WEIRDLAND: Kyle Chandler and Jon Hamm: Baseball Heroes

Friday, May 02, 2014

Kyle Chandler and Jon Hamm: Baseball Heroes

-What's your favorite sport? / -Kyle Chandler: Baseball, baseball, baseball. (TVGen-Yahoo! Chat Session, 1999). In "Homefront" (ABC) Kyle Chandler would play Jeff Metcalf, a professional baseball player with the Cleveland Indians. The scripts for "Homefront" were written (even more than "Mad Men") in the slang and vintage turn-of-phrases of the 1940's era.

On television’s “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm plays Don Draper -- the clever and creative advertising man who can sell just about anything. But in his new movie role as a down-on-his-luck sports agent, he’s making his wildest pitch yet: a contest to find major league-caliber pitching stars in a country where almost no one has ever seen a baseball.

Only this time, the character Hamm plays is real -- and is now the subject of an upcoming Disney film, “Million Dollar Arm,” in theaters nationwide May 16. The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News. “Anyone can make this stuff up, but when it happens to real people, in real life, I think the emotional impact is even more so,” Hamm told "Nightline" during filming in Atlanta last summer. “It’s just a very interesting story for me, especially as someone who gets to play maybe not the most wholesome person on the planet, six months out of the year,” Hamm said. Source: abcnews.go.com

He's suave, sophisticated, and undeniably sexy. But Jon Hamm says he just can't understand why anyone would find his Mad Men alter ego Don Draper attractive. Talking to Glamour magazine, the actor explains: 'He’s a terrible guy. It’s not his fault he’s damaged, but he’s a terrible guy.'

(seen in the show with co-star Jessica Pare). Despite being lusted after by his fans, Jon, 43, doesn't understand the seemingly universal appeal of the flawed advertising exec. 'With men, it’s like, "That’s the guy you want to be?" Go buy a nice suit and comb your hair, but don’t do the other parts of the character [the cheating, the lying]. 'And I find it crazy when women like Don. There are better dudes.'

But it seems modest Jon may be discounting a hefty part of his character's appeal - his own good looks. Jon revealed his childhood dreams were quite different. 'I wanted to be a professional baseball player when I was a little kid. I still play in a league out here [in L.A.]—a bunch of old dudes who get together on Sundays. Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

​Weiner tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he's still conflicted about Don and his secretive, promiscuous ways. "I don't really have a lot of judgment for Don," he says. "He makes me nervous. I feel bad for him. I want him to be able to get out of things. I know that he has a lot of love in his heart. I just don't know if it's possible to stand up and rectify everything by telling the truth." Jon had a depth and maybe carries — even if it's fictional — a sense of a wound, a sense of a conscience, a sense of conflict. You're seeing it on the show all the time. He brought that to it. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I think, "Oh my God, what if I didn't cast him?" You know? Well, I wouldn't have a show. Source: www.npr.org

Talking about the ending of "Friday Night Light": "Bittersweet. Saying goodbye to the Taylor house hurt a lot. Our final scene there we shot on a hot, muggy night, and everyone was exhausted. And I was thinking, “I want to get home.” But as we got into the van to leave, I looked back at the Taylor house, and it brought up a lot of memories. It stung. I grabbed my phone, stuck it out the window and took a picture of the house. I’m going to put it in a tiny little frame and keep it my home. That will be “Friday Night Lights” for me, whenever I look at it." -Kyle Chandler (Coach Eric Taylor in FNL)

"It's probably a personality flaw in a business like mine, but I prefer to avoid fuss and flash," says Chandler, enviably handsome. In the dim light of the oak room, with yellowing photos of Seabiscuit and the 1951 Rams behind him, it's easy to imagine a time when guys like Chandler pursued acting simply as an excuse to ride horses and chase pretty girls. He's gracious enough, but you get the sense he would rather be having a root canal than blathering on about himself." Source: www.menshealth.com

Hear us out: he may not be the first actor that comes to mind, but Kyle Chandler could play the weathered older version of The King - Elvis Presley. It’s definitely out of the mold of government officials and coaches (Coach!) we’ve seen him play in the past, but maybe a fat suit and a new role is just what Chandler needs. Not to mention we’d take every word he says very seriously, because, well, clear eyes, full hearts, you know the rest. Source: www.mtv.com

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