Burning questions for Christina Hendricks and Lester Cohen

SHE IS NO stranger to zeitgeisty dramatic television. Christina Hendricks starred on “Mad Men” as Joan Harris, a role for which she was nominated six times for an Emmy. Now, she’s embodying a character trying to be taken seriously in a more predominantly men’s world again — money-laundering. An Emmy contender again this year for NBC’S “Good Girls,” Hendricks is getting to blend genres a little bit more than usual. “To me, the funniest things are the things that are played seriously,” she says. “The more real you play it, the more real and absurd it is.” What was challenging about the first season of “Good Girls”?

It’s the first time that I was there every day, all day for 17 hours a day, and that’s a big change [but] in a good way because I found myself being even more invested. You spend every second of every day with [the cast and the crew] and it really becomes incredibly collaborative and everybody’s really got each other’s back. The challenge was the stamina part of it, but it’s also been really rewarding.

How do you balance the tone on set?

It’s a lot of conversation in rehearsal to make that work. ...We have to go, “Well, who are these people and how do they deal with stress?” Some of them deal with stress by turning it into humor. We make sure all of those things are being addressed.

Were you surprised by things “Good Girls” was able to do, being on broadcast?

On “Mad Men” I felt like we were pioneers to a certain extent, and I like to think this show is, too. ...I’m really proud of the movement of the show, and I think that makes it an interesting ride for people. I want people to feel like they’re one of us in it — feel the fear but also feel like they’re hanging out with their best friends.

How do you feel the timeliness airing at the height of #Metoo affected its reception? It is definitely something people talk about right away when they mention the show. But I think we do it in a way that’s empowering, you can still have a laugh, it’s not preachy, it’s understanding and accepting, and still is having people have the conversations we want people to be having and is in complete support of how people are feeling right now.

What advice do you have for those just starting in the business today?

Unless it’s the only thing you can imagine doing and you love it so much, do something else. I always felt so lucky to get anything that at the time it was the best role. It was like, “I get three lines on ‘Angel’? It is the best! Because it’s a period episode and I get to do an Irish accent.” You can’t go to work every day and be like, “I hate my fucking show.”

Where else you've seen Christina Hendricks: TV: “Tin Star”; “Hap and Leonard”; “Another Period”; “Life”; “Jake in Progress”; “Firefly”; “ER” Film: “Life as We Know It”; “Struck by Lightning”; “Bad Santa 2”; “Fist Fight”; “The Neon Demon” Interview by Danielle Turchiano Photograph by Peter Yang