Jon Hamm Cast In Edgar Wright Heist Movie ‘Baby Driver’
The cast for Edgar Wright’s heist movie, Baby Driver, continues to strengthen an already impressive ensemble, with the news that Mad Men actor Jon Hamm is set to join the film in an unspecified role.
According to Variety, negotiations are at a very advanced stage to bring the former Don Draper on board. Hamm will feature amongst a solid leading cast, including Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), Lily James (Wrath of the Titans), and Ansel Elgort (The Divergent series). Edgar Wright is both directing and writing the film, which will be his first cinematic outing since The World’s End back in 2013. Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will be on production duty with Nira Park of Big Talk Productions.
Many fans were disappointed to see Edgar Wright drop out of Marvel’s Ant-Man in 2014, as his superb vision and creative originality would have slotted perfectly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With cult hits like Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on his résumé, and a three-year hiatus, fans will be relishing his return to the helm.
Baby Driver follows the exploits of a young getaway driver who finds himself coerced into working for a ruthless crime boss. Priding himself on his work and using his own personal soundtrack to orchestrate his getaways, he falls afoul of the crime boss when a high-stakes heist goes badly wrong. Fearing for his safety and with a threat on his life and freedom, the driver must find a way to elude the crime boss or face the consequences.
The casting is another fine chapter in Jon Hamm’s career, one that has seen him rise to fame as an international superstar. In recent years, Hamm has worked with some of Hollywood’s finest and has compiled a fantastic body of work. From cameos in The A-Team and Sucker Punch to more established roles in Bridesmaids, Million Dollar Arm, and The Town, Hamm is fast becoming a phenomenal character actor, one with immense charisma and charm. He owes a lot to Don Draper, his most iconic character from AMC’s Mad Men, the role that put him on the map.
According to Raindance, he didn’t take acting seriously at first. Attempting to make a go of it, he moved to Hollywood with just a car and $150 in his pocket. Signing up with the prestigious William Morris Agency, he didn’t find an acting role for three whole years. The agency would then drop him at the age of 25. Making ends meet, as a waiter and a set dresser for softcore porn films, he gave himself an ultimatum, giving himself five years to make it as an actor.
“You either suck that up and find another agent, or you go home and say you gave it a shot, but that’s the end of that. The last thing I wanted to be out here was one of those actors who’s 45 years old, with a tenuous grasp of their own reality, and not really working much. So I gave myself five years. I said, if I can’t get it going by the time I’m 30, I’m in the wrong place. And as soon as I said that, it’s like I started working right away.”
At 29, he was cast in TV show Providence. A year later, in 2002 at the age of 30, he was cast in We Were Soldiers alongside Mel Gibson. This would begin a slow but successful rise to stardom. Five years later, Mad Men was born — the rest is history.
Since the completion of Mad Men earlier this year, Hamm has been very much in demand and casting rumours are rife, such is the normalcy of a successful actor. One potential role that has generated a lot of buzz is Negan, the iconic villain in The Walking Dead, who is rumoured to make his first TV appearance in the finale of Season 6. Fans of the comic will know that casting an actor of Hamm’s stature in the pivotal role can only mean terrible things for the characters in the show. When news broke in April, the internet exploded.
MTV News asked Hamm if he would be willing to step into the bloody shoes of Negan.
Addressing The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, he simply replied, “Robert, call me, come on! I’ve met Robert quite a few times, he’s a lovely guy, I think he’s done wonders with that show, and I know it’s very close to him, obviously. I don’t know, we’ll see, it’ll be fun, that’s for sure.”
So, Jon Hamm is in demand. If his career trajectory is anything to go by, we can expect to see plenty of stellar work from the former Don Draper. Production on Baby Driver is expected to start later this year.
The film is scheduled for release on March 17, 2017.
[Featured image courtesy of AMC Studios]
