The whole thing has the stink of NFL mythology reeking off it, from the overly dramatic storming-the-beach-at-Normandy score to the constant talk of the “shield” to the total lack of discussion of player safety or well-being to elevation of team success above all other things (a scene with Keim’s family complaining how Daddy is never home plays a lot sadder than I suspect the NFL might have intended) to, above all, some of the most banal, cliché-addled narration from Jon Hamm I have ever heard in a documentary. Jon Hamm is a terrific actor, and just as good a voice-over star: I’m always a little more likely to buy a particular car if he’s telling me to do so. But here he’s addled with a constant stream of motivational coffee mug lines like “On the road to a championship, the closer you get, the harder each step becomes” and “A fast start doesn’t tell you everything. But it might tell you all you need to know.” Hamm’s narration is so hackily written that I found myself narrating my life with it in my head for a few days after finishing the show. (“Getting a crying baby back to sleep might not mean you reached the mountaintop. But it’s how you know it’s within sight.”) The show never challenges the NFL, or the players, or the coaches, or anything other than the official narrative: Men are men, men are champions, the NFL is all, we have always been at war with Eurasia.
From an interview with director Paul Feig :
So I go, ‘Hey, Bill, it’s Paul.’ And I make my speech and then it clicks off. Did I just get hung up on or what? So, we had no idea, to the point where…
DEADLINE: You never heard his voice?
FEIG: Never did. I just knew he got the script. I heard he was interested, and then we are at the point where it was time to shoot it, and we had no confirmation. I go, “If he doesn’t show up, I can’t lose the day. I got to get somebody to do this.” So, do I call Jon Hamm? “Hey, Jon, would you do this part, but if Bill Murray shows up, you’re fired?” I decided I’ll play it but thinking, “Please don’t let that happen.” The day came and it’s like, OK, he’s at the airport. And then he showed up and wanted to do what we had written. He played with it, definitely, and was so delightful. I usually don’t think the shooting of a movie is that interesting, and when you see the set photographer, I think, “What are they doing here?” That was the only time I felt like it was a big deal that Bill is on the set, and it’s iconic to have pictures. I was very aware this was the guy they’d been trying to get on a Ghostbusters set for almost 30 years.
http://deadline.com/2016/07/paul-feig-ghostbusters-melissa-mccarthy-kirsten-wiig-bill-Murray
What’s it like to be alone in a hotel room with a star?
Seattle Times movie critic Moira Macdonald marks her 15th anniversary in the newsroom ......It can be surreal to meet someone who you know only as a character. As a huge “Mad Men” fan, I was delighted to talk to Jon Hamm in 2010 — who, with scruffy beard, plaid shirt and friendly informality, couldn’t have been less like Don Draper. The encounter put me in such a cheery mood that I promptly tripped and fell inelegantly on the Toronto sidewalk after leaving the hotel; not noticing, with my head in the clouds, a gaping hole in the concrete. (I named the resultant gash on my knee the Jon Hamm Scar.)
http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/movies/whats-it-like-to-be-alone-in-a-hotel-room
Central...
Chris Colfer, director Mandie Fletcher, Steve Gilula, Hamm, Nancy Utley
Hamm and Buck are pals from St. Louis — where Buck’s dad, Jack, was the Cardinals’ announcer. Joe later was, too
Monday, November 21, 2016 - 7:00pm
Left Bank Books and Maryville Talks Books present an evening with sportscaster, St. Louisan, and author Joe Buck, in conversation with very special guest and Mad Men star Jon Hamm, about his new book, Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad, and the Things I'm Not Allowed to Say on TV.http://www.left-bank.com/buck
seen at Lax, on July 27
http://variety.com/2016/film/columns/frank-zappa-eat-that-question-1201826798/
writer-director Mike Birbiglia
Keeping with your film's themes, have you done anything memorable out of jealousy?- This isn't a jealousy thing, but an uncomfortability story. The Ben Stiller scene [in which Stiller plays himself] was inspired by a true-life thing. I was at a premiere party and Jon Hamm was there. He said to me, "I really enjoy your comedy." I was like, "You don't have to say that." He goes, "No, I don't have to say..." It was this horrible realization: How do you fuck up a compliment? I get intimidated by people I admire.
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/qanda-writer-director-mike-birbiglia-thinks-twice
I know you have done a ton of acting work, but do you remember your first ever audition ?
- Yeah, (laughs) oh man, you are talking about the audition ? Or acting role ? Those are completly different things....
They gave me a " good job" to make sure I left, I think.(laughs). I was terrified. Auditioning is a completely terrfying beast. It's not your work that matters, it's if you can sell yourself in that room. Its a weird process but it's the only one we have.
Jon Hamm has a great quote about how an audition room can be completely welcoming or hostile and you have no way of knowing which it'll be until you walk into the room. You just go in and try to do the best audition that you possibly can.
http://talknerdywithus.com/2016/07/20/exclusive-interview-with-wayward-pines
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dr-jens-thiemer-cmo-mercedes-role-audio-brand
