THISSPREAD, FROMLEFT: FRANKOCKENFELS3/AMC; JOHNJOHNSON/DISNEYENTERPRISES; ISHIKAMOHAN/DISNEYENTERPRISES
bugapparentlybitwhilehewasastudent
attheJohnBurroughsSchool,wherehe
wascastasJudas inthemusical
Godspell
.
Afterturningdowno erstoplay football
forIvyLeagueschools,Hamm lefthis
hometown fortheUniversityofTexas.But
thedeathsofbothhisgrandmotherandhis
fathercuthisschool timeshort(hismoth-
erdiedofcancerwhenhewas just10years
old),andheheadedbackhome.Heenrolled
attheUniversityofMissouriandbecame
active intheuniversity’stheaterprogram,
whereheperformed inthemusicals
Caba-
ret
and
Assassins
andevenreturnedtohis
oldprepschool toteachdrama.
➤
H
,
brooding,anddashingadvertis-
ingexecutiveDonDraper in
AMC’s long-runningseries
Mad
Men
hasbecomesomethingofa
popculturephenomenon, capturingboth
theeyesofwomenandtheenvyofmen for
thepastsevenyears
.
Astheserieswinds
down(thetwo-partfinalseasonstarted
thisspringandconcludes in2015),Jon
Hammreflects, “It’sgonnabebittersweet;
it’sbeena longroad—adecade…And25
percentofmy life. It’sbeenthethingIam
themostknown for, forbetterorworse. It’s
hardtosaygoodbyetothat.”Thoughmov-
ingon fromhisalterego ishard,allsigns
indicatethere is lifeafterDonDraper.
WhatwillperhapsbeoneofHamm’s
favoritemovieroleshasarrived,onethat
combineshis loveofactingwithhispassion
forsports.Starring inthesportsdrama
MillionDollarArm
,Hammgetsthegolden
opportunitytoplayreal-lifesportsagent
J.B.Bernstein,whostrugglestokeephis
businessafloat,hatchingawild idea inthe
process:HestagesanIndia-basedreality
showtodiscoverMajorLeagueBaseball’s
nextgreatpitchers,wherehefindstwo
prospectsamong40,000cricketplayers.
Hammnodoubttappedintohisown love
ofthegametopreparefortherole:Heisa
ferventfolloweroftheSt.LouisCardinals,
hisfavoriteteamsincechildhood.“Funny
thingabouttheCards,theyhavea lotoffans
andaverybigfanbase,”hesays.Headmits
tobeingoneoftheirmostvocaldevotees
untilvocal-chordsurgerysidelinedhim(vo-
cally)fromthe2013WorldSeries.
“Iwassohappytogetthechancetodoa
film likethis,particularlyabaseballmovie.
Iabsolutely lovebaseballandgrewupgo-
ingtothegameswithmydad,”Hammsays.
SharingthescreenwithHamm isvet-
eranactorAlanArkin,whoplaysaretired
baseballscout,andBillPaxton, castas
apitchingcoachwhotrainsthepairof
18-year-oldfinalists. “Themovie isabout
asportsagentandtherewillnodoubtbe
acomparisonto
JerryMaguire
,whichI
loved. It’snotabadonetobecomparedto,”
saysHamm; though,henotes, “Ithink ina
largerperspective, thefilm isaboutdefin-
ingandunderstanding family.”
Hamm’sown familystorystarted inSt.
Louis,wherehewasbornandraised.The
doortoactingopenedslowly forhim.Al-
thoughhehadnoproverbial“ahamoment”
inregardtohis futurecareer, theacting
FROMSMALLSCREENTOBIGSCREEN:
FROM
LEFT
:
AsDonDraper,with
MadMen
co-starsBenFeldman,
ElisabethMoss, andJayR. Ferguson; in
MillionDollarArm
, filmed in India, Hamm starsopposite
MadhurMittal asa struggling sportsagent.
SUMMER
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