How The Cast Of 'Mad Men' Aged From The First To Last Season
Vote for the cast members whose looks changed the most between the first and last seasons.
Mad Men premiered on AMC on July 19, 2007. By the time the series finale aired on May 17, 2015, viewers had watched the staff of Sterling Cooper grapple with the entire decade of the '60s and the changes it brought. From fashion to relationships to the Hare Krishna movement, the characters of Mad Men went through some serious transformations.
Just like their characters, the cast of Mad Men aged and changed throughout the series as well. Even the great Jon Hamm couldn't escape the effects - although he does a pretty good job of retaining that swoon-worthy debonair air right until the end of the series. So how did the cast of Mad Men age over the course of the series? These then-and-now photos show it all. Once you've taken a walk down Memory Lane, make sure to check out these other shows like Mad Men.
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Marten Holden Weiner (Glen Bishop)
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- AMC
- AMC
From the first season to the very end, Glen Bishop goes from a creepy neighborhood kid to one about to set off to war. In season one, the actor is 10, and in the final season, he is 15.
As show creator Matt Weiner (and Marten's father) said of Glen's sideburns, "he didn't grow them for the show. That look has come around. We were, like, 'Hey, Wolverine!' We had to trim them, actually."
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As the seasons go on we watch as Campbell goes from a young, ambitious (and backstabbing) account executive to a tired, manipulative ad-man. In season one, Vincent Kartheiser was 28, and by the time the series concluded, he was 33.
That transformation is one that plays out visually too - in fact, Vincent Kartheiser, the actor that plays Pete Campbell shaved his hairline and gained 25 pounds for the role.
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Kiernan Shipka was just six when she landed the role of Sally Draper. By the time the series ended, Shipka was 13.
Sally navigated her parents' divorce, the death of her grandfather, her father's alcoholism, and his wandering eyes with a maturity well beyond her years. As Sally grew up, she grew into a sophisticated young woman with her father's skills and her mother's sharp tongue.
Big change?Elisabeth Moss was 25 during season one of Mad Men as the insecure but hardworking and determined office worker, Peggy Olson. When the series concluded, Moss was 30.
As Elisabeth Moss explained to TV Guide:
"[Peggy] becomes harder in a lot of ways. She gets her heart broken; she has bitter moments… But I hope that she still retains that sense of honesty and positivity and truth. She's earnest. She very much believes in whatever she's saying. I think she still has that despite the fact that she's had some hard knocks."
This change is reflected in Peggy's overall style. Her bangs are replaced by a sophisticated sweep and her checkered dresses are replaced by fashion-forward separates and a bad-ass sense of self.
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- AMC
- AMC
Michael Gladis was 30 when he first appeared on Mad Men and continued to portray Paul Kinsey for the next three seasons. He came back as a guest star in season five when he was 35. As Michael Gladis said of his character being written out of the show:
“I didn’t have any inkling that I was going to be off the show until I read the last script for season three, and even then it was sort of ambiguous.”
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John Slattery portrayed Roger Sterling, the man in charge for most of the series. In season one, the actor was 45, and by season five they were 50. Slattery is well known for this role as well as many others, such as Ant-Man, Spotlight, and more.
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