Christina Hendricks reflects on people always wanting to ask me about my bra on Mad Men – Daily Mail

Christina Hendricks has reflected on all the attention which was placed on her figure during her time in Mad Men.

The actress, 46, who played Joan Holloway for eight years, also spoke about sexism in the entertainment industry and the times in her career where people have ‘tried to take advantage’ of her in a candid interview with The Guardian.

Speaking about a fixation on her shape, Joan said: ‘There certainly was a time when we were very critically acclaimed, and getting a lot of attention for our very good work and our very hard work, and everyone just wanted to ask me about my bra.’ 

Mad Men, which followed the tangled lives of staff at a 1960s Manhattan advertising agency, aired from 2007-2015 and featured stars including Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones and John Slattery. 

Christina also discussed sexism and harassment in the industry after the Me Too movement, saying that she doesn’t know ‘one model or actor’ who has escaped that. 

The Good Girls star candidly detailed her personal experience saying she’s dealt with people who have tried to ‘coerce’ her on past projects.

She said: ‘I have had moments – not on Mad Men; on other things – where people have tried to take advantage of me, use my body in a way I wasn’t comfortable with, persuade me or coerce me or professionally shame me.’ 

The actress added that perhaps her background in modelling means that she knew to instantly ‘get on the phone’ and deal with any instances of this.

And although acknowledging the problems, Christina said that entertainment gets a lot of attention as its stars are famous, saying she’s ‘sure the same thing happens’ in other industries where people aren’t well known.   

Christina also reflected on the allegations made against the show’s creator Matthew Weiner by writer Kater Gordon in 2017, two years after Mad Men ended. 

Replying to this, Christina explained that she never had a ‘toxic’ relationship around Weiner and added that he did expect a lot from actors in his show.

However, she told the publication that she doesn’t ‘discount anyone’s experience if I wasn’t there to see it’ and that Weiner was ‘a perfectionist’ and ‘tough’ on actors to get the best from them.

In November 2017, Weiner’s former assistant and writer on Mad Men Kater Gordon accused him of sexual harassment.

Gordon claimed in an interview with The Information at the time that while working on a script together for the season two finale of Mad Men, Weiner ‘told me that I owed it to him to let him see me naked.’

She was later fired by Weiner by phone just ahead of the show’s fourth season.

The writer and producer asserted that he really didn’t remember making the charged comment, adding that he believed he didn’t say it in comments to The New York Times.

‘I mean, Kater and I were in a room together nine hours a day for six months, six days a week, and I just don’t remember having that attitude,’ he told the newspaper.

‘I didn’t feel that way about her. I was surprised that so many years later, I was being told about that. We worked together for a year, and it did not work out.’

Weiner also denied the allegations when they later resurfaced while speaking in front of an audience in Los Angeles.

‘The allegations are not true, and (this) is a very important topic and a topic that I have devoted — it has been an obsession of mine, in my work and in my life, for like 92 hours of the show; we wanted people to be having this conversation,’ the at-the-time 52-year-old said. ‘It’s great that we’re having it. It’s a very serious issue.’