10 Iconic TV Characters Only ONE Actor Could Play
4. Peggy Olson - Mad Men
If it's difficult to picture many other actors fitting Don Draper's tailored suits as well as the great Jon Hamm, Mad Men as a show simply wouldn't work without the presence of Don's ambitious secretary Peggy Olson.
When we first meet Peggy, she's a timid, mousy young woman who seems primed to be taken advantage of by the complacent, often mediocre men around her.
But over the course of the show, she blooms, aggressively asserting her own agency by continually pushing back against her peers and her superiors in the pursuit of her fair share.
By the end of Mad Men, Peggy isn't a woman held underneath the patriarchy's boot heel, but a fully self-actualised, startlingly confident human being and intense professional.
Elisabeth Moss' unassuming demeanour and appearance in those early episodes so perfectly lay the groundwork for Peggy's gradual transformation over the course of the show.
Few actors would be able to fully reconcile the shy, retiring Peggy of season one with the no-nonsense Peggy of season seven, yet Moss makes it look effortless in the best way.