Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks says she doesn’t think of herself as a sex symbol, but that’s a minority opinion. In her three years as MAD MEN’s ambitious Sterling-Cooper siren Joan Holloway, Hendricks has drawn wide acclaim for both her excellent performance and her stunning looks. The actress, who was previously a regular on KEVIN HILL opposite Taye Diggs and on BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS, and who still has a fan following from her recurring role as con artist Saffron on FIREFLY, talks about her work on AMC’s award-winning MAD MEN, set in the world of ‘60s Madison Avenue advertising.

When you got onto MAD MEN, did you have any sense that it was going to turn into a phenomenon or did you just think, ‘Boy, this is different’?

HENDRICKS: I have stopped trying to figure out how anything will go. All I know is that I loved the script, I wanted to be a part of it and I’d do whatever to be a part of it. I didn’t anticipate anything, I just sat back and enjoyed each moment as it came.

Last season, MAD MEN delved into some real-world historical issues like Marilyn Monroe’s death and the Cuban missile crisis. Will there be other historical events this year that have an impact on Joan?

HENDRICKS: I think if you do a show that is taking place in a different time period, it’s going to constantly affect people, the way everything affects us today. So even if it is not a major focus of certain things, certainly events will continue to arise and be dealt with. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with Joan – I can tell you that Season Two was a really hard year for her. But I think some of your questions will be answered.

iF: Is it a learning experience being on a show that is so grounded in historical accuracy?

HENDRICKS: Absolutely. I think it’s more [learning about] the things that happen on a day to day basis. Like you pick something up on a desk and you think, ‘Huh, I didn’t realize that they had that kind of stapler then,’ or, ‘I didn’t realize that White-Out was invented by then.’ Things like that – you’re constantly being stimulated by things around you and the amazing set and design department.

iF: Do you look at the way MAD MEN is advertised to the audience and then look at the way they do things in MAD MEN and think, ‘Man, I wish we really advertised the show the way they do things at Sterling-Cooper,’ or ‘Why don’t they on the show do it the way they do it for real?’

HENDRICKS: I don’t think of it that way. MAD MEN is based in the world of advertising, but it is about so many other things, about people and relationships and things, so it’s a wonderful element, and an interesting element, but I don’t take it apart that much. There are just so many elements happening.

iF: You played the rape scene very affectingly.

HENDRICKS: Well, thank you. I’m sure it was harder to watch than [to play]. I mean, it’s certainly hard to conjure up those feelings and imagine what that must be like for anybody, but the director and writers and Sam [Page], who played the fiancé, everyone was so professional and we made sure we rehearsed everything ahead of time so everyone would feel comfortable and it was just handled so beautifully that there was no discomfort as far as any physicality or anything like that. We just got to be actors and really act the scene the way it should be acted, so that was good.

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iF: In what we’ve seen in the first two seasons, do you have a favorite scene or a favorite storyline for Joan?

HENDRICKS: Well, I think one of my favorite scenes was in Season One. I really loved the episode called ‘Babylon,’ which had the lipstick scene, which is one of my favorites. Because I had the guys on one side of the glass, and the girls on one side, and it was very sexually charged and it showed the office politics, and I thought it really sort of defined what you were going to see in this show and in this office, and I thought it was just a really, sexy, naughty, inappropriate scene that I loved [laughs].

iF: How have you adapted to the fact that you, at least you as Joan, have become a sex symbol?

HENDRICKS: [laughs] I don’t [see myself that way], but that’s really lovely [to hear]. God, I would probably be a very obnoxious person if that were something that occurred to me, but thank you.

iF: Are there any secrets to the costuming on MAD MEN?

HENDRICKS: No secrets, really. Janie [aka Katherine Jane] Bryant’s our costume designer and she’s unbelievably talented and creative and beautiful, so it’s just a matter of showing up and seeing what beautiful thing is hanging in your closet [for the show] and putting it on, so it’s pretty easy, actually. The show’s amazing. I still love [vintage clothing]. I’ve shopped vintage since I was ten years old, so I’ve actually had to curb my purchasing of vintage, just so I don’t look like I’m walking around in my TV show outfits.

iF: What did you do during the most recent MAD MEN hiatus? Were you vacationing?

HENDRICKS: I did a little bit of that. Right before I came back, I did a movie called LEONIE and now I’m just knee-deep in the middle of Season Three.

iF: Do you think the gender politics of MAD MEN’s era and have changed as much as one would hope in the present?

HENDRICKS: Absolutely not. [laughs] No, I don’t think so. We’ve come a long way, but I think there’s a lot of things still [that need examining].

iF: When MAD MEN started getting critical acclaim, Emmy Awards and other attention, did that help in any practical or creative ways on the show? Did it let the creative team do anything that they hadn’t been able to do before?

HENDRICKS: No. I think that Matt [Weiner] has really had a lot of control over the show and not only that, AMC has been really supportive and thrilled with what he brings to the table. So I feel like we’ve been doing what we wanted from the beginning and he wasn’t making concessions, and still doesn’t, and that’s why it’s got the integrity that it has. I think we’ve had it from the beginning.