Jon Hamm predicts chain-smoking Don Draper's life after “Mad Men”: 'Lung cancer'
Jon Hamm predicts chain-smoking Don Draper's life after “Mad Men”: 'Lung cancer'
Kathleen PerriconeTue, April 28, 2026 at 11:40 PM UTC
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Jon Hamm as Don Draper on 'Mad Men'Credit: Mike Yarish/AMCKey Points -
Jon Hamm looks back at Mad Men on the latest episode of Good Hang With Amy Poehler.
Asked what became of the character after the series finale, he quipped, "Lung cancer."
Hamm also revealed the immense pressure he felt to get the final scene right during the last days of filming.
The last time we saw Don Draper, he was bringing “perfect harmony” to the world one Coke at a time.
Eleven years since Mad Men went off the air, Jon Hamm is revisiting the popular television series on the latest episode of Good Hang With Amy Poehler. In the 2015 finale, his character goes to a spiritual retreat in Big Sur, Calif., seeking clarity and in the process discovers the inspiration for his greatest advertising campaign: Coca-Cola’s “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.”
Don Draper (Jon Hamm) at a California spiritual retreat in the 'Mad Men' finaleCredit: Justina Mintz/AMC
Don ended up at the ashram because he’d “lost this connection with his job, his family, his everything,” Hamm told Poehler. After rediscovering who he really was — “an ad man” — Hamm believes Don returned to his old life, and perhaps his old habits.
So what eventually became of the chain-smoking executive?
“Lung cancer,’ Hamm quipped. After all, it was the same disease that took his ex-wife Betty’s life in the finale.
But he imagines Don also held onto the good that came out of his stay at the California retreat in 1970.
“I think he goes back [to the Manhattan firm],” Hamm explained to Poehler. “He is a successful advertising executive and I think he finds happiness and peace. I think he connects with his children.”
Don with kids Sally (Kiernan Shipka), Gene (Evan and Ryder Londo), and Bobby (Mason Vale Cotton)Credit: Jamie Trueblood/AMC
Most of the characters on Mad Men smoked cigarettes, however, the actors puffed on a “fake herbal” prop instead of actual cancer sticks. “Somebody watched the pilot just to watch how many cigarettes I smoke,” Hamm said, “and I think it was something like 80 in a one-hour pilot.”
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He also reminisced on one of his favorite scenes in the seven-season series. During season 5, in the episode “Christmas Waltz,” Don takes out Sterling Cooper office manager Joan (Christina Hendricks) after she’s served divorce papers at work.
“It’s incredible,” Poehler agreed. “Don and Joan never had enough scenes together as far as I was concerned.”
Don (Jon Hamm) and Joan (Christina Hendricks)Credit: HBO Max
The final scene Don had with partner Roger Sterling (John Slattery) had little fanfare onscreen, but a big impact on the actors. “It’s kind of a weird little nothing scene,” Hamm recalled. “It was just us in a bar talking about something. And I said, ‘You know, this is our last scene together.’ And [Slattery] goes, ‘What?’”
Although it was an abrupt ending to their seven seasons as costars, “it’s kind of great that it’s just that moment,” Hamm reasoned. “It’s just that’s what it is. And then you don't see that guy.”
The crossroads of Don’s life also reflected Hamm’s, as he prepared to say goodbye to a character who had made him a household name.
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Filming those final scenes in Big Sur “was super heavy work,” he recalled. “I very much felt the weight of the end of the show and the responsibility of, like, ‘Don’t f--- this up … This is the end of a very, very, very long story, and if you s--- the bed on this, that will be what you are known for.'”
Watch Jon Hamm's full interview on Good Hang With Amy Poehler below.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
