Who said being an actor was easy? In an emotional meeting at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, actors Jon Hamm and John Slattery, known for their roles in the acclaimed series Mad Men, shared their memories of the iconic show, which celebrated its finale ten years ago. During this conversation, the actors highlighted the deep connection that the series left them, although both agreed that certain aspects, such as smoking and the peculiar “onion water,” were not exactly their favorite parts of the experience. Let me explain.
Tobacco smoke, zero nicotine
As Hamm acknowledges, what Don Draper was smoking non-stop were not real cigarettes: “Someone counted them, and in the pilot alone I smoked 75 cigars… They are fake, but that just means they don’t have nicotine. It doesn’t mean you’re not burning something.” But there’s something even worse: the Vodka Martinis were served with water mixed with onion. “Oh, the breath was lovely.”
In fact, the vodka was fake, but the onion was not: “Put another pearl of onion in your glass of water, and then smoke 26 more fake cigarettes at 9:30 in the morning”, they joked about the filming atmosphere of that masterpiece.
That said, both actors expressed their gratitude for having been part of a series that not only captured the essence of an era but also boosted their careers in the entertainment industry. Despite the pleasant memories, the mention of smoking in their characters and the joke about onion water highlighted the challenges that came with portraying complex roles in an often difficult environment.
