Mad Men Cast (2007–2015)
AMC | Period Drama | 7 Seasons, 92 Episodes | Created by Matthew Weiner
Mad Men is an AMC period drama set in the world of Madison Avenue advertising agencies during the 1960s and early 1970s. Created by Matthew Weiner, the series follows the enigmatic creative director Don Draper and his colleagues at Sterling Cooper as they navigate the sweeping social changes of the era — the civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, the Kennedy assassination, and the Vietnam War — against a backdrop of perfectly tailored suits, heavy drinking, and constant professional competition. The show aired from July 2007 to May 2015, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series four consecutive times from 2008 to 2011.
The Mad Men cast is anchored by Jon Hamm's career-defining performance as Don Draper, a man whose polished exterior conceals a fabricated identity and a profound inability to sustain genuine intimacy. Around Hamm, creator Matthew Weiner assembled an ensemble that allowed the show to track both the individual lives of its characters and the collective experience of an entire era. Elisabeth Moss's Peggy Olson charted one of television's most satisfying arcs — from secretary to creative powerhouse — while Christina Hendricks brought intelligence and steel to Joan Holloway, a woman navigating an office culture built to marginalise her. John Slattery's Roger Sterling supplied wit and melancholy in equal measure, and Vincent Kartheiser made Pete Campbell one of the most complex ambitious-heel characters in drama.
Main Cast
Jon Hamm
Don Draper
Creative director at Sterling Cooper whose suave, authoritative exterior conceals a stolen identity and a recurring cycle of self-destruction and reinvention.
Elisabeth Moss
Peggy Olson
Don's secretary who earns her place in the copywriting department through talent and persistence, becoming one of the agency's most creative minds.
Christina Hendricks
Joan Holloway
The formidable office manager of Sterling Cooper whose organisational command and social intelligence far exceed what the era's professional norms allow her to exercise.
Vincent Kartheiser
Pete Campbell
An ambitious, entitled junior account executive whose hunger for recognition and status makes him a constant irritant — and an unexpectedly revealing mirror — to Don Draper.
January Jones
Betty Draper
Don's first wife, a former model whose picture-perfect suburban life masks deep dissatisfaction and a psychological complexity that increases as the series progresses.
John Slattery
Roger Sterling
A charming, wisecracking senior partner at the agency whose old-money ease increasingly struggles to find relevance in a rapidly changing decade.
Kiernan Shipka
Sally Draper
Don and Betty's eldest child, who grows from a bewildered little girl into a perceptive adolescent who sees through the adult world around her with unsettling clarity.
Robert Morse
Bert Cooper
The agency's avuncular founding partner, a devotee of Ayn Rand and Japanese art whose eccentricities belie a sharp understanding of business and human nature.
Rich Sommer
Harry Crane
The agency's head of television who navigates the new medium with pragmatic enthusiasm, building influence while remaining slightly out of step with the cool set.
Aaron Staton
Ken Cosgrove
A genial account executive and aspiring fiction writer who maintains his basic decency across the series despite constant pressure to compromise it.
Jared Harris
Lane Pryce
A British accountant sent to manage the American offices whose tragic arc in season five constitutes one of the series' most quietly devastating storylines.
Jay R. Ferguson
Stan Rizzo
An art director who begins as Peggy's abrasive adversary and gradually becomes her most trusted creative collaborator and confidant across the later seasons.
Supporting & Recurring Cast
| Actor | Character | Role | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maggie Siff | Rachel Menken | A sharp department store heiress who becomes one of Don's more significant romantic connections in the early seasons | 1, 6 |
| Alison Brie | Trudy Campbell | Pete's patient, socially astute wife who eventually reaches the limits of her willingness to accommodate his behaviour | 1–6 |
| Mark Moses | Herman "Duck" Phillips | A driven account man who arrives from Grey Advertising and challenges Don's authority at the agency | 2–3 |
| Kevin Rahm | Ted Chaough | Creative director at a rival agency who merges with Sterling Cooper and develops a complicated bond with Peggy | 5–7 |
| Ben Feldman | Michael Ginsberg | A fiercely talented but increasingly fragile young copywriter whose unconventional thinking challenges the creative department norms | 5–7 |
| Cara Buono | Dr. Faye Miller | A consumer research psychologist who consults for the agency and forms a meaningful relationship with Don in season four | 4 |
| Jessica Paré | Megan Calvet | Don's second wife, a secretary-turned-actress whose California ambitions pull her away from the New York advertising world | 4–7 |
| Christopher Stanley | Henry Francis | A state government official who marries Betty after her divorce from Don and provides a stable if constrained new domestic life | 3–7 |
| Patrick Fischler | Jimmy Barrett | A stand-up comedian and Utz potato chips spokesperson whose confrontation with Don sets off major consequences in season two | 2 |
| Randee Heller | Anna Draper | The widow of the real Don Draper, the one person in the world who knows Dick Whitman's true identity and accepts him entirely | 2–4 |
Creators & Production
Matthew Weiner
Creator & Showrunner — Weiner developed Mad Men over many years before selling it to AMC, where he maintained tight creative control and served as principal writer throughout the run.
Scott Hornbacher
Executive Producer — Hornbacher worked closely with Weiner on the series' production logistics and maintained consistency across its extended run.
Lionsgate Television
Production Company — Lionsgate produced the series in partnership with AMC, and the show became a flagship property demonstrating the cable network's move into original prestige drama.
AMC
Network — Mad Men was the first original series commissioned by AMC, transforming the network's identity and helping launch the era of cable prestige drama.
Janie Bryant
Costume Designer — Bryant's period-perfect costume design became one of the series' most celebrated elements, earning multiple Emmy Awards and inspiring fashion trends.
About the Mad Men Cast
Jon Hamm's casting as Don Draper was the pivotal creative decision that made Mad Men possible. Before the series, Hamm was a working actor with supporting television credits but no major starring role; creator Matthew Weiner fought for him against network pressure to cast a bigger name. The gamble paid off spectacularly: Hamm's combination of physical authority, comedic timing, and capacity for sudden emotional devastation made Don Draper one of the defining male characters of the prestige TV era. He finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in the show's final season after six nominations. Elisabeth Moss, already known for her work in The West Wing, used Peggy Olson as a vehicle for one of the era's most nuanced long-form character studies, charting the arc from professional invisibility to creative mastery over seven seasons.
Mad Men's casting team, led by Laura Schiff and Carrie Audino, was particularly skilled at identifying actors whose period physical qualities matched the 1960s setting without the characters feeling like costumes. Kiernan Shipka, who began the series as a child, grew up on screen in the role of Sally Draper and delivered increasingly sophisticated performances as the character aged. The series also gave prominent roles to actors like Jared Harris and Robert Morse — Morse himself an actual Broadway star of the 1960s — that gave the ensemble a genuine connection to the era being depicted. Mad Men was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series Emmy every year of its run, and won the award four consecutive times at the start of its broadcast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Mad Men?
Mad Men stars Jon Hamm as advertising creative director Don Draper, Elisabeth Moss as copywriter Peggy Olson, Christina Hendricks as office manager Joan Holloway, and John Slattery as partner Roger Sterling.
Who plays Don Draper in Mad Men?
Don Draper is played by Jon Hamm throughout all seven seasons of Mad Men. Hamm won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2015 for the role.
How many seasons does Mad Men have?
Mad Men ran for seven seasons on AMC from July 2007 to May 2015. The final season was split into two parts, airing in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Who created Mad Men?
Mad Men was created by Matthew Weiner, who had previously worked as a writer and producer on The Sopranos. Weiner served as showrunner throughout the entire run of the series.
Who plays Peggy Olson in Mad Men?
Peggy Olson is played by Elisabeth Moss. Peggy begins the series as Don Draper's secretary and rises steadily through the series to become a respected copywriter and creative leader.
How we build these cast lists
For background on how Cast.biz compiles and orders cast credits, see understanding billing order, how TV show casts are built, and our glossary of cast credits.