For those who are unfamiliar with the name Elisabeth Moss... where have you been? The talented young actress first caught our eye as Zoey Bartlet (aka the president's daughter) on The West Wing and now is rocking the small screen as Peggy Olson on AMC's Mad Men. While the show has a glam look about it, Moss' character is the dowdiest dresser and engages in little of the drinking and smoking and carousing that gets so much of the buzz. But Peggy's not just a mousy secretary, she's got spirit and spunk and is working her way up to play as a copy writer in the big boys' club world of advertising. She also managed to get herself into a little bit of trouble with the one married sales rep she did decide to dabble around with.
If you haven't been watching Mad Men, run, don't walk, to the nearest store and buy the DVD set which is not only spectacular looking but filled with such highly stylized fun that you'll want to watch this show over and over again. (Look for our full review of the set and all its extras soon!). As for Moss, she's already hard at work on Season 2, which debuts later this month, and was happy to talk to us about the challenges of playing Peggy, what the set is like and what she thinks about a potential Emmy nomination.
TWoP: Thanks so much for talking to me. I'm such a big fan of the show.
Elisabeth Moss: Oh good, I'm glad. Thank you.
TWoP: So are you surprised by the sudden success of the show?
EM: I know, and then it came out of, like, nowhere. I mean, it's a show about advertising in the 1960's at AMC -- which is a movie channel -- with no celebrities, [so it] is a little bit surprising. We knew the show was really good, and we really loved it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a big successful show, so it was surprising and gratifying, that's for sure.
TWoP: So what do you think of Peggy? Is she like you, or can you relate to her at all?
EM: Absolutely. Ultimately, she's just a twenty year old girl, so I can definitely relate to her in that aspect, and there are definitely things about her that are like me and things about her that are not like me, or like any character that I've done. But I love playing her.
TWoP: Even though she's not the most physically glamorous character on the show?
EM: Yeah, I get to dress up and be glamorous and go to [events] as myself. So for me, I'd rather play a character. I mean, if I were a glamorous character then great, but I'd rather play someone that I find interesting. I mean, I could have played somebody that had really cute clothes all season and really high heels and tight dresses, but I got to play somebody that had a genuine character mark. Something happened to them that really changed them and made them become a different person, and I'd take that any day.
TWoP: Do you have a favorite moment with her, in the first season?
EM: I love the scene with Don, where she gives a speech about things not being fair. How people just go out and do whatever they want and nothing happens to them, and then people are good and something happens to them. I just loved that speech because she just summed up how she felt about things and what was going on and how a lot of people felt about things in that office. In a very simple statement of saying "it's not fair," and I loved that she said it to Don, because it's such a powerful moment and they just share a drink and it's just so great.
TWoP: So it was a shocker to us to discover that Peggy was pregnant. When did you find out about the baby, and were you shocked?
EM: I knew before we started filming the first season because I had to do a wardrobe and makeup check. So I knew very early on, and I was very shocked. My first reaction was just to know if I was the one that was going to have to gain the weight or if it was going to be padded. Not that I would have minded gaining the weight, but losing it was going to be interesting.
TWoP: Right... there's not that much time between seasons.
EM: Exactly. I knew I would spend my whole hiatus exercising. That was my first question, and my second reaction was, "Yeah, let's do it!" It's an amazing idea. To have such a huge storyline and something really happen to the character was a gift and I sort of jumped at it.
TWoP: For me, it was shocking and then I started thinking back and was like, "Wow, wow, that so makes sense now."
EM: I know, you're actually the second person to tell me that today. I think a lot of people feel that way [because] they're shocked. They're like, "No, no, it couldn't possibly, how weird, it's so out of the blue," and then if you actually go back and look, it's actually very obvious.
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TWoP: Like, that's why the guys were looking at her butt all of the time.
EM: [Laughs.] Yeah.
TWoP: Do we have to wait a long time to know what happens to the baby?
EM: Umm, it's funny because you're, you're gonna have to wait a little bit. There are clues, but the clues might lead you in the wrong direction... or they might not. There are actually -- to be perfectly honest, some things are up in the air at this point.
TWoP: How far into the season are you know?
EM: We are eight episodes in right now, I think. Nothing is really done the normal way, and nothing is ever as it seems.
TWoP: Well, I'm learning that now. I look at every little thing and rewatch the episodes again on DVD and I'm like, "I didn't notice that the first time around."
EM: Right. I know. You really have to pay attention, and that definitely applies to the second season as well.
TWoP: So are you excited about a potential Emmy nomination? Or does that just go with the territory?
EM: It's a funny thing. I was talking with someone on set the other day, and of course it's very exciting and it's really an honor and it's really cool, but it's hard, because you don't want to get pure credit, because you don't know if its going to happen. I think that whatever happens to the show I will be so proud of it, and you know, as far as my category, I'm up against some pretty heavy hitters, and they all have about twenty years on me at the least. I'm literally the youngest in that category by twenty years. But for me, honestly, being 25 and this being my first season and I've only really done 13 episodes, it really is an honor -- and I know that it's so cheesy, but it really is an honor to just be talked about amongst Glenn Close and Holly Hunter and Kyra Sedgwick and Mariska Hargitay, all these people who are so amazing. It's literally like, "I'm good, I'm done." [Laughs.] Just to be thought about amongst those women for a 25-year-old actress is an incredible honor. So I'm very pleased with that and whatever happens with the show, I'm already proud of it.
TWoP: So what's the actual set like with all the drinking and the smoking? Is it a weirder vibe than other sets you've been on?
EM: No, I think it's pretty much the same. I mean, we're not actually drinking and smoking, obviously -- then that would be very different. But it's different in the way that it's much more fun than other sets than I've been on. We all kind of have it down at this point. Everybody's so good, each character, that you never have to worry about going into a scene and be like, "Oh God, I have to do a scene with this guy, you know, he's not my favorite." Everybody's so good, everybody pulls their own weight and you know that no matter what happens, the other guy is going to be perfect. It's always a pleasure because you get to do different scenes with different people and you're like, "Oh today I have a scene with Christina [Hendricks], yay!" Or, "Today I have a scene with the boys, cool!" It's fun and it's a joy. It really is a joy to work on the show.
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TWoP: So is Peggy taking over Sterling Cooper this year?
EM: [Laughs.] I don't know about that this year. She does represent that movement of women. Some people have said that there were women already at that time that had high positions in advertising and other fields. And yes, it's true but we're picking up an agency that is a dinosaur agency, that runs very slowly and is part of a different era and...
TWoP: Sterling Cooper is basically a big boys' club.
EM: Yeah, exactly. So she does represent that movement of women coming up in the workplace. So if you think of it in that way she is, and I don't know anything for sure, but I would say that she is definitely going to have her moment. You can tell just from the way that she is -- she's very ambitious.
TWoP: I'm just excited to see what happens between her and office queen bee Joan. They've got such an interesting relationship.
EM: They are never going to be friends. I can pretty much guarantee that.
TWoP: I like their relationship.
EM: Me too.
TWoP: So are you working on anything else right now? Or do you have plans for your hiatus?
EM: Uh, no. I haven't even thought about it. We have just been going flat out all of Season Two, and a couple of things have started to pop up. Like auditions and plays and stuff like that, but its a little bit tough with the strike. I don't know if there is going to be one yet. But at this point, I just want to get through this season and then sleep for like a month.
TWoP: That's a good plan. I wish you the best of luck. I've got my fingers crossed for an Emmy nomination for you and I can't wait to see the new season.
EM: Thank you, thank you so much.
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