Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Comic-Con 2022: Stars strike a pose in EW's photo studio

      Comic-Con 2022: Stars strike a pose in EW's photo studio

      From the casts of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever  and The Walking Dead  to Chris Pine and Regé Jean-Page, see who dropped by EW's Comic-Con headquarters at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. Read More
    • Power players: Inside The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

      Power players: Inside The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

      Go behind the scenes of Amazon Prime Video’s ambitious fantasy epic, which hopes to introduce J.R.R. Tolkien to a new generation. Read More
    • Biggest bombshells in unsealed Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard court docs: Erectile dysfunction, nude photos, and Marilyn Manson

      Biggest bombshells in unsealed Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard court docs: Erectile dysfunction, nude photos, and Marilyn Manson

      Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be more to learn about the high-profile defamation trial, more than 6,000 pages of court docs were released over the weekend. Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Gallery
  3. Jon Hamm: 10 Reasons He Ruled In '10

Jon Hamm: 10 Reasons He Ruled In '10

Comedy, drama, live TV — this guy can do it all. Too bad he's so darn hard to look at.... ''Mad Men'' creator Matthew Weiner helps us count the ways his series' star earned his way onto EW's list of Entertainers of the Year.
By EW Staff Updated December 08, 2010 at 03:00 PM EST
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

1

Jon Hamm | We can't picture anyone else as the complicated Don Draper. ''He auditioned a bunch, and part of that was because he was unknown and the…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

We can't picture anyone else as the complicated Don Draper.
''He auditioned a bunch, and part of that was because he was unknown and the network was nervous about putting the weight of the series on an unknown,'' recalls Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. ''But right away he had a real intelligence about the material, which was complicated. In some of the scenes, none of the actors we saw got them except him.''

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

2

Jon Hamm | He?s not afraid to take chances. This year alone Hamm?s hosted Saturday Night Live twice; reprised his role as Liz Lemon?s comically hot, hook-handed ex-beau…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He?s not afraid to take chances.
This year alone Hamm?s hosted Saturday Night Live twice; reprised his role as Liz Lemon?s comically hot, hook-handed ex-beau on 30 Rock; played a by-the-book FBI agent in The Town; and joined Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, and the cast of Glee on stage at the Emmys for the inspired ''Born to Run'' opening number.

2 of 10

3 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

3

Jon Hamm | As gorgeous and talented as he is, he's got an Everyman quality that's appealing. ''There aren't that many people like him, and I feel very…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

As gorgeous and talented as he is, he's got an Everyman quality that's appealing.
''There aren't that many people like him, and I feel very lucky that I found him,'' says Weiner. ''Four seasons in, and everyone on that show behaves like a human being because Jon is not a prima donna and because Jon works so hard.''

3 of 10

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

4

Jon Hamm | He commits to whatever he's doing. ''This season alone Jon had to gauge Don's alcoholic decline over many episodes,'' says Weiner. ''And drunk is very…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He commits to whatever he's doing.
''This season alone Jon had to gauge Don's alcoholic decline over many episodes,'' says Weiner. ''And drunk is very dangerous for an actor — it can really be a mess. In the episode ''The Suitcase,'' where he?s getting drunker and drunker, we shot it out of sequence, and I looked at it and I was just so impressed. He starts off with a couple of drinks and just works his way to the moment after he's had the fight with Duck and thrown up and is getting ready to make a difficult phone call. Jon physically took care of all that himself. You can't write that.''

4 of 10

Advertisement

5 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

5

Jon Hamm | He's earned his spot at the table. ''I think it's great that success has happened to him at a time in his life when, after…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He's earned his spot at the table.
''I think it's great that success has happened to him at a time in his life when, after working so hard, he can really appreciate it,'' says Weiner.

5 of 10

6 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

6

Jon Hamm | He pulls off a nuanced role with ease. ''In the finale this season,'' says Weiner, ''when Don comes in and tells everybody in the office…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He pulls off a nuanced role with ease.
''In the finale this season,'' says Weiner, ''when Don comes in and tells everybody in the office that he?s marrying Megan, he has that smile on his face! When?s the last time you saw that guy smile?''

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

7

Jon Hamm | We all want to share in his success. ''I have such a sense of pride, especially having fought for him to get the lead role…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

We all want to share in his success.
''I have such a sense of pride, especially having fought for him to get the lead role on the show,'' says Weiner. ''It's a sense of vindication. Everyone else who finds him and discovers him, I feel like, 'See! I told you!' It's a vindication of my taste, in a weird way.''

7 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

8

Jon Hamm | He?s a consummate entertainer. ''If you define an entertainer as somebody who can master any form — singing, dancing, acting, drama, comedy, sketch — then…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He?s a consummate entertainer.
''If you define an entertainer as somebody who can master any form — singing, dancing, acting, drama, comedy, sketch — then he is that person,'' says Weiner. ''He can do it all.''

8 of 10

Advertisement

9 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

9

Jon Hamm | ''2010: What a mathematically round, accessible number,'' says Hamm, 39, whose Don Draper has transcended Mad Men and led him to host SNL (twice), reprise…
Credit: MICHAEL MULLER FOR EW

He keeps giving us fun stuff to talk about.
''Do you know how flattering it is to see him go out there and make fun of Don Draper [on Conan and SNL]? I love it,'' says Weiner.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 10

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

10

He doesn't act like he knows he's all that. In Hamm's own words: ''My Eternal Pessimist comes out whenever things get as good as they…

He doesn't act like he knows he's all that.
In Hamm's own words: ''My Eternal Pessimist comes out whenever things get as good as they have been, and I will say that 2010 was the best year I will ever have.''

10 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By EW Staff

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 10 1
    2 of 10 2
    3 of 10 3
    4 of 10 4
    5 of 10 5
    6 of 10 6
    7 of 10 7
    8 of 10 8
    9 of 10 9
    10 of 10 10

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    Jon Hamm: 10 Reasons He Ruled In '10
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.