Jon Hamm: Paris Hilton & Kim Kardashian Are “Idiots” Celebrated For Their “Stupidity”
March 10, 2012 by Hollywoodite
Jon Hamm has a featured piece in Elle UK. The interview comes from a question and answer session at the UK’s Mayfair’s Curzon theater (it’s dated February 16, although it’s just getting press now).
Hamm comes across as… interesting, smart, and self-effacing, like he does in every other interview. But this will gain particular traction for the comments about celebrity stupidity being celebrated with monetary rewards.
Daniel Craig said something similar in GQ UK January, calling the Kardashians “f**king idiots.” Coming full-cirle, Johan Hill told Huffington Post in December: “The fact that the Kardashians could be more popular than a show like Mad Men is disgusting. It’s super disgusting to be a part of that culture.”
All three are completely correct, honestly. Along with being easy, or just leaking your own n00ds or tape, it’s the done thing to be stupid on reality television. Although one of the women mentioned in his quote, Paris Hilton, insists that she has a business brain and she played the character of an airhead for her reality shows, The Simple Life, the BFF shows, and The World According To Paris.
On stupid celebrity culture: ”Whether it’s Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being a f**king idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you’re rewarded significantly. Incuriousness has become cool… It’s celebrated. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
On his own looks: ”I don’t even consider myself handsome. When I look in the mirror I see my goofy-a$$ed self from when I was a kid,” he said, adding that he doesn’t understand why blonde, skinny women have become the epitome of beauty by modern society, saying curvy women like his Mad Men co-star Christina Hendricks are more beautiful.
On his girlfriend-of-15-years, Jennifer Westfeldt: “Having a piece of paper serves to remind you of your commitment, but we do a pretty good job of reminding each other.”
On the low times in his career: “I was relieved of my car by the city of L.A due to unpaid parking tickets…rolling blading became de-facto. I was dropped by my agent [William Morris, in 1998], right around the time I was dressing the sets of soft core porn movies…I had to move furniture around sweaty naked people.”
On acting: “Part of being an actor is being rejected repeatedly…it was hard and no fun. I had auditioned for, and not got, seven other projects that year. I read the Mad Men script, which I thought was the best script I had ever read…even auditions later I got the part… [Acting] the emotional stuff is hard. The emotional stuff is difficult because it’s difficult to go to that place and be that person.”
On the constant in-script smoking and drinking: “We drink water and smoke non-addictive leaves, which is essentially like lighting a fire and inhaling it, which I wouldn’t recommend.”
On co-star January Jones: “We have a natural, violent chemistry together…January can put forward a lot of power without doing much.”
On his Mad Men character, Donald Draper: “A man un-moored.I’m diametrically opposed to Don Draper. It’s a character, not me. I love playing the guy, I’m glad I don’t have to be him…He’s a coward, when presented with difficulty he runs away.”
On 1950s sexism: “We try to portray it as realistically as possible, there attitudes were around. It was part of culture. As surprising as it is, I don’t know if the fundamental attitude has changed…I think it’s hidden better and not as widely seen [today].”
On being pigeon-holed: “If you’re going to be pigeon-holed, a handsome, womaniser is not bad.” – via Elle Magazine, The Daily Mail.