Elisabeth Moss Says Jon Hamm Made Her Cry Filming ‘Mad Men’ Season 5

• Elizabeth Moss recalled the moment Jon Hamm made her cry while filming “Mad Men” season five.
• Moss cried during the touching scene when her character leaves the company.
• She told Vanity Fair “None of that was in the script.”

“Mad Men” has been off the air since 2015, but the careers of its leading stars are continuing to flourish, with Elizabeth Moss garnering plenty of critical acclaim for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Invisible Man,” while Jon Hamm has had roles in “Good Omens,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and “Confess, Fletch.” 

But Moss recently looked back on her time as Peggy Olson on the AMC series, recalling an emotional scene where Hamm actually made her cry. It happened in season five, episode 11, “The Other Woman,” when Peggy leaves Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce for another firm, CGC. 

Moss told Vanity Fair that her great dynamic with Hamm meant they put a bit of themselves into the touching scene.

She said: “It all felt very real. I have a very close relationship with Jon. There was sort of like a mentor-protegé relationship there, very older brother/little sister. And so it meant something to the both of us when we did this scene.”

The actor went on to say she didn’t need to fake her crying because the emotions were already there. 

She added: “That right there is real, that’s actually, those are real tears, which you know, hate to break it to you but often we’re faking it.

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair)

The star recalled the smaller details in the scene, explaining that Hamm improvised the moment when Don Draper kisses Peggy’s hand. 

She said: “He held onto my hand and didn’t let go and then kissed it. None of that was in the script, and he did it on my close-up. That right there is real Jon — the veins in his head, I can see him in that moment.”

It’s such an emotional scene because Peggy has grown so much since her early days as a downtrodden secretary working for Don, and they’ve learned from each other over the years. Moss even kept her dress from the scene as a memento because of how much it all meant to her. 

The actor added: “The only costume I have from ‘Mad Men,’ from all seven seasons, 90-something episodes… They asked me what costume I wanted to keep, and I said I wanted to keep that one because of that scene. I don’t think it fits me anymore, but I have it!”

Moss and Hamm’s “Mad Men” costar January Jones, who played Betty Draper in the series, commented on the Instagram video saying: “Uhhhh.. I didn’t get to keep a costume. I need to speak to the manager.” Awkward.