As you might expect from of one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of recent years, if not ever, the cast of AMC's "Mad Men" have begun making inroads to the big screen. Star Jon Hamm has been the most successful in finding decent roles, thanks to "Bridesmaids" and "The Town," but his cast-mates are finding work as well, even if the parts have generally been around one-tenth as interesting as their characters on Matthew Weiner's show: John Slattery reprised Roger Sterling (but in a hat) in "The Adjustment Bureau"; Vincent Kartheiser got villainous in "In Time"; Elisabeth Moss played the thankless girlfriend in "Get Him To The Greek" and January Jones stood around in a push-up bra in "X-Men: First Class."
Taking the slow-and-steady approach is Christina Hendricks, who plays the indelibly hourglass-shaped Joan Holloway on the show. She's not yet taken a lead role, but she's been fairly visible, thanks to supporting turns in "Life As We Know It," "I Don't Know How She Does It," and most memorably, Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive," where she was last seen *spoiler* contributing to the redecoration of a seedy motel bathroom. With season five of the show now wrapped, and set to premiere in March, Hendricks has locked down a part in a fairly interesting-sounding picture in "Bomb," the next feature film project from Sally Potter.
As we reported before, the film, from the director of "Orlando" and "The Man Who Cried," is a 1960s-set coming-of-age drama that will star Elle Fanning and Alice Englart (the daughter of Jane Campion) as two friends growing up in the shadow of nuclear protests and sexual revolution, who are torn apart when one of their fathers (Alessandro Nivola) begins an affair with his daughter's best friend. Hendricks has, according to Baz Bamigboye, signed on to the project, and she should be pretty comfortable with the period setting, although there's no word on who she'll be playing (perhaps one of the wives of the cheating husbands?).
And there's an even bigger star on the horizon, as Bamigboye also reports that Annette Bening is considering taking a role, again an unknown one, in the project. Bening's Oscar-nominated success in "The Kids Are All Right" has seen her come into a new period of activity, having shot Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris' "He Loves Me" and Kristin Wiig vehicle "Imogene" in recent months. She's penciled in for a role in husband Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes film, but otherwise her slate is clear, and she'd certainly lend a sheen of prestige to the project. Shooting starts in February in the south of England, so we're sure we'll hear more casting news on the film shortly.
