Jon Hamm Evaluates His Comedy Star Potential

Not a week after his Mad Men colleague John Slattery told Movieline he envied Jon Hamm's forays into film farce, Hamm himself is weighing in on his potential for a career in comedies. He was hilarious in Bridesmaids, and hilariously hard-boiled (thanks to that "gritty" dialogue) in The Town -- so why he shouldn't he ready for marquee funny roles?

In an interview with our sister site TVLine, Hamm discussed the vista beyond Mad Men and how a certain Oscar winner remains his film world inspiration.

TVLINE | Do you foresee what your career might look like beyond Mad Men? Could you see yourself becoming a comedy movie star?

Well, I hope I get a chance to do both sides. I think that Paul [Rudd]'s career has been really fun for me to watch because he's been able to do stuff on Broadway and he's been able to do big movies and big comedies and produce stuff, and really kind of be the architect of his own future, and it's been really successful for him. So, yeah, one of my acting heroes, which is such a lame term, but one of the people whose careers I look at as an inspiration is a guy like Jeff Bridges, who has been around since he was 18 years old, has done work in drama and crazy Big Lebowski comedy and now is finally getting recognized as a genius. He's been an amazing actor for 40 years... Hopefully, life is long and a career is long, and you get an opportunity to do many things. And as you change not only as a human being, but as an actor, different roles come to you. You know, I'm not going to play the young guy really anymore -- that ship has sailed. But I do get to work with cool younger people and play different roles, and that's the exciting thing about having an opportunity like Mad Men. It opens so many other doors.

I like the Bridges comparison. Does that mean The Town was Jon Hamm's The Last Picture Show, even though he was in his late '30s when he filmed it? Or is it his The Morning After, due to its intrigue and relevance of Jeff Bridges' age in 1986? These are the important questions.

Hamm's right to want to remain versatile. Much as I adored him on 30 Rock and in the hump-the-hostess extra footage from Bridesmaids, he's just too believable in stolid, strong-jawed, poetically unshaven roles. If Dick Tracy gets a sequel, you want him in the title role. If the world starts remaking Jimmy Stewart movies, you want him peering through the rear window or teetering from the Vertigo bell tower. There's backstory in those big brown eyes, and he can't waste it on doofus roles -- unless we're talking about Betty Draper. That I'd pay extra to see.

· Eye On Emmy: Is Mad Men's Jon Hamm The One To Beat? (Hint: Yes!) [TVLine]

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