--- title: Jon Hamm Was Once Cast as Just the "Gorgeous Guy at Bar" description: The 'Mad Men' star wasn't always the brooding male icon he's come to represent; in fact, he had a pretty mundane start to his career. canonical: https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-13T18:09:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:37.927Z og:title: Jon Hamm's First Role Was "Gorgeous Guy at Bar" on Ally McBeal og:description: The "Mad Men" actor wasn't always known for his thoughtful, brooding acting. og:url: https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4215028a47ccc33/6988a9e32dce018aea9eb057/jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: The Build Series Presents Jon Hamm Discussing The New Movie "Keeping Up With The Joneses" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jon Hamm's First Role Was "Gorgeous Guy at Bar" on Ally McBeal twitter:description: The "Mad Men" actor wasn't always known for his thoughtful, brooding acting. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4215028a47ccc33/6988a9e32dce018aea9eb057/jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Modern Icon Jon Hamm Was Once Cast as 'Gorgeous Guy at Bar' on _Ally McBeal_ > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e510c4cb-6c42-41c4-b509-5f163dcadf79&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 13, 2016 6:09 PM UTC  Actor Jon Hamm discusses the new film "Keeping Up with the Joneses" at AOL HQ on October 12, 2016 in New York City. Actor Jon Hamm discusses the new film "Keeping Up with the Joneses" at AOL HQ on October 12, 2016 in New York City. Mireya Acierto—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 13, 2016 6:09 PM UTC _Mad Men_ leading man [Jon Hamm](http://time.com/4234477/jon-hamm-rescues-hummingbird/?iid=sr-link3) has been a symbol of dark, brooding masculinity ever since he stepped [into the role of Don Draper](http://time.com/56054/jon-hamm-mad-men-qa/?iid=sr-link1) back in 2007\. But he wasn’t always seen as a tortured-soul-type actor. In fact, Hamm actually got his start by banking on his notorious good looks as “Gorgeous Guy at Bar” in an episode of the legal [drama _Ally McBeal_.](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/07/19/when-worlds-collide-10-classic-tv-crossovers/slide/ally-mcbeal-meets-the-practice/?iid=sr-link1) (According to Hamm’s [IMDB page](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358316/), it was his first ever role.) His early acting gigs also included “low-rent dramas” and a role as a set dresser on a porn film, [_Mr. Porter_ magazine reports](https://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-look/whats-next-for-mr-jon-hamm/1355), which he found to be “one of the most depressing experiences” in his life. His first movie? The Mel Gibson drama [_We Were Soldiers_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/) in 2002. “I had a small part in it, but I made a ton of money on it. I thought, OK, I’m working now. I don’t have to do a sh-tty day job anymore,” he said; he had also been waiting tables at the time. Thankfully, _Mad Men_ came up a few years later and positively turned his fortunes around, transforming him from just that nameless “Gorgeous Guy at Bar” to a modern icon—although in some ways he’s returning to his roots with his latest spy comedy, [_Keeping Up with the Jones_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPfYXXg65qA), in which he plays a way-too-handsome agent. \[[MrPorter](https://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-look/whats-next-for-mr-jon-hamm/1355)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/"},"headline":"Modern Icon Jon Hamm Was Once Cast as 'Gorgeous Guy at Bar' on Ally McBeal","datePublished":"2016-10-13T18:09:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:37.927Z","description":"His first role may have just been eye candy","url":"https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4215028a47ccc33/6988a9e32dce018aea9eb057/jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4215028a47ccc33/6988a9e32dce018aea9eb057/jon-hamm.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Build Series Presents Jon Hamm Discussing The New Movie \"Keeping Up With The Joneses\"","caption":"The Build Series Presents Jon Hamm Discussing The New Movie \"Keeping Up With The Joneses\"","creditText":"Mireya Acierto—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4530217/modern-icon-jon-hamm-was-once-cast-as-gorgeous-guy-at-bar-on-ally-mcbeal/","name":"Modern Icon Jon Hamm Was Once Cast as 'Gorgeous Guy at Bar' on Ally McBeal"}}]}] ```