Jon Hamm on the Hollywood Grind Rollerblading Around LA to Auditions

TL;DR

Jon Hamm describes arriving in Hollywood broke, getting his car towed, and rollerblading to auditions sweaty just to survive.

Key Points

• 1.Jon Hamm arrived in Hollywood completely broke. He accumulated $2,000 in unpaid parking tickets, had his car towed, and was left relying on LA's difficult public transit system while working a restaurant job.
• 2.He rollerbladed to auditions across LA to compensate for poor transit access. He'd carry rollerblades on the bus, skate to audition locations, and show up sweaty to commercial castings like Ivory soap ads, knowing his chances were slim.
• 3.Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Simmons gave Hamm a defining life lesson. Simmons, a surrogate father figure after Hamm's dad died, told him many players made it with no parents and no glove — no one is going to make it happen for you.
• 4.Hamm channeled his grind mentality into Mad Men's first day on set. Looking in the mirror, he told himself 'I'm going to kill this,' framing career success as showing up prepared and doing something meaningful after getting picked.