Jon Hamm: 'Don Draper is a douchebag'

Jon Hamm has claimed that his Mad Men character Don Draper is "misunderstood".

In an interview with Parade, he explained that Don tries to behave well even if he does not always succeed.

He said: "On the page, sometimes you think, 'Why are we rooting for this guy? He's kind of a douchebag'. But really he's just misunderstood. I think what people respond to in Don is that there is a moral centre in there and he does have a certain code of ethics that follows.

"He's a rugged individualist in many ways, but he does try to do the right thing. He doesn't always succeed, but he tries. I think most Americans can identify with some portion of that. I think that's what resonates."

However, Hamm admitted that he has nothing in common with Don, explaining: "I think people think that I'm a lot like Don, a dark, brooding kind of person. But the people who know me know that's definitely not the case!"

Hamm also revealed that he has no idea what will happen in the next season of Mad Men.

"I wish I knew," he said. "If you hear anything, let me know. [Creator] Matt [Weiner] plays those things very close to the vest. He's still writing the season so I honestly don't know. But we certainly have a lot of opportunities to expand the story given where we ended last season, so I'm looking forward to it as much as you are, I hope."