Emmys 2013: ‘Mad Men’s’ Elisabeth Moss on Peggy Olson’s journey

The show may be titled “Mad Men,” but one of the most compelling and finely shaded characters on the ‘60s-set AMC drama is Peggy Olson, the secretary-turned-copywriter played by Elisabeth Moss.

At a recent Envelope Emmy Roundtable highlighting this year’s top TV dramas, Moss discussed Peggy’s journey and how it has in some ways reflected her own life.

WATCH: The Envelope Emmy Roundtable | Drama

“She’s had this crazy arc and has grown up so much,” Moss said of her character. “For me, it’s been really interesting to grow up as we’re making the show and go through my own experiences and have that inform Peggy, and often experience a crazy kind of mirror situation that happens with Peggy and me.”

Asked by The Times’ Greg Braxton how she approaches playing a character 50 years removed, Moss replied, “I never thought of it like that.

“From the very beginning, from the pilot, I didn’t care that it was the ‘60s. I didn’t care that she was a ‘60s girl. I wanted to play her like me, like a woman of any time. Because I think that there are things that she experiences and things that all the women on the show experience that we still experience today — maybe in varying degrees. So for me, what I connected to was that she was just a young woman.”

She added, “I just wanted her to be a real person.” For more from Moss, check out the video.

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