Jon Hamm has done another weird British project. This one is called Black Mirror: White Christmas, and it looks really bizarre and like some of the darkest counterprogramming for the normal happy-Christmas films. So, The Hamm is doing some promotion for the TV movie over in the UK. I’ll say this about Hamm… when he speaks, it’s usually something notable. We’re past the moment when photos of The Hamm were immediately published and everyone wanted to look at him. But he’s always got interesting stuff to say, about the world, about feminism, about social media and fame and Kim Kardashian. Here are some assorted quotes from his Radio Times interview:

He believes he’s old & irrelevant: “Other than being old and irrelevant in the current media landscape I don’t think about technology. Ask anyone under the age of twenty if they have heard of me and they will go ‘no, that guy looks like my dad’. It doesn’t compute to the generation that most of Hollywood cares about, If your last name’s not Hemsworth or you are not in One Direction or you don’t wear a cape and tights for a living, you literally have a hard time making an impression.”

On the superhero roles: Hamm said he had “been in contention for quite a few of those” and said he was glad he made the “right decision” to say no to them, although he didn’t name the movies in question. “The deals that they make you do are so draconian. And, of course, you are signed on for not only the movie that you are signed on for… but at least two more that you haven’t read and you have no idea what they are going to be and all the crossover ones you are going to have to do. For me to sign on now to do a superhero movie would mean I would be working until I am fifty as that particular superhero. It’s a lot of work at one thing which is not necessarily the reason I got into the business which is to do many things. If you want to spend all day pressing the same key that… seems an odd choice.”

He’s terrified of social media: “It’s partly why I don’t have any presence on social networking. Being an actor in the public eye and a quasi-celebrity is weird enough without giving everything up to everyone else. Social media is part of the social fabric. It’s woven in. To not participate in it is to not participate in society, to become a weird sort of hermit. People look at you like you belong in a cabin in the woods and you are not part of the society. The 18-to-34-year-old [consumer] is the only demographic that the world, the world of entertainment…consider relevant.”

The Sony Hack: “This could not have happened ten years ago, literally, and it will keep happening. I have had meetings at Sony [and if] someone wanted to look hard enough… there’s probably s****y things studio executives have said about [me]. I am just not famous enough for it to go on Gawker.”

[From Radio Times]

There is an element of “get off my lawn, whippersnappers!” to this. I mean, The Hamm is only 43 years old! There are plenty of 40-something actors who manage to have social media profiles and maintain that aspect of their fame really well. I’m thinking of people like Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, those types. The Marvel guys. And I do think The Hamm has probably had meetings about this superhero or that comic book villain or whatever. I remember when he was a widely rumored to be up for Superman in Man of Steel. And he’s right, all of the comic book franchises do sign people up for “draconian” contracts. Look at Chris Hemsworth! His Marvel contract has made him utterly miserable. But most actors play that game, and they know they’ll be worth more in general if they sign on to a superhero movie. But The Hamm has never really been interested in that stuff – I think he’ll probably transition into character work after Mad Men.

Photos courtesy of WENN.