Christina Hendricks's former agency is probably kicking itself for dropping the actress because she decided to take a role as Joan Harris on "Mad Men." During an interview with U.K.'s The Guardian, Hendricks revealed that she was dropped by her agency because they didn't think "Mad Men" would last.
"They said, 'It's a period piece, it's never going to go anywhere. We need you to make money and this isn't going to make money.' They ended up dropping me," Hendricks told The Guardian.
The actress said she and her manager thought the role of a sassy 60s secretary who becomes partner at an advertising agency was perfect, so Hendricks decided to go for it.
"I had been on several shows that were meant to be the big ones, that would go on forever, and they didn't," she said. "So there was no sure bet and I'd already taken a chance on them and I felt, why not do the one you're in love with and take a chance on that?"
It turns out the risk was definitely worth it; "Mad Men" aired its first season in 2007 and was an instant hit. Eight years later, Hendricks and the rest of the cast just wrapped filming for the final seventh season. The 39-year-old actress told The Guardian that on the last day of filming the cast and crew hung around "chatting, singing, dancing" until eight the next morning.
"We all just stuck around," she said. "We didn't want to leave."
"I don't think it's fully hit me yet," Hendricks added about the series coming to an end. "We [the cast] all know each other more than most people on Earth know each other. A lot has happened these eight years. A lot of us have gotten married, bought home, had children."
There's definitely been a lot of perks to playing Joan Harris other than the fame. Hendricks told the UK newspaper that she thinks some of the character has rubbed off on her personality.
"I've got a little sass in me," she said. "I probably tend to get my feelings hurt more. I tend to take things personally. But I can only take so much and then I jump back. I have strong survival skills."
