An Evening with Noah Hawley with Special Guest Jon Hamm

Noah Hawley

Award-winning Noah Hawley is one of the most accomplished auteurs and versatile storytellers working in television, film and literature …

Noah Hawley

Award-winning Noah Hawley is one of the most accomplished auteurs and versatile storytellers working in television, film and literature. Hawley balances the art of telling cinematic, unforgettable character-driven stories that linger long after you’ve been immersed in them along with offering thoughtful and entertaining cultural commentary and observations.

Over the course of his more than 20-year career, Hawley’s work as a novelist, filmmaker, series creator, and showrunner have garnered much acclaim – winning an Emmy®, Writers Guild, PEN, Critics’ Choice, and Peabody Awards – and passionate response from audiences.

As a bestselling author, Hawley has published six novels: A Conspiracy of Tall Men, Other People’s Weddings, The Punch, The Good Father, Before the Fall and Anthem, which was heralded as one of the most ambitious novels of 2022. In addition, Fargo: This Is A True Story, a companion book to the first three seasons of the series and authored by Hawley, was released by Grand Central Publishing.

Recent projects from Hawley include his feature film directorial debut, Lucy in the Sky, which starred Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Dan Stevens, Zazie Beetz, Pearl Amanda Dickson, Tig Notaro and Ellen Burstyn. In Lucy in the Sky, Portman plays Lucy Cola, a strong woman whose determination and drive as an astronaut take her to space, where she’s deeply moved by the transcendent experience of seeing her life from afar. Back home as Lucy’s world suddenly feels too small, her connection with reality slow unravels. It was released by Fox Searchlight.

Hawley serves as series creator, executive producer, writer, director and showrunner on FX’s award-winning anthology series, Fargo. Most recently the critically-acclaimed fifth chapter of Fargo, premiered in November, 2023 with the first and second episodes written and directed by Hawley. Set in the year 2019, this chapter asks the questions, “When is a kidnapping not a kidnapping? And what if your wife isn’t yours?.” Jon Hamm plays Roy with Juno Temple as Dot and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lorraine. Since Fargo debuted in 2014, the casts have included Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon, Patrick Wilson, Jean Smart, Kirsten Dunst, Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman. The first four seasons of the hit series have been nominated for 55 Primetime Emmy Award and won six.

Upcoming from Hawley is Alien, an original FX television series based on the franchise. The expansive series will be set on Earth seventy years from the current day, before the events of the Alien films. The series stars Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, David Ryshdahl, Samuel Blenkin, and Adarsh Gourav.

Alien, Fargo and the three seasons of his groundbreaking series Legion (2017 - 2019), are all produced under Hawley’s 26 Keys Production banner which finds, champions, and makes projects from visionary writers and directors.

Hawley began his television career as a writer and producer on the hit series Bones in 2005, going on to create, executive produce and serve as showrunner for ABC’s My Generation (2009) and The Unusuals (2010).

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm’s nuanced portrayal of the high-powered, advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s award-winning drama series Mad Men …

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm’s nuanced portrayal of the high-powered, advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s award-winning drama series Mad Men firmly established him as one of Hollywood’s most talented and versatile actors. He earned numerous accolades for his performance, including an Emmy Award in 2015 for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, Golden Globe Awards in 2016 and 2008, Television Critics Association Awards in 2011 and 2015, a Critics’ Choice Television Award in 2011, as well as multiple Screen Actors Guild nominations.  

Currently, Hamm can be heard lending his voice to the animated detective comedy series Grimsburg for FOX. Hamm is executive producing alongside the Jackal Group’s Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady, Connie Tavel, and showrunner Chadd Gindin. The series premiered in February 2024 and was renewed for a second season before the first episode premiered.

Last year, Hamm starred in the fifth season of FX’s critically acclaimed anthology series, Fargo, alongside Juno Temple, Joe Keery, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, which premiered in November 2023. Hamm received a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his outstanding performance as the villainous ‘Sheriff Roy Tillman’ and the show received a 2024 Critic’s Choice Award nomination in the category of Best Limited Series. Hamm could also be seen in season three of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, where he shined among the star-studded ensemble including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Greta Lee, and Julianna Margulies. The show received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Ensemble Performance and a Critics Choice Award nomination in the category of Best Drama Series. Hamm also reprised his role as ‘Gabriel’ in the second season of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens for Amazon Prime Video, which aired last summer.

Most recently on the big screen, Hamm appeared in the highly successful film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Mean Girls. Hamm portrayed the iconic ‘Coach Carr’ in the Fey produced film, alongside Renee Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, and Angourie Rice. Last year, Hamm starred opposite Tina Fey in the John Slattery directed film, Maggie Moore(s). The murder mystery premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023.

In 2022, Hamm starred and executive produced Confess, Fletch, directed by John Slattery. This same year, Hamm also co-starred in the highly anticipated Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. He played ‘Vice Admiral Cyclone’ in an all-star ensemble including Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Miles Teller. The film was released theatrically on May 27, 2022, and holds the box office record for the biggest opening over a Memorial Day weekend. The film went on to gross a total of $1.5 billion globally and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Next, Hamm will also be starring in the upcoming Apple TV+ series, Your Friends and Neighbors. Hamm will executive produce the drama series alongside acclaimed screenwriter, novelist, and creator of the series, Jonathan Topper, who will serve as showrunner and co-executive producer. Hamm will star alongside Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet. Additionally, Hamm will lead the live-action television series adaption of the psychological thriller podcast, American Hostage, in which he also starred. Hamm will reprise his role from the audio series that tells the true story of a radio reporter who is thrust into a life-or-death situation when a hostage taker demands to be interviewed on his show. Hamm will serve as an executive producer alongside Shawn Ryan, Eileen Myers, Connie Tavel, and Marney Hochman.

Hamm will also be starring in the upcoming drama series, Landman, created by Taylor Sheridan and based on the Boomtown podcast by Christian Wallace. Hamm will star opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore in the modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of West Texas oil rigs.

In 2020, Hamm appeared as a guest star in seasons ten and eleven of Curb Your Enthusiasm, with critics calling his impersonation of Larry David “inspired” and a “highlight of the season.” He also starred opposite Emily Blunt in John Patrick Shanley’s Wild Mountain Thyme. In 2019, he appeared in Noah Hawley’s directorial debut film, Lucy in the Sky, opposite Natalie Portman. Additionally, Hamm starred in Scott Z. Burns’ The Report opposite Annette Bening and Adam Driver and The Battle of Richard Jewell, directed by Clint Eastwood. 

 In 2018, he starred in Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale for Twentieth Century Fox as well as in Warner Bros. comedy Tag opposite Ed Helms and Jeremy Renner. He also starred in Tony Gilroy’s Beirut alongside Rosamund Pike. Hamm starred as a former U.S. diplomat who returns to service to save a former colleague. Critics called Hamm’s performance his “best work yet.” 

 In 2017, Hamm starred in Edgar Wright’s hugely successful heist thriller Baby Driver opposite Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx. Hamm also appeared in the independent film Marjorie Prime.   

In 2016, Hamm starred in 20th Century Fox’s Keeping Up with the Joneses, opposite Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher. In 2015, Hamm loaned his voice to the wildly successful Universal Pictures animated feature, The Minions, alongside Sandra Bullock and Steve Coogan. Hamm’s previous film credits include Disney’s Million Dollar Arm, based on a script by Thomas McCarthy and directed by Craig Gillespie, Friends with Kids, written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt; Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig; Ben Affleck’s The Town, Zack Snyder’s fantasy thriller Sucker Punch, Howl with James Franco, Shrek Forever After, in which he voiced the character ‘Brogan,’ The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Westfeldt’s Ira & Abby and Kissing Jessica Stein, and We Were Soldiers. 

 Hamm’s appearances on the Emmy-winning comedy, 30 Rock, from 2009-2012 earned him three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also hosted Saturday Night Live three times, once in 2008 and twice in 2010 to critical acclaim. In addition to Mad Men, Hamm also appears the second season of Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Hamm played Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne, the senior prophet who fools four women into being held captive for fifteen years while they believe to have survived the apocalypse. The role earned him an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. His additional television credits include, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, a BBC miniseries in which he stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe and also executive produced, the Larry David film Clear History for HBO. Hamm first came to audience’s attention in the NBC series Providence. Signed for a cameo role, he impressed the producers so much that he ended up with an 18-episode run on the series. 

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hamm received his Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Missouri-Columbia and currently resides in Los Angeles.