Mad Men star Jon Hamm to play himself in Channel 4 comedy Toast of London
Hamm is such a big fan of the Channel 4 show that he's agreed to play a starring role in the forthcoming series. He's also good friends with Matt Berry, as this picture shows...
Mad Men star Jon Hamm is a big fan of British comedy – and especially Channel 4’s Toast of London in which his friend Matt Berry plays the hilariously pompous actor Steven Toast.
In fact, he's such a keen viewer that the man behind Don Draper has signed up to star as himself in an episode of this autumn’s forthcoming third series, RadioTimes.com can reveal.
The American actor will be shown being rather baffled by Toast as Berry's insufferably arrogant and pompous (yet oddly lovable) thesp refuses to acknowledge who the handsome, successful and hugely talented performer is.
Because, of course, in Toast world there is only ever one talented and good-looking actor in the world. And that man is Steven Toast….
Hamm is actually a very good friend of Berry's and is understood to have long expressed an interest in appearing in the comedy.
In an interview with RadioTimes.com last year, Berry also revealed that Hamm "crashed" the wrap party for series one.
“He just fancied it," said Berry of the event at a swanky West End private member's club. "He was downstairs and I said come up. Free booze will entice anyone, whether they have a million pounds in the bank or not.”
Hamm, who also starred in the Christmas special of Charlie Brooker's dystopian satire Black Mirror on Channel 4 last year, is a big fan of British comedy in general, according to Berry. “He knows everyone’s work and quotes it,” he said.
Berry has plenty of great ideas for the new series, RadioTimes.com understands, with one episode seeing him judge a Miss World competition, with no doubt horrific results.
In March, the IT Crowd star gave other clues as to what's in store when Toast returns.
“Every actor’s got some horror stories – it’s quite a big world of anguish and upset,” he teased.
“There's a lot more stories of horrible things that happen in this profession than nice things, so running out of material hasn’t been a worry so far.
“I’ve got a couple of ideas – he’s going to meet Bob Monkhouse, that’s one I can tell you. Apart from that, there’s more of the same. He creates some trouble at the Globe Theatre – the art department will build a model of it, and then we can do with it what we want. Properly smash it up!”
The new series of Toast of London starts this autumn on Channel 4
