Jon Hamm talks ‘Breaking Bad’: ‘They overcame a lot of hardship’
Shhh! No spoilers around Jon Hamm. The man is lagging on his “Breaking Bad” viewing.
“I didn’t see last Sunday’s because I was at the Emmys,” he said Thursday. “I’m one behind.”
Hamm was taking part in a Q&A with a handful of journalists to promote the stateside release of “A Young Doctor’s Notebook” on Ovation (check back here next week for more on that), but the looming series finale of the sister show to Hamm’s other series, “Mad Men,” on AMC became a topic of discussion -- particularly “Breaking Bad’s” recent golden moment.
“I was thrilled that [executive producer Vince Gilligan] won [an Emmy] for best show,” Hamm said of the drama about a high school chemistry teacher-turned-meth czar. “He’s deserving. The show is phenomenal. And they overcame a lot of hardship.”
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A formidable journey -- one in which a little-watched show becomes a cultural phenomenon and critical darling -- that’s not lost on Hamm.
“It’s interesting because both of our shows have had these parallel tracks,” he said, referring to “Mad Men.” “Both of our shows were cast off from bigger, fancier networks. In our case, HBO and Showtime. In their case, FX had ‘Breaking Bad’ originally. So we’re both kind of these bastard stepchildren that no one wanted. And then we both had tremendous success. Both of us have always had a great sibling relationship, honestly.” (There was a money matter in 2011 that might have caused a bit of sibling rivalry, of course.)
Though he didn’t contribute to the record-breaking 6.6 million viewers that tuned in for the penultimate episode, the 42-year-old actor said he is engrossed in the “Breaking Bad” hysteria.
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“I’m like everyone else on the planet anxiously awaiting Sunday night,” he said. I mean, come on! How is it going to end? I don’t know, but I think it’s going to be awesome.”
He said he plans to find out what happens to Walter White and company the old-fashioned way.
“I will be in Boston, so I will be watching on television as it happens, which I rarely do anymore,” Hamm said. “I’ll be there. I’ll be tuning in.”
Hamm will likely soon enough experience such a frenzy himself when “Mad Men” goes off into the sunset. It was recently announced the upcoming seventh and final season of the Matt Weiner drama will be split in two, with the first half airing next year and the final half rolling out in 2015.
For now, Hamm is seeing how his friends do it first.
And while he offered no musings on how he’d like the drug drama to end -- a topic that has produced countless theories across the Internet -- he did say he was thankful he’s not the guy that has to deliver the goods.
“I’m glad I don’t have to write any of this stuff because the pressure to land the plane after a seven-year run has got to be massive.” he said. “But Vince is a singularly talented guy. And also a lovely guy. A wonderful creative force. I, like everyone else, have really enjoyed watching this drama unfold.”
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