Jon Hamm: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

1. Don Draper - Mad Men

What more can we say about Don Draper that hasn't already been said? Well, hopefully at least two paragraphs' worth. It's the role that made Jon Hamm a star, launched him into the stratosphere, and paved the way for pretty much every other part he played on this list so far. We'd almost go as far to suggest it's the role that Hamm was born to play, where it not for the fact that 1. That's Superman, 2. We're excited to see what else he does after Mad Men ends, and 3. Hamm himself has described Draper as "a pretty dismal, despicable guy". It makes sense that he wouldn't want to be associated with the role because, well, Draper is kind of an !*$%.

A complete one, in fact, and maybe irredeemably so. Pretty soon into the first season we discover that Draper himself is a phony, an identity that young soldier Dick Whitman nabbed off of his commanding officer when the older guy died in the Korean War. This is after we've seen the ad executive pulling off lies upon lies as he manipulates those around him and frequently cheats on his long-suffering wife, played by January Jones, whom he doesn't seem to give a monkey's about when he's off banging every hussy who walks through the doors of Sterling Cooper. He's obviously a bad hand at the copywriting biz, and everybody in the office finds him enigmatic and cool, but in his personal life he's a monster.

So why the heck is he so damn compelling? Hamm himself thinks the reason audiences gravitate to characters like Draper, or Breaking Bad's Walter White, is because "there seems to be that vicarious thrill. Maybe it is the fact of doing everything wrong and getting away with it." Which, well, maybe that's part of it. He's being a little modest, though, because we think the fascination comes from his amazing performance: cool, calm and collected on the surface, with an imperceptible passion and rage just below. It's the skills that pay the bills. And get him loads of Emmy nominations.

Not that all his star turns have been worthy of trophies...