Elizabeth Moss reveals improvised 'Mad Men' scene with Jon Hamm made her cry 'real tears'

Elizabeth Moss reflected on her time on the popular series Mad Men and her relationship with co-star Jon Hamm.

Mad Men starred Moss as Peggy Olsen – a new copywriter at Sterling Cooper who’s quickly taken under the wing of the legendary Don Draper (Hamm). However, Moss exits in season 5 as her character parts ways with the company to pursue her aspirations.

The emotional scene originally aired in 2012, where Peggy bids farewell to her boss. Peggy finds herself tearing up as Don Draper kisses her hand after shaking it. During an interview with Vanity Fair, of that scene Moss shared that it was improvised and Hamm had made her cry actual tears.

“It all felt very real. I have a very close relationship with Jon,” Moss said in the interview with VF. “There was sort of like a mentor-protegé relationship there, very older brother/little sister. And so it meant something to the both of us when we did this scene.”

“That right there is real,” she explained, pointing to the moment where she tears up. “That’s actually real tears, which you know, hate to break it to you, but often we’re faking it. He held onto my hand and didn’t let go and then kissed it. None of that was in the script and he did it on my close-up. Like, that right there is the real Jon.”

The actress also mentioned that she kept the costume she used in that scene as a memento from the show and chose that one because of what it meant to her.

“The only costume I have from Mad Men from all seven seasons, 90-something episodes, they asked me what costume I wanted to keep, and I said I wanted to keep that one because of that scene,” she said. “I don’t think it fits me anymore, but I have it.”