Photo: Getty Images; Illustration: Dillen Phelps
It was way back yonder in 2007 when Jon Hamm and John Slattery first shared the screen together as ad men Don Draper and Roger Sterling on AMC’s Mad Men, forging a camaraderie between the two actors that would bring them together again after the series had run its course. You may have seen them together in Confess, Fletch, but you won’t see them together in Slattery’s new directorial effort, Maggie Moore(s), which teams Hamm with another of his former co-stars – Tina Fey (30 Rock) – for a darkly comedic tale of murder and semi-mistaken identity. Decider was fortunate enough to talk to Hamm and Slattery together during their press blitz for the film, giving them a chance to discuss the specific of the story as well as talk about the legacy of Mad Men and whether or not we might see them reteam for another Fletch flick.
DECIDER: First of all, I loved the movie. I’m glad I had a chance to check it out before I got to talk to you guys.
Jon Hamm (JH): Great, thank you!
John Slattery (JS): Thanks!
How did the film come together? John, were you just offered the opportunity to do this? Or was it pitched to you?
JS: I pitched it to them. I was given the script, and I read it, and I was kind of impressed with… Well, more than a little impressed with how sort of fully formed it was. Usually my slot on the food chain… There’s something drastically wrong with the material. [Laughs.] And if you can see your way to fixing it, it can be something. But this thing was almost ready to shoot, I would say. So I pitched myself and got the job. And it went through a few different sets of producers, and then COVID, of course, and it took us awhile to get it together. But, yeah, the script just kind of fell into my lap.
The opening says that some of the film is true. Exactly how much?
JS: Well, it’s based – strictly based on – the occurrence in the year 2000 in Harris County, Texas, which is Houston, where two women named Mary Morris were found dead, murdered. And that circumstance, that unlikely original circumstance, is what sparked the imagination of Paul Birnbaum, who wrote the script, and the entire script is fictitious. But that actually happened, and it’s an open case that’s 23+ years old, and the families of those two women are desperate to solve the case. So if anybody watches the film… [Pauses.] I called them, and they just hope that if anybody watches this and it sort of ignites their memory, anything that they can come up with, they can call Crimestoppers – which is 1-800-222-TIPS – and give them any bit of information that they can. Because, again, it’s still an open case. But the movie is entirely fictitious.
When you first read the script, did you immediately picture Jon in the lead role of the police chief?
JS: I did! It was a pretty obvious choice. I mean, he’s a good friend, we talk a lot, we spend a lot of time together, and I read it and I was, like, “Well, this seems like a good fit.” And luckily he thought so, too!
And whose idea was it to re-team you with Tina, Jon? Was it yours or John’s?
JH: Well, John had said, “Read the script, and if you like it, let’s make it. But no pressure, and certainly no obligation.” And I read it, and I loved it, and I pitched Tina to John. I thought it’d be a good opportunity for her to show a side of her performing capacity that people hadn’t really seen, and to play a little more serious and heady and real. And I thought that could be a fun thing to watch as a moviegoer. I thought that’d be kind of cool…and it turned out it was!
And I’m sure it was also nice to have the opportunity to reteam with her in front of the camera.
Hamm: Yeah, for sure! I think both John and I, having worked with Tina in various capacities, know that she brings an awful lot to the table, and to get a chance to do that was a blast. And we’re friends, too. It’s fun to work with your friends.
How did you enjoy working with Nick Mohammed?
JH: Nick was really great. John can speak to it a lot more, actually. He had a lot more hands-on working with him from a directing standpoint. But I enjoyed working with Nick. He’s a funny, fun guy, and we had a great time.
JS: You know, just visually I thought it would be funny to see the two of them together, with Jon as sort of the sheriff and Nick as the deputy, as it were. And I was a fan of Ted Lasso. There was so much material with the two of them, and Nick was going to do it with an American accent, but we listened to it both ways, and after about a day… There was just something funnier about him doing it with an English accent in the capacity of working as two policemen in a small town in the desert, and him having this accent, and then coming up with ways for Jon to comment on that. So that’s the decision we ended up with, and I think they worked so well together. Everything I’d hoped it would be, it turned out to be.
As I said, I thought the whole film was great, but in particular, the ending was tightly and excitingly directed.
JS: Oh, thank you! Well, it was tightly and well-written, too. Like I said, that’s Paul Birnbaum. He’s a really terrific writer. He wrote a great movie called Hollywoodland a few years ago that I remember, as an actor, I really wanted to be in. And he’s just got a very palpable ability to write simply and effectively. Whether it’s character, a joke, a bit of business, a point of view, what you see light up on a house… Whatever it is, the way he writes scripts is just really, really helpful from a directorial standpoint.
You guys obviously aren’t onscreen together in this, but I enjoyed seeing you together in Confess, Fletch.
JH: Thank you! Yeah, we’re hoping to get a chance to make some more of those. There’s quite a few more books in that series, so hopefully the powers that be all get along and we can find some money, we’ll get a chance to make another one of those, so…fingers crossed!
I’m ready. I’ve got all the books, actually.
JH: [Laughs.] Good man.
And I’d like the chance to see more of Fletch and Frank together onscreen.
JH: Well, you might get your wish. If we settle all our labor difficulties, hopefully we’ll get a chance to make another one.
Excellent. Because I know that, obviously, it wasn’t necessarily as huge a hit theatrically as you might’ve hoped, but once it actually hit home video and streaming, more people were talking about.
JH: Yeah, it was exceedingly well received, and…we don’t really have control over the other part of that, so everything that we did have control over, we were very proud of, and happy that the people who actually got a chance to see it enjoyed it.
I’ve got a stock question that I like to ask everyone: what’s your favorite project over the years that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved?
JH: I think Confess, Fletch is the one that comes to mind for me. [Laughs.]
JS: I made a film a couple of years ago with Philip Seymour Hoffman that, um, unfortunately, he passed shortly after we took it to Sundance and sold it. It’s called God’s Pocket, and he was a big fan of it. We got to be friends working on it. We lived near each other, and I had the script, and I wanted him to do it, but he was too busy. And then he thought that I’d made it already, and when he realized that I hadn’t, he made the time to make it, and he was just a pretty incredible artist to work with. And then its reception wasn’t what we hoped it would be, and certainly losing him was devastating to everybody. So that circumstance was unfortunate in so many ways, but…it’s just circumstances well beyond anyone’s control. Beyond my control, certainly.
Jon, I will say that I’m a huge fan of Tag. It’s one of my favorite underrated comedies of recent years.
JH: Thanks, man. We had a fun time making that.
I don’t suppose there’s a chance for a Tag 2…
JH: Yeah, I think that story has run its course. [Laughs.]
How do you two look back at the legacy of Mad Men after all these years?
JH: I look back on it fondly. You know, it was a significant… [Hesitates.] At that point, probably a quarter of my life I worked on that. You know, from 35 to 45. So it was a long haul! And it obviously did a ton for all of our careers. But it was also work that was done at a significantly high level and over a long period of time. To be able to look back on that and look back on it fondly is a real gift.
JS: I agree. I mean, certainly I agree. And I think that we had the good grace to know it when it was happening. You know, that doesn’t always happen, when you look through the rear view mirror and go, “Boy, I wish I enjoyed that more while we were doing it.” We enjoyed every bit of it and knew how good it was before it became what it was. We were sort of working quietly off in downtown L.A., and then this thing kind of took off. But we were having a perfectly fine time in obscurity. And then it blew up. Yeah, everybody got along both socially and work-wise. We were just lucky. And I’m grateful for it.
I know that’s where both of you got your first directorial opportunities. John, have you thought about returning behind the camera again yourself?
JH: It’s certainly something that I’d like to do. It’s a fun skill set to explore. And you get to work with such talented people. My favorite day of directing on the Mad Men set was the day when I didn’t have to act as well. I could just be a director. So I think if I ever did that again, that would be the choice: to not be in the thing I’m directing and just direct it. I love working in television, I love TV crews and TV actors, especially established shows. Everybody knows what they’re doing, and if it’s produced well, it runs very smoothly. So it’s fun to come into that and be a part of that team for awhile.
I’ll close with one more question that I like to ask folks: who was the first person you remember working with where you had to fight not to become a fanboy?
JS: Al Pacino. I did a movie called City Hall, which I was invisible in. I had a part that I think kept getting cut for time before I even got in front of the camera. [Laughs.] But by the time I did get in front of the camera, I was sitting in the front of a car, and Al Pacino was playing the mayor of New York, and he was in the back of the car. So I basically was background, sitting in the front, trying to find reasons to pull the visor down and look through the mirror and see what Al was doing in the backseat…because, y’know, I couldn’t be as overt as to turn and look over my shoulder. And I was too afraid to say anything to him!
I remember one time we were on a big tow rig, and we had, like, motorcycle escorts, and…this is in New York City, and we were driving on the FDR or something, and then some technical mistake happened. You know, getting one of these parades out onto the road takes ages, and you’re sitting in the car, and it’s hot, and you get out onto the road, you’re getting ready, and they go, “Roll!” And then as soon as he opens his mouth, someone goes, “Cut! Cut! Cut! Cut! Sorry, we lost the focus, we have to go back.” And they had to take this whole thing back. And immediately you know it’s gonna be, like, another hour and a half. And he just looks out the window and goes, “Ugh, I hate this.” And I’m, like, “What? Al Pacino hates this? What does he mean?” [Laughs.] And it’s just all the stuff that you have to go through sometimes making a movie – and that was a big movie! – in order to get to the actual acting part. And 30 years later, I totally understand that now, but I didn’t understand it then. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
Jon, who was yours?
JH: Yeah, I’d say it has to be Tom Cruise. You know, when you’re invited to be on [Top Gun: Maverick], him playing that character, coming to the second chapter of that franchise, you just think, “Holy cow, I’m just happy to be here!” But watching him sort of fully inhabit that character was impressive. You know, to bring it back after 35 years. And somehow it feels like no time has passed. It was a cool energy to be around. If I could talk to my 14-year-old self and say that I’d get that opportunity one day, I don’t think I would’ve believed me. It was pretty cool.
Maggie Moore(s) is currently in select theaters, as well as video-on-demand platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, and more.
Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)