10 Actors Who Rightly Turned Down Iconic Roles
7. Thomas Jane - Don Draper (Mad Men)
These days, Jon Hamm is a much bigger name than Thomas Jane. Things definitely weren’t always that way though. In fact, when Hamm walked into the room to audition for Mad Men lead Don Draper, he apparently got the feeling most of the AMC executives didn’t even recognise him.
Had Thomas Jane not turned down the part first though, he likely would’ve never even been in that room. It’s fitting that this is the only TV entry on the list, given Jane’s (or at least Jane’s peoples’) dismissive view of the format.
Speaking on the WTF podcast, Jon Hamm claimed Jane’s agent had turned the role down, telling AMC curtly ‘Thomas Jane doesn’t do television’. However, in 2009, just two years after Mad Men premiered, Thomas Jane did indeed to television with Hung, which was far less successful than Mad Men. Following that, he featured in Texas Rising and The Expanse, also on television.
‘Now starring in Hung, by the way’, Hamm added on WTF, recalling his brilliant ‘I don’t think about you at all’ zinger on Mad Men. Given how everything has worked out since, he’s got a right to be smug about it.