5 Things We Just Learned About 'Mad Men'

If you thought you knew everything there was to know about Mad Men… then you must be the AMC drama’s creator, Matthew Weiner. Because we were genuinely surprised by some of the behind-the-scenes tidbits about the obsessed-over show dropped in a new cover story published by The Hollywood Reporter. Writers Lacey Rose and Michael O’Connell collected war stories from the famously secretive Weiner, as well as members of the cast (including Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, and January Jones) and several AMC executives.

Here are the five revelations that left the biggest impression on us:

1. Don Draper Was Almost a Member of the Cashmere Mafia

From the beginning, Weiner and the network were on the same page about hiring unknown actors for the key roles, particularly Don. The search came down to two candidates: Jon Hamm and Peter Hermann, whose credits included a stint on Guiding Light and recurring roles on short-lived series like Beautiful People and Angela’s Eyes. (He was perhaps better known for his real-life role as Mariska Hargitay’s husband.) But Weiner always knew that Hamm was the one. “[Matt] felt something with Jon,” remarks former AMC executive, Christina Wayne. “We had to be sold, so we flew Jon to New York. He was nervous, but I knew that he had star potential. I whispered in his ear before he left, ‘You got the job.’” Hermann, meanwhile, eventually landed a gig as a different Draper — Davis Draper — on the ABC series Cashmere Mafia, which premiered the year after Mad Men and lasted a month.

Video: Jon Hamm Reveals How ‘Mad Men’ Will End: With Ice Cream!

2. Like Most Viewers, AMC Wasn’t a Fan of Betty

Poor Betty Draper (and, by extension, Jones) has always been a source of audience derision and scorn, and that extended to AMC in the show’s early days. The character didn’t even have any scenes in the original script for the pilot; according to Jones, who originally auditioned for Peggy, Weiner wrote some new material expressly for her. He made her an even bigger part of the second episode, much to the network’s chagrin. “They were really annoyed that I was paying attention to [Betty]. They just wanted it to be a formula in the office.” He made sure to keep the actress out of the loop on those discussions, though. “I was shielded from all of the ‘We don’t care about Betty,’” Jones says.

3. Weiner’s Demanding Ways Sometimes Caused Conflict on the Set

While most of Mad Men’s crew have many nice things to say about their boss, a few acknowledge that his exacting methods sometimes posed a serious obstacle. Prop master Ellen Freund says that, “You never, ever went to Matt with a mixing bowl and said, ‘Here’s the mixing bowl.’ You’d go to him with a mixing bowl and the proof that it was made in the year previous to the year we were shooting in.” And production designer Dan Bishop remembers that, while making the pilot, Weiner would “essentially throw a hand grenade in the process — one element would have to be this way and not that way. As long as the carpenter hadn’t built it already, it was OK.”

4. Better Call… Peggy?

Mad Men’s fourth season almost became its last when Weiner and AMC struggled to come to terms on a new contract. And the network laid some big demands on the table as they hammered out a deal. Lionsgate TV COO Sandra Stern remembers that AMC was seriously invested in maximizing the show’s spinoff potential. “We talked about doing a contemporary one,” she says. “Given the fact that [Mad Men] ends nearly 50 years ago, most of the characters would be dead. Sally was the one character young enough that you could see her 30 or 40 years later. There was [also] a time we wanted a Peggy spinoff, too, and, a la Better Call Saul, a minor character going off to L.A. Matt wasn’t comfortable committing to a spinoff.” Obviously, the only spinoff that still needs to happen is Where in the World Is Salvatore Romano?

5. Some Guy Actually Named His Dog “Don Draper”

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan says that he knew that Mad Men was a hit when an acquaintance bestowed Don’s name upon his pooch. Cute, but not at all creative, honestly. Couldn’t he have gone with “Dog Draper”? Or what about, “Doger Sterling”?

Mad Men premieres April 5 at 10 p.m. on AMC.