A lot of times, actors get through projects at great cost to their health. While these stories are celebrated when they come out after the film has been produced, the kind of hell these actors endure is often forgotten. Jon Hamm’s situation while shooting Mad Men was something similar, except he was told that he would be fine, despite the severity of his issues.
Jon Hamm sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where the actor talked about his time on the set of Mad Man, specifically about him battling a disease on set, that was mostly written off thanks to the color of his skin. However, it did not make it any less stressful for the actor.
Jon Hamm revealed what doctors told him about his vitiligo
Jon Hamm‘s stress on the set of Mad Men caused the actor to develop a terrible case of vitiligo, an autoimmune skin condition that causes depigmentation in the affected areas of the body. Hamm revealed to The Hollywood Reporter what his doctors told him, and how it came about, saying:
It’s waxed and waned. It’s a pigmentation thing. Michael Jackson had it. It affects the Black community significantly more because you have melanin in your skin and it goes away. But I remember waking up one day while shooting the pilot, and it looked like someone had dropped bleach on my chin.
Then I looked at my hands and shins, and they had these patches on them. I went to see a couple of doctors, and they were like, “You can try this cream. We don’t really have a solution. But you’re white, it’s probably fine.” Which is what people have said to white people their whole life: “You’re white, you’re probably fine.”
Hamm went on to reveal that he was given an ointment that was supposed to soothe his condition, and was told that his disorder should not affect him as severely as it does some other folk, especially Black people. However, the concern still remained because as an actor, his appearance mattered to him a great deal, and compromising that, as is often the case with vitiligo patients, could have compromised his career.
Jon Hamm took some time to break into the business
Jon Hamm talked about how it took him a while to break onto the Hollywood scene. The issue was usually with his looks, as he looked pretty old for an actor his age, which allegedly made the actor slightly unmarketable. He revealed:
I just didn’t fit. I was the guy who was 25 but looked 35. It’s like I fell between two barstools. I mean, I didn’t look like I was in high school when I was in high school. I don’t know if it was losing my parents, but I looked older.
The actor would go on to have some terrific acting credits, such as The Morning Show, Mad Men, Good Omens, and Top Gun: Maverick, all of which would be widely successful.
The illness that the actor faced could have been detrimental to his career had it not been handled in time. There was also the fact that the actor broke into the industry quite late, but has still become one of its most recognizable faces, despite some duds, appearing in a slew of A-list shows and films.
