On a quiet stage in New York, Jon Hamm recently found himself looking back at a career that spans sharp dramas, goofy comedies, and one of the biggest blockbusters of recent years.
During a live conversation on March 29 at 92NY — hosted by Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz — the Mad Men star shared the scene he’ll likely never forget filming.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t from the series that made him famous.
Instead, Hamm pointed to a moment on the set of Top Gun: Maverick.
Related News
A Surreal Welcome to Top Gun
Hamm recalled the first time he walked onto the set of the 2022 sequel.
To his left stood a towering four-story American flag. In the distance were three F-18 fighter jets. In front of him, hundreds of naval aviators gathered on the tarmac.
And walking toward him was Tom Cruise — fully suited up as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Cruise greeted him with a grin, clapping his hands and opening his arms for a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Hamm remembered him saying.
For Hamm, the moment carried a strange sense of déjà vu — not for himself, but for Cruise. The actor pointed out that Cruise was standing in the same space he had filmed in 35 years earlier when the original Top Gun debuted in 1986.
Cruise admitted it felt “pretty wild.”
A Movie That Meant More Than Entertainment
For Hamm, the moment felt almost dreamlike.
He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and remembers seeing the original Top Gun again and again as a teenager.
Back then, watching a movie wasn’t as simple as opening a streaming app. You had to go to the theater, buy a ticket, and sit with the crowd.
Hamm and his friends did that repeatedly.
The film, he said, “defined cool” for them.
Standing on the sequel’s set decades later, surrounded by jets and uniforms, he felt as if he’d stepped inside a piece of his own childhood.
Even now, he says he’s still surprised he ended up in the film — one that went on to become a massive box-office hit and one of the most celebrated blockbusters in recent years.
Balancing Drama and Comedy
The conversation also drifted toward Hamm’s broader career.
Many viewers know him as Don Draper, the brooding advertising executive at the center of Mad Men. But Hamm has also built a reputation for sharp comedic timing, popping up in shows like 30 Rock and a range of lighter projects.
He says he’s grateful to move between those worlds.
Having credibility in both drama and comedy, he explained, means he’s not locked into one kind of role.
An Industry That Changed at the Right Time
Hamm believes timing helped shape his career.
When he entered the industry, television still worked in rigid lanes. Actors were often tied closely to a single show and rarely appeared elsewhere.
But in the early 2000s, those rules began to loosen.
Guest roles became more common. Actors could move more freely between genres and projects.
Hamm embraced that shift — often saying yes to unexpected or “silly” roles that allowed him to stretch beyond serious drama.
Why the Moment Still Matters
The story Hamm told at the New York event wasn’t just about a movie set.
It was about the strange way careers sometimes circle back to the things that first inspired them.
For a teenager in Missouri, Top Gun was a cultural moment — loud, stylish, and unforgettable.
Decades later, Hamm found himself standing in the middle of its sequel, watching history repeat itself on a runway full of fighter jets.
Even after years in Hollywood, he admitted, it still feels a little unbelievable.
