Twitter wonders why the Mad Men cast never really took off

[just444]

Absolute Titan in Mad Men. Should have blown up. Should have been a contender.
- Alyssa Marylee Heflin (@SlayerofCis) December 15, 2020
Yesterday twitter had a spirited debate on why the critically acclaimed Mad Men cast (with one notable exception) never really went anywhere after the show. Most of the talk was about Christina Hendricks, but it

Comments

[prebble]

I feel like this questions comes up for a lot for casts of big shows. I think I saw a topic on reddit about Lost a few days ago.

[euraylie]

Only a handful of people only ever make it big; and so many TV actors are mainly beloved for the characters they play...and they can be good actors as well, but unless they get that next great project, it's kinda game over for the big times.

[ellyrianna]

Yep exactly. Name me someone from Lost who has even remotely had a career?? Like what happened to Josh Holloway? HE totally could've been the next Clooney. Since Lost it's been complete crickets.

[prebble]

I mean a lot of the Lost people have been working steadily on TV since it ended. Which many actors would kill for. Josh Holloway had a show where he was the lead for 3 years, it just never had much buzz. But EL is the one who got lead roles in blockbusters.

[frejasface]

Queen Elisabeth is doing fine.

Jon Hamm is doing fine.

January, Christina, and Kiernan are...not good actors. That's why.

[dreamdate]

Huh? Christina Hendricks is great.

[frejasface]

no.

[sparklytootsie]

christina hendricks is also doing fine. good girls is really popular on netflix

[masterofmystery]

i agree that it's got to do with the curse of the long running TV show and rarely does an actor manage to break out in a star after that, or even continue on to a huge successful career after. this is especially the case with drama series more than comedies

i mean after mad men GOT was the big drama series, and how many big stars came out of that?

[agentsoup]

I still wonder why Natalie Dormer didn't just book everything after GoT. Especially since she bounced right before it turned to shit.

[frejasface]

She starred in some crappy horror movie about the suicide forest in Japan that received a ton of backlash.

[ellyrianna]

IDK why she didn't book everything after The Tudors! She was amazing on that show, I totally lost interest once she died.

[flyingpigs_live]

is Elizabeth Moss just a better actress?

nope.

most of it is sexism but i get the impression that a lot of them like their career as is- being able to be low-key and take roles that actually interest them. Jon hamm can go away forever though.

that being said, queen Christina is living the life and being fabulous and kicking ass on Good Girls.

[teenxwolf]

there's a jon hamm ad that always pops up on ig and idk what it's for but his real person personality is so offputting i click away immediately. i think he's talking about being a director he has a camera lens and is wearing all denim…...

[tenma_desu]

besides elisabeth moss, alison brie has also done well for herself, though i think simultaneously being on fellow critical darling Community helped out a lot

christina hendricks has a respectable, modest career. i think a lot of tv actors would be happy to work as often as her

jon hamm is a good actor but if you've ever seen him on a talk show or other nonscripted appearance he is a charisma vacuum. wouldn't surprise me if he just couldn't network like he needed to

will also say that it's a crime that january jones isn't getting casted in dry absurdist comedies

[kamikashi]

would alison brie be considered part of the main cast? i feel like she would be billed as recurring role and not even main supporting role. shes much more known as the chick from community who happened to be on mad men rather than the chick from mad men who happened to be on community. i could just be forgetting how big her role was on mad men tho.

and i actually think a lot of the roles post mad men jon hamm got is actually due to his network of comedic friends. im trying to think of his career after mad men and it seems like he intentionally avoided doing dramas and just wanted to do more comedy?

[tenma_desu]

she's definitely not part of the main cast but she's like... probably the most important of the minor characters. she's in nearly half of the episodes