Jon Hamm recalls hilarious pre-fame audition blunder

Jon Hamm is looking back on one of the more awkward moments of his pre-Mad Men acting career when he was mistaken for Scottish actor John Hannah during an audition.

The 55-year-old actor shared the story while promoting the second season of his Apple TV+ dark comedy Your Friends & Neighbors at 92nd Street Y in New York City on March 29.

Speaking with Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz, Hamm revealed that the mix-up left him “walking out with my tail between my legs.”

Hamm explained that he was auditioning for “something very British” and had spent time perfecting a British accent.

“I performed it in a very, in my mind, fantastic British accent,” he recalled. “The casting person told me I was great and that she had no idea I was from the United Kingdom. I said, ‘That’s because I am not. But it’s nice that you think I am.’”

The confusion came when the casting team assumed Hamm was John Hannah, known for roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors, and The Mummy trilogy.

“John Hannah… really looks nothing remotely like me,” Hamm said, joking about the only thing the two actors possibly shared being their first names, phonetically at least.

The casting director soon realized the mix-up. “Jon’s not a citizen of the U.K.,” she announced after consulting a casting assistant. “And there was a lot of hushed whispering… ‘I’m terribly sorry. We thought you were John Hannah.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no,’” Hamm recounted.

He politely declined to do a second scene and left the audition, embarrassed but laughing at the absurdity.