MATTHEW WEINER
T he final season of the Emmy-winning AMC series Mad Men , which begins airing tonight, is being promoted as “the end of an era.” That refers to both the close of the 1960s (the setting of the show) and to the series itself. Matthew Weiner, 49 (above right, with stars Elisabeth Moss, also featured on page 2 of this issue, and Jon Hamm), created the world of Mad Men , writing or co-writing every episode and directing nine of them, including this season’s final two. How did it feel on the set the final day of shooting last July? “It was very emotional. Maybe because I’m a dad, I kind of tried to hold it together. The actors and people hung out and waited for everybody’s last moment. There were a lot of photos being taken and a lot of speeches. And Jon Hamm was the last shot and the last word. By the time he did his last shot and talked to the crew, we must have had 300-something people on the set.” How do you want the fans to feel when the show’s over? “Satisfied. And I have no control over that, because I’m a longtime viewer of television and there’s something about [a show] ending that is unsatisfying, no matter what. I do think that we were very conscious of leaving everybody in a place that we thought gives the audience some clarity.” Do you want viewers to be surprised, shocked or stunned? “Oh, all of that.” Do you consider Don Draper an anti-hero, a hero or somewhere between? “Sometimes heroes look like Robert Redford and sometimes they look like Dustin Hoffman. I don’t consider Don a traditional anti-hero. I don’t think Don
is unlikeable. I always hoped Don was much more someone with problems a lot like the ones you have, with the ability to solve them with the same tools that you have.” The show has some significant female characters. How important has it been to make sure you’re attuned to females? “It’s super-important. One of my inspirations from the very beginning was reading The Feminine Mystique and Sex and the Single Girl the same week and asking, ‘OK, what are the options [for these characters]?’” Do you watch on Sunday
nights? “I have a routine, especially when I’m doing the show, because I work so late on the weeknights, and I write on Sunday. Sunday mornings, my wife [architect Linda Brettler] goes to yoga and I take my four boys [Marten, 18; Charles 16; Arlo, 14; and Ellis, 11] to breakfast. About 1 p.m., I go in to write, the writers’ assistant meets me, and we write until two or three in the morning. Sometimes the show is on, [but], like a lot of the audience, I will watch it on the DVR on Monday or Tuesday night.”
What’s your next project? “I don’t know yet. I have a few ideas. I’ve actually sort of been reintegrating myself into real life, spending more time with my family. All I’m trying to do is fill up the tank, if that makes sense. I felt it was important to really soak this in and to rest.”
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