Actress Jennifer Westfeldt and her long-time partner, Jon Hamm broke up earlier this month and both actors are having a tough time dealing with it.
Us Weekly was able to interview Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men, during the 2015 Creative Arts Emmys at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles last Saturday. He described the break-up of his two close friends as “rough” saying: “It’s a tough time for (both of them).”
Weiner is positive that the two will soon move on and find happiness. “All I can say is I wish him the best. I wish them both the best. They’re both incredibly talented, wonderful people. They’ll both find happiness, there’s no doubt in my mind,” the Mad Men creator said.
Westfeldt and Hamm had been together for 18 years but on September 7, the couple announced their decision to end their relationship.
In a statement, the couple expressed their sadness over their separation: “With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history.” Although they are separating, Westfeldt and Hamm said they would be “supportive of each other in every way possible moving forward.”
Months before their separation, 44-year-old Hamm expressed his gratitude toward his girlfriend for helping him when he went to rehab for alcohol abuse.
According to the actor’s representative, Hamm completed treatment for alcohol abuse with the steadfast support of his girlfriend, Westfeldt.
The ex-couple had tried to work out their issues in their relationship but an insider told Us that they did not share the same vision for their family. The source close to the actress revealed Hamm wanted kids but Westfeldt did not.
The couple met at the party of a friend and started dating in 1997 but they never married.
In a world where every hook-up, engagement and wedding is ‘news’, it’s rare to find a Hollywood couple that keeps their relationship on the down low. However, Mad Men‘s Vincent Kartheiser and his fiancé, Alexis Bledel, have been very hush-hush about their love.
Finally, we have some word from Vincent Kartheiser about his relationship with his fiancé.
According to Vulture, Kartheiser met the Gilmore Girls actress two years ago when she guest-starred as his character’s mistress on Mad Men. Currently he lives in Los Angeles but has been staying in Brooklyn with the 32-year old actress.
Kartheiser, 34, says they didn’t start dating until after season five wrapped.
“We were completely professional,” Kartheiser said. “We never saw each other out. We never—it was nothing, it was just work.”
Several of his costars including Jon Hamm, and Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, spoke out on their behalf.
“I did know he liked her from a very early point,” Hamm said. “I was a supporter of that union.”
Weiner also commented on the couple, adding, “I told Vinnie that they would be great together. I was like, ‘Don’t blow it!’”
Weiner told the show’s writers that the two would get married.
“Honestly, they’re a really good match,” Weiner said. “They’re both very down to earth, with a sense of responsibility and strong family ties. And they’ve been acting since before they can remember, which makes for a very special personality. It’s not just that I thought they would look cute together.”
But, he said, with a laugh, “Even with all of Alexis‘s amazing qualities, I think that if she had not been such a good actress, he would not have been interested.”
The two were engaged in March 2013 after dating for several months.
After a heartbreakingly long hiatus, AMC’s “Mad Men” came back to us last night with a two-hour premiere which was fairly low-key, but set up several plot points for the future.
The four-time Emmy winner has been anticipated eagerly by fans since the last season wrapped up in October of 2010, with everyone wanting to know if Don would go through with marrying his secretary, Megan, after an especially tender moment he shared with ex-wife Betty. Joan, who was pregnant at the end of last season, was keeping a huge secret; her baby was fathered by none other than office bigwig Roger Sterling–with whom she had a long-standing affair–rather than her husband.
Those subjects and more were explored last night, much to the delight of anyone who has watched and loved the show since it’s early days. There were also a few new avenues to discover, such as Pete’s newfound unhappiness with suburban life and the loveless, cruel marriage shared by Sterling and Jane, which mirrors the relationship he had with Mona, his previous wife. Also brought into the show’s storyline was the civil rights movement, which began to spark protests during the year the episode was set in (1966) and led to Sterling Cooper Draper Price running an ad in the paper stating that they were an equal opportunity employer to get back at a rival ad company who got themselves into hot water regarding protesters.
Here’s an update on some of the major characters.
Don Draper
Newly married and living in a plush, hip pad in the city, Don is starting over with Megan while doing the weekend warrior thing with his three kids. While happiness has never been something that says in his life very long, he may well find it with Megan, a pretty young thing who is a million times more relaxed than Betty ever was about…well, anything. However, we can’t forget the wise words of one of Don’s jilted ladies from last season, spoken after she find out he had dumped her for Megan: “I hope she knows you only like the beginnings of things.”
Roger Sterling
Poor Rog. He’s getting old, he fathered a baby he can’t take credit for, and his wife hates his guts. On top of all that, his accounts aren’t as successful as they used to be, meaning his position within the top tier of the company is precarious. His drunken, skirt-chasing antics aren’t as amusing as they used to be to his co-workers, either. One can only assume his relationship with Jane will be a focal point within his story this season…or perhaps he’ll decide to make waves where Joan and their baby are concerned?
Peter Campbell
Pete’s a man of the ‘burbs now, living out the old fashioned dream with his wife and newborn baby girl. But motherhood has taken a toll on his wife Trudy, who used to be impeccably dressed and was at Pete’s side as soon as he snapped his fingers. Now that he’s not the center of attention, he’s taking it out on the guys at work, demanding a bigger office where he can host potential clients and doing his usual whining about how he works harder than anyone else. A short but funny scene in last night’s premiere had him and Peggy–who share a secret child that Pete doesn’t acknowledge–awkwardly trying to figure out what to do with Joan’s baby while she visits the office.
Peggy Olsen
One of the hardest working people in the office, Peggy is still trying hard to prove she’s worthy of the same respect the men get around the office. She also has to deal with Megan, who moved right up the corporate ladder once she married Don and is working in the creative department. It can’t be easy working with the boss’s wife, especially when she didn’t earn her position.
Joan Holloway
Joan–my personal favorite character on the show–has a lot on her plate right now. Not only is she a new mother, she’s doing everything on her own since her doctor husband was shipped off in the service, and being away from the office is leaving her with feelings of inadequacy. At SCDP, she’s a big deal, the woman who knows where everything is, what everyone is doing, and what everyone will be doing tomorrow. But at home, she’s just a new mom trying to adjust. After SCDP ran their ad in the newspaper (which was meant more as a dig to their rival than as a want ad), she fears they will replace her if she doesn’t make it known she wants to come back to her old job, and visits the office with the baby, which leads to a rather awkward encounter with Roger. After a meeting with Lane, however, her integral role at the office is made clear, and a touching moment is shared when they both realize how lonely they are.
Betty Draper
Betty wasn’t in the premiere episode because of a pregnancy while the show was filming, and because of maternity leave she may not be featured much this season. But hopefully the writers will update us on her character, because Betty truly is one of the biggest bitches you love to hate.
While there weren’t any huge, dramatic events in the premiere–which creator Matthew Weiner says was intentional–there was certainly enough juicy material to keep us fans satisfied until next week, and for the writers to draw upon for some excellent story lines.
“I’m not going to amp the story up to an unrealistic level,” Weiner told NPR. “I’m not going to like, you know, start off with a fire in the agency and say who survived. But I did want to give at least something extra. So that, first of all, was the decision to make a two-hour premiere.”
Fans took to Twitter to give their reactions on the episode.
