Fried my hair on that. It's crazy. It made me get a perm first of all.

It fried my hair. It's taken me a year and a half to try and get the stupid perm off because I was so inspired by what she did to everyone's hair that... Really? Darn it. I know. It's crazy. You went out and got a perm? I got a perm! I had these people that I somehow put blind trust

in. They were like, oh yeah, perms are different these days. I was like, but I have chemically treated hair. Are trust in, they were like, oh, yeah, perms are different these days. I was like, but I have chemically treated hair. Are you sure? They were like, no problem. It was worse than your worst case scenario. Friday. They started crying.

I had a chemical burn. It was breaking off. It was a nightmare. Oh, God. All because Alison Brie looked so good. That was a cute perm, right? So cute on her. Yeah, yeah.

Best look ever. It's crazy with those girls. I'd come in at like seven, and they'd been there since five just to get the fucking hair right. Yeah, I'm sure. And there's so many of them. I know. It was crazy.

I also just worked with Mariana Palka. Oh, yeah? She directed me in a film. Recently? This past year. Oh, that's great. When's that coming out? It's out.

Oh, boy. Which one's that called? It's called Egg. Yeah, how was that? It came out like two months ago. I, that's great. When's that coming out? It's out. Oh, boy. Which one's that called? It's called Egg. Yeah, how was that? It came out like two months ago. I can't keep up. No, there's a lot of stuff out there. There really is.

There's a lot of content. But I watched a few good girls. Oh, good. Yeah. Excellent. Because I wanted to at least know what you were up to. Yeah. Now, with this role, did they have you in mind or did you go in for it?

The truth is they shot the pilot with another actress really um and and they were recasting the role and then they came to me and i got the very very rare opportunity to see the show before i did it normally you read a script and you hope for the best. But I actually got to see a finished product. And they didn't air that pilot or they did? They did not.

Right. No. So you are the person. So I'm the person as far as anyone's seen. Right. This happens all the time in Hollywood.

Yeah. It is nothing against her or anyone who's been replaced. I have been replaced. I saw Julianne Moore on camera last night saying she was replaced. Please forgive me. Yeah.

Yeah, that's kind of wild. I was like, Beth and Julianne Moore. It made me feel better. Yeah. Because it does happen to all of us at some point. Yeah. And then, yeah, right. And that other actress is going to have her version and her story.

Yeah, exactly. And she'll have some amazing thing. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Usually it works out. It does. Yeah. Not always. So I got some amazing thing. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Usually it works out. It does. Yeah.

Not always. So I got to see it. Yeah. I had read the script and I thought it was great, but I was like, I don't, it's on NBC. I don't know if I trust that they're going to go with this dark, weird tone. I was curious about that. Yeah. I was scared.

And then I saw it and I was like, oh, they went for it. Like they went for it. Like they went for it. And I thought, if they can keep doing this, then I'm interested. And it probably took me a month of talking to Jenna Banz, our creator, talking to people at NBC and being like, you have to promise me that you're not going to get scared and back down saying we offended someone or this got to. I said, you've got to, this has got to be the tone of the show. And they kept promising and they've been true to their word. And you like playing this character? It's like it's complicated to create these, you know, strong female characters that are,

it's that zone where, you where, I think it probably started, like Breaking Bad has this idea that these characters are decent folks that have become morally compromised out of necessity or out of, and then they kind of live in that zone. They navigate being kind of bad people, but you empathize for them. Right. Yeah. It's tricky. Whereas in Breaking Bad, I think they went a little more full throttle.

That's what I mean. Like, with Breaking Bad, you definitely were empathizing for a guy who killed people. Right. Right. And on ours, you know, it gets compared to it because obviously it's people living normal lives in the Midwest who stumble into this thing that's so out of their depth. Yeah. And they try to navigate it. And they try to navigate it. But they're constantly backtracking and wanting to be good people and drawing lines in places like that.

That's where we, we can't go further than that. That's where I draw the line. That's when you're a bad person. This is when you're a good person. Yeah. And how you justify doing those bad things little by little. Like you don't shoot the guy. You don't shoot the guy.

We're not killers, you know. Not yet. And so we're still like doing bake sales and we're still, you know, picking them up at the pool. We're trying to navigate this thing. And your husband had to take a bullet. Husband had to take a bullet. Yeah.

Matt Lillard, who's great. I haven't seen him, I think, since the Descendants. Who's great on that. He plays similar characters in a way. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of a douche. A douche.

But he couldn't be nicer. He's the best guy ever. Yeah. I'm so lucky to get to play his wife. And he jokes, he's like, God, why do I have to be such a dick all the time? You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he does it really well.

And his role is really hard, too, because you're teetering on this guy who's cheated on his wife and and depleted their financials and been reckless yeah and and yet there's something the way that matt does it that's sort of lovable and likable and you can see why they were together and you can see that he's a good dad and right you can see there's history there so it's it's a bit of a complicated relationship and are people watching it i think so it. It's on network. You should know. First of all, I don't know what those numbers mean. I'm really bad at it. One, yes. But yes, they watched it on NBC, but then they really started watching it on Netflix. Oh, yeah. A lot of people think we're a Netflix show. We are an NBC show. It's kind of two different audiences, which is great

and then we're on Hulu so we're getting ourselves out there in a bunch of different ways but a lot of people were like oh my god I just binge watched your show

are you going to get a season two and I'm like yeah it's actually on tonight but you have to watch it on NBC you gotta watch it like a normal TV show

yeah I like having to wait a week me too I like that yeah it's better than watching all of them at once and having to wait a year you also I like that Yeah it's better than Watching all of them at once And having to wait a year You also completely forget

Right I'll watch an entire series And I'm like That was amazing Oh my god And then they're like Remember when And I'm like

No I watched it in three days Yeah I consumed too much At one time Well it's crazy Because you literally Got to wait a year That was the benefit

Of a weekly thing Is you looked forward to it Like when The Sopranos First aired It was like you built your life around Sunday or whenever. Oh my god, of course. And Mad Men, people would talk about what happened all week long. I think it was a better world. I think so.

But everybody's doing such great, you know, Reddit, that's like a completely different thing for her. I've never seen her like that. She's awesome. She's so awesome in it. And May is amazing. Yeah, you guys're the coolest. You're great. You're going to ride that line this whole season. Yeah. I mean, it gets darker in season two. The characters are quirky

and they're in ridiculous situations. So it is really funny. The show is really, really funny. But at its core, it's a drama and it's quite emotional but you do they they are sensitive to the comedy of it i mean it is like you said it's funny like are they right do they know it's funny i mean it's supposed to be funny i think the whole time we were we've been trying to ride this line of comedy drama in fact as you know like when it comes to award seasons and stuff and they want to put you up for a category, we didn't know what we would call ourselves because we really feel like- I guess that's a way of-

Yeah, I can see that. I only watched a few. But I guess, yeah, I can see that it does play for comedy. And I guess that's sort of a way to temper the darkness of it. Because Ozarks does not have any funny in it. No, that's dark you know but it's sort of a similar setup where you have like someone who's just trying to get their asses out of something but then ends up you know yeah there's definitely intentional humor in

this yeah sure and we write the humor but we try not to play the humor right but it's so confusing these days it's sort of like if you're a half hour show then you're just automatically considered a comedy. Yeah. But was Nurse Jackie a comedy? Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know. Right. It's like a drama to me. Right. Right. Yeah. So all of this stuff is BS.

But I like watching shows that I get both. I think it's interesting. I thought Mad Men was hilarious. Yeah. Did you? Yeah.

I thought it was really funny. It was dark and funny and weird. I'm trying to think if I thought it was funny. I mean just think of all the like Roger Sterling lines. Oh well was really funny. It was dark and funny and weird. I'm trying to think if I thought it was funny. I mean, just think of all the Roger Sterling lines. Oh, well, he's funny. He's a snarky and things happening to Pete Campbell.

There was some weird, funny stuff. There was, yeah. Well, congratulations on it. Thank you. It was nice talking to you. Very nice. Do you think we covered it? Oh, wait, accordion.

Oh, my God. There's not a lot to tell. But you can play it. I can't anymore. This is the sad truth. My ex knew that I always loved the accordion. I thought it was a beautiful instrument. One year, he gave it to me for Christmas.

And so I started learning as an adult. It's not something I grew up with. You weren't some sort of polka master when you were a kid? No. So I would go to Silver Lake Conservatory of Music. Flea's Place? Yeah, Flea's Place. They sort of tout themselves as saying we teach every instrument.

So I found an accordion teacher there and studied a little bit with him. And then on Mad Men, Matt called me one day and he was like, do you speak French and do you play the piano? And I said, I'll learn French if you want me to. And I don't really play the piano, but I do play a little accordion, which was perfect because we hadn't established a piano in Joan's apartment. Yeah. It's a very small apartment. Right. So to strap on an accordion solved a million problems.

Interesting. So then they got me another accordion teacher and had her come up and teach me each week. So when I play on Mad Men, I am a, like anyone who actually plays the accordion is like,

oh, she is not very good. Yeah, yeah. But enough to like do it. Right. I was a beginner and I really enjoyed it and then I went on location for different films

and this and that and set it aside and it's in my office winking at me every day and I want to play it but I'd be starting over. No. I would be starting over

but I won't get rid of it because I do have every intention of starting again. Okay. Well, maybe someday. Maybe someday.

All right. Good talking to you. That's it. Christina Hendricks. Nice chatting with her. Good Girls is on. The new episodes are on Sunday nights at 10, 9 central. Okay.

All right. I haven't played guitar in weeks. For all the tour dates, which there are many now, go to wtfpod.com slash tour. Haven't picked up a guitar in two weeks. Let's pick it up now. And let's put some fucking echo on it. slash tour. Haven't picked up a guitar in two weeks. Let's pick it up now. And let's put some fucking echo on it. Thank you. Boomer lives!

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talked to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly.

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