John Slattery was jet-lagged in Budapest one night, after a day of filming the 2025 drama “Nuremberg,” when his former “Mad Men” co-star and friend Jon Hamm texted him the kind of speech that would make many actors run in the opposite direction.
Would he be willing to play an unemployed version of himself who hadn't had a gig in a decade and was shamelessly basking in his “Mad Men” fame?
Reading the script for “Gail Daughtry on Celebrity Sex Pass” through the haze of fatigue, Slattery noticed that one detail: “She hasn't worked in 10 years, huh?” he recalls over the phone from his home in New York. “I had to leave: Wait a second. Leave me IMDb myself.”
As it happens, Slattery, 63, best known for his four-time Emmy-nominated role as silver-haired advertising executive Roger Sterling on “Mad Men,” has racked up some 30 film and television credits since that show ended in 2015. Still, he says he was happy to unleash his calm, unflappable persona in the latest comedy from “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Role Models” filmmaker David Wain.
The gleefully unhinged “Gail Daughtry,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance and opens Friday, casts Slattery as a washed-up version of himself recruited by a Midwestern woman (Zoey Deutch) who flies to Los Angeles determined to cash in on a celebrity sex drive with Hamm after discovering her fiancé cheated on her with Jennifer Aniston.
For Slattery, what begins as an exercise in comedic self-demolition gradually turns into the film's biggest surprise, with the actor turning a desperate, delusional version of himself into his most unexpectedly lovable character.
From left to right, Miles Gutiérrez-Riley, John Slattery, Ben Wang, Ken Marino and Zoey Deutch in the film “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”
(Sundance Institute)
Speaking to The Times, Slattery reflected on gleefully becoming the butt of the joke, why broad comedy isn't easy, and what it's like to navigate Hollywood at a time when disappearing seems a little less far-fetched than before.
Actors spend years building a certain cool image, but within seconds of appearing on screen in this movie, you're complaining, farting, and generally making a fool of yourself. What attracted you to that?
I never considered it risky. Not that it was foolproof, but it was such a dumb idea and I was a fan of David Wain and those guys anyway. These types of comedies require skill and experience. I mean, you have to be very smart to make such a stupid movie.
You're always looking for something different and this was a really fun way to get away from myself (ironically, at playing myself. It seems like the wildest character I've played in a long time, and that's me. I thought: What kind of research am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to observe and imitate myself? But there was really nothing to do. You just learn the lines and show up.
Was there ever a moment when you thought?: This will be a lot of fun or it will be the end of my career.?
I didn't have that feeling about this. There's nothing funnier to me than a confident jerk. My favorite thing to see or try to do in the world is someone who is completely confident in their idiocy.
I'm not one to dive into the deep end right away. First I want to know that I can trust the people in charge of what I am going to deliver to them. If I do all this, in whose hands do I leave it? With David, that wasn't even a consideration. He is very good at what he does and that gives you permission to do everything possible.
Have you always been able to laugh at yourself or is that something that has become easier as you get older?
I come from a big family of pissers. They are all very good at breaking balls and very funny. My mother had six brothers and they all had five or six children. He had a million cousins and they will destroy you. Someone would always tear you to pieces if you took yourself too seriously.
John Slattery and Jon Hamm in a scene from the AMC drama “Mad Men.”
(Frank Ockenfels/AMC)
Every successful actor probably has a nightmare that one day the phone stops ringing and you're slipping into fading glory. Did you ever have that feeling after “Mad Men”? term?
After going through COVID and the strike and directing an independent film [2023’s black comedy “Maggie Moore(s)”]which doesn't pay very well, I haven't acted in a while. I was like: Oh, I wonder if this is going to continue. I don't know.
Business has contracted. There seems to be an endless list of titles on every streaming menu and yet they make less and people are struggling. So I'm glad to be working. I've been on a pretty lucky streak lately and I don't take it for granted.
At this point in your career, what makes you say yes to something?
Money. [laughs] No, actually it's the same as always. You always want a big, fat, juicy role, but sometimes it's just a functional role in a really good story.
You are like taking the hits. You do something, have some success with it, and then you get a lot of offers for things that look a lot like that. If that's all that goes in, pick the best one and move on. People say, “Well, it's not 'Mad Men.'” And you say, “Well, why do I have to do that again? I did that.”
This is a perfect example of something that is equally interesting and fun in a completely different way. If everyone could be like this one, I could die tomorrow. You want everyone to be that funny, because they're not. Sometimes you're stuck in a courtroom all day and it's pretty dry. This was anything but that.
Hollywood feels like a deeply anxious place right now. He has worked in many different eras of this business. How does this moment compare?
I have a job coming up, so that's always hopeful. Having finished something and knowing that you are about to do something else gives you a feeling of security. But there is definitely a palpable anxiety. You hear it when people get jobs: “Thank God.” Or “it's about time.” Or: “I don't care what it is, I'm going to do it.”
I was recently listening to Taylor Sheridan talk about how non-storytellers rule storytelling. That is beyond disconcerting. And now AI is the owner of all that. It's very strange.
It has always been a youth-oriented business. There are definitely more movies about 27-year-olds than 63-year-olds. Maybe everything will shake. I don't know. Sometimes I wish it were 1943 and I was in a suit playing a detective.
I would see that movie. Meanwhile, Hollywood doesn't make many broad theatrical comedies like this anymore. Why do you think this is so?
I don't know why studios have given up on comedies in movie theaters. They used to be all the rage, right? Those big Will Ferrell movies made big profits.
Maybe this will turn the tide. When you think about the state of the country right now, and how pissed off and divided everyone is, you throw in this silly, smart but stupid comedy, and it seems like the perfect amelioration for everyone's anxiety. Go get some popcorn and laugh out loud. You will feel better.
