Fans of Mad Men have been wondering will there be life for Jon Hamm after the show (there are only two episodes left of the groundbreaking drama). His work outside the AMC drama has been hit and miss in terms of commercial success. In fact he has scored his biggest non-Mad Men critical plaudits for his other work in television: in the Christmas special of Black Mirror and in A Young Doctor’s Notebook. However, nothing less than a solid movie career is expected of the handsome, charismatic Hamm. He reportedly missed out on the Ben Affleck part in Gone Girl, and had he played his cards right, he could have been starring opposite Affleck in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
But perhaps Hamm can relax now: he has signed on to a new political thriller, High Wire Act, written by Nightcrawler‘s Tony Gilroy and to be directed by The Machinist‘s Brad Anderson. “Set in 1980’s Beirut, Hamm plays a former U.S. diplomat who is called back into service to save a former colleague from the group possibly responsible for his own family’s death,” reports Deadline. With his classic movie-star looks, Hamm might just be a perfect fit for the role. Screenwriter Gilroy is no stranger to the thriller subgenre of chiseled men traveling the world and getting into scrapes: he co-wrote the Bourne movies. “I’m thrilled with the way the project’s come together,” Gilroy says. “Jon Hamm was made to play the part. I’ve been trying to work with Brad Anderson from the moment I saw Transsiberian and every conversation we have confirms my confidence.” Director Anderson comments that Gilroy “may have been channeling John le Carré… the political intrigue, the betrayals, the morally compromised characters, the reluctant heroes.” Jon Hamm can of course do conflicted in his sleep — it’s at the core of his Don Draper/Dick Whitman character on Mad Men. A stellar movie career awaits; he just needs to make sure he has no more skeletons in his closet.
