I don’t know if Jessica Paré annoys me, or if it’s just the character of Megan Draper. Or both? I guess that I sort of like Jessica but since I’ve only seen her in Mad Men, I don’t know what her range is and whether she’s really as annoying as Megan Draper, who is… well, she’s just not as interesting as her screen time warrants. Anyway, Jessica has a photoshoot with Esquire and the photos remind me of Fiona Apple’s music video for “Criminal”. I know I’m dating myself. But seriously – did they photograph her in the same house? You can see the full slideshow here (it’s SFW) and here are some highlights from the interview:
The obsession with her teeth: “You can’t get a lot of s–t stuck in these teeth,” she says. She’s right. Those teeth are a flosser’s dream—standing straight, close but not touching, like coworkers forced into a company photograph. They’re also just teeth. Effective and normal, highlighted simply because she chose not to dump twenty grand into having the exact same mouth as every other actor.
Being Canadian in LA and needing a work visa: “I really struggled,” she says. She applied for a green card to solve the sponsorship problem, but “what was supposed to take three months took nine. I couldn’t work or travel, and any momentum that I had gained from Jack & Bobby just dissipated.”
Finally getting a gig on Mad Men: “I was ready to move back to my parents’ place, ready to get a job at my friend’s bar back home and just pack it in. I had nothing left to lose. I went into the audition thinking, This is it. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. Nobody else has.”
Megan was supposed to only last for four episodes: She expected to entail a four-episode arc and what appeared to be a clear-cut ending: Her character would have sex with Don Draper, the kiss of death on a show with a main character who goes through women like tissues. Some of the show’s crew members even said goodbye when they found out. But instead of being cast aside, that lowly secretary became the next Mrs. Draper.
I remember hearing that Matthew Weiner had no plan in place for Megan – like, he didn’t know that this secretary would end up marrying Don, and that he was just playing around with the idea of it. Which might explain why the past two seasons have seemed so random and like… why the hell are they focusing so much on Megan? Because Weiner is winging it. Megan wasn’t part of the original plan. And instead of giving Peggy and Joan more screen time, we’re being forced to give a crap about Megan (and it’s still not happening). Anyway… that’s not Jessica’s fault. She’s just happy to have a job.
Photos courtesy of Esquire.
Very pretty.
Too bad she didn’t. Her character ruined MM.
Agree!
But haven’t they already foreshadowed her death in the Manson killings? Ultimately Megan allows them to tie in a historical event that didn’t happen on the East Coast.
I don’t think Megan will die in the Manson killings…that would editing history, and they seem to like to work within history.
I feel like Don’s death has been greatly foreshadowed, and I think he will be the one to pass, not her. Too much death and it will be overkill. (realized there might be a pun there, but didnt’ care to remove it! 😉 )
How many people can name all of Manson’s victims? The show has featured fictional deaths in Korea and Vietnam. Surely at least one of Manson’s victims was a well connected aspiring actress you’d never heard off.
They felt the need to close her teeth gap
Another starlet, another underwear, get naked men’s mag shoot.
My husband loves the Criminal video because it has his birthday in the corner. (Month/day, not year).
Is this point and shoot, harsh lighting, frontal pose thing a result of Terry Richardson? I’ve been seeing a lot of editorials having that kind of shot recently.
She is pretty but (and you know there is one) in a lot of her photos all I see is teeth.
I watched her maybe last year in a pretty funny wackadoodle Vampire Rockband Movie that had Iggy Pop and I think Alice Cooper in it, It was entertaining But Megan Draper is annoyance upon annoyance… Also this photoshoot attires do her figure NO Favors Is like they put her head on top of Eva Longoria’s body and i dont generally think of her as short/compact/boyish/square
Wtf is that picture with the plant? I’m no expert but looks so random and stupid.
I admire her attitude towards her teeth, but I have to admit, I find that very distracting in a lot of her scenes.
I don’t mind the Megan storyline – she’s very modern and a nice contrast to Don, making it more obvious that the world is changing around him and he isn’t, but I do think too much time has been given to her character.
What a stupid photo shoot.
Yes, Yes, YES!!!
I admire her choice as well. Just, but it is terribly distracting. More because she’s a beautiful woman and the teeth look out of place when she smiles. Like one of those bad teeth gag toys. And I truly thought she was pulling a prank on the red carpet 1st time I saw her smile.
And the photoshoot is awful, but it kind of works from a MM standpoint.
She’s a beautiful woman, but those pictures are completing unflattering.
He just did another interview where he basically said this new season is about Megan and Don figuring their relationship out… UM, NO!!!! Doesn’t he get it? He really is digging in despite all these awards shows turning their back on the show due to this ridiculous storyline.
Ugh. I thought that ship had sailed. She moved to LA. After MM ends, I’d love to see a Joan prequel. She must have gone to college in the 40s. How did she end up as a single girl/Manhattan office manager in her 30s rather than a suburban mom? So many unanswered questions. Peggy’s story is little simpler since she was only 20 and fresh from typing school in season 1.
That would be the BEST. Great idea!
I know. I want to know so much more about Joan. Over the years in MM, you find out she went to college, comes from a middle class home, and has had multiple abortions. So she was groomed for a middle class suburban life and became the ultimate rebel and original Sex in the City girl. Peggy is ten years younger from a blue collar Brooklyn home, with no college degree, but she shoots up the corporate ladder through sheer creativity and the benefit of a generational difference. She’s ten years younger than Joan and that gives her all sorts of advantages Joan never had. PREQUEL!!
I hate the Megan story line. She comes across as so selfish and self absorbed to me. I should feel so bad for her, having to deal with Don, but I just don’t. I don’t know if that is writing or acting that is making me so unsympathetic towards her. I have actually TRIED to like her more, which is absurd.
When Don married Megan I thought he was having a breakdown. I can’t stand her! But the way he sticks it out with her, the way he puts up with what a child she is, it creates an interesting and unexpected dynamic to his character. I was also fascinated by how long he was faithful to her.
I actually loved her in Lost and Delirious with Piper Perabo as her lesbian lover. She looked much better when she had a little more meat on her bones. Sorta like Laetitia Casta.
Exactly! She is very beautiful but I was surprised when I saw her on Mad Men because she was a bit heavier before in Lost and Delirious and the movie Stardom. I think her teeth are more noticeable when her face is thinner. I do respect her for not changing her teeth. To be beautiful doesn’t mean you need perfect teeth or fake veneers.
I can’t believe the animosity everyone has towards her and her character! I really like her. Obviously I’m in the minority.
I really like her, and I love her teeth. I think they make her look beautiful in a nostalgic, 60s vixen kind of way. I find it very strange how Americans always want everyone to look perfect. It’s so boring!
I find it sad that regular teeth are a “distraction” and that perfect little whiter than white chiclet tiles are considered the standard of beauty.
I guess as a large-toothed horse-faced woman I find it a little offensive.
The Jean Pare cook books are excellent especially the pasta one – I wonder if Jessica is related.
I don’t mind Jessica’s teeth, but clearly I’m in the minority. Megan’s character doesn’t move me one way or the other. In fact, I find Don more annoying (as of late) than Megan. I am kind of glad she stuck around for more than 4 episodes…while many find her annoying, I do like how Don’s second marriage added some dimension. Without Megan, we wouldn’t have the almost comical infatuation between Roger and her mother. Though – like others have suggested – If we see more Megan at the expense of Peggy and Joan, then I’ll pass. The lack of those characters was disappointing last season. Either way, I’m sort of glad they’re wrapping this one up – Don is exhausting to even watch at this point.
Exactly how I feel….except I often times want to punch Don in the face! I don’t know how people can feel sorry for his character and the things he does.
Don is definitely more annoying than Megan, but Megan doesn’t help matters. One problem is that the show is SO MUCH about Don, and it’s another problem that b/c Don lives with Megan, we get SO MUCH of Megan, too. And it definitely costs Peggy and Joan and Roger and Pete the screentime and storylines that are their due. If the show just spread out the time and story among all the characters a little more evenly, I wouldn’t care one way or another about Megan (or, probably, Don, for that matter).
I don’t mind Megan (or Jessica) at all. I way prefer Megan to that freak Betty. I hate Betty.
Am I the only one who likes Megan Draper?