Jon Hamm got his big break thanks to Mad Men. He was mostly a comedic actor before (and since), and a struggling one, who found work as a high school drama teach amongst other things. His early life was possibly more traumatic than the man who would become Dick Whitman, too: his mother died of cancer when he was 10, and his father passed away when Hamm was 20. Apparently at his audition Matthew Weiner immediately guessed that Hamm had not been raised by his parents, a quality which apparently cinched the part for him. It was a close call, though, with the starring role coming down to a choice between Hamm and another contender. Before the man who made his career off of Don Draper whilst making Don Draper the man he is was definitely Don Draper, Peter Hermann was almost Don Draper. Who is Peter Hermann? The less famous husband of Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, who might've escaped his own career of guest roles in White Collar and The Good Wife.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
