Q&A - January Jones (Betty Draper)
AMCtv.com asks January Jones (Betty Draper) about her delivery scene in Episode 5, her own modeling career, and Betty's smoking and drinking during her pregnancy.
Q: Betty's hospital and delivery scenes were intense. How did you prepare?
A: I tried to do a little bit of research but every person I asked didn't have a clear memory, because of what they went through...
Q: "The Fog"?
A: Yes, exactly. The makeup and hair were a big help -- the chapped lips and blotchy skin. It was my biggest fear to do the whole "pushing out a baby" scene. Luckily we didn't have to do that, but I tried to think of something really painful.
Q: The Demerol dream sequences were mesmerizing. What was it like shooting those?
A: It was fun -- it was new and weird. Don has a lot of flashbacks but Betty hadn't yet. It was good to see her interact with her father. The more abstract stuff, working with the caterpillar on a green screen while on a treadmill, that was a challenge.
Q: By now Mad Men viewers are used to seeing pregnant women smoke and drink. What was it like to actually do it in the scenes?
A: She's drinking and smoking more now that she's pregnant! Matt [Weiner] gets a kick out of it. It's fiction -- it's not like I advocate it -- but you have to just laugh at it.
Q: How did you feel about Betty's wardrobe during her pregnancy?
A: Janie Bryant and I discussed it and decided: She's still Betty, she's still fabulous. She's not going to look dumpy. She has some amazing gowns with that belly. I have a lot of fun with fashion -- it really helps you get into character. We have a bunch of silhouettes this season with petticoats, and more form-fitting shapes segueing into mid-'60s.
Q: You began your career as a model at age 18. Betty Draper also had a modeling career.
A: Actually Matt pulled that from my life and brought it to Betty's character. I didn't really enjoy modeling. It was a means to an end for me.
Q: Betty's character has faced many traumatizing events (Don's infidelity, the death of her father, etc.). How do you adjust to the character's shifting circumstances?
A: We get the script the day before the table read, which is a day before we shoot. At this point, I look over the script and don't do a lot of mental preparation. I never had any training -- it's all very instinctual. It's a blessing to be on a show for this long. Nobody knows the characters better than we do -- except, of course, for Matt. We all respect each other so much on the show and all really love each other.
Read an interview with January Jones from Season 1 »
Read an interview with January Jones from Season 2 »
Hi January. You certainly did a convincing job of acting in this birthing episode. I could feel your pain. The contrast of those scenes and the dream sequence (with the green worm) was striking. You are a fine actress and the way you portray Betty makes me want to shake "her" sometimes. I wish you continued success!
Question, if you read this: Did you squash the worm or let it go? Many Maddicts would really like to know.
Matt got it right. There was no real pushing the baby out ala "natural childbirth" in 1963. they just shaved you, gave you an enema, and knocked you out with Demerol or Sodium Pentathal.You never felt a thing after you got into labor. Some people also were given Spinal Taps during the time period. My Mom had her last baby in 1964, and she had Demerol plus a Spinal Tap. I had my daughter in 1976, and got Pentathal. I never felt anything after they broke my water, but my sister who was a nurse said I cursed out everyone in the delivery room! Just like Betty! January did a great job.
About the smoking and drinking; My aunt smoked and drank with all three of her kids, (born in the 50's) and all three were over 10 pounds and healhty as horses.
One more thing. The scene where Betty holds the new baby at the window to show Sally and Bobby is perfect. I remember my Mom doing the same thing because no one under 12 was allowed in the hospital. Matt even got the lighting perfect. It (the color) looks just the photos in my album taken outside the hospital in 1964. Great job overall, and the best episode of the season so far.
Love you January! After seeing those birthing scenes, I'm glad I had my kids in this decade. I know I cursed people because I was there the whole time, no drugs, and over 10lbs! Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see how Betty develops this season!
What a great labor and delivery episode. The entire episode reminded me of the stories my parents tell of what it was like for the wife to give childbirth while the husband sat out in the waiting room. What cracked me up was seeing Betty walking out of the car with baby Gene in her arms -- and no car seat in the car. I remember my brother and sister being in car seats in the late 1960s, but wasn't around in 1963 to know what the safety standards were then.
.....I keep wondering if the Demerol dream music at the end, where there are clearly no drugs, forshadows a future propensity toward drug-induced escape for Betty.
We saw how fond of the red wine she was, during the dawning awareness of Don's rampant infidelity phase.....
A family member tells the story of how, flying high AND low on the Demerol and Sodium Pentathol, beside cursing like a sailor, kept repeating to her mother-in-law, who WAS in the delivery room, "You're a Good Joe.....you're a good Joe....."
The mother-in-law thought she was saying "a good joke," and it was months before the MIL spoke to her daughter-in-law again!
....."foreshadows....."
(Sorry!)
Yeah, it's me again :). I asked everyone I knew about their birth experiences when I was pregnant. My mom, who had her kids ranging in time from mid 50's to early 60's couldn't remember, this bugged me until this episode. Now it doesn't bug me anymore. I can understand why Betty may have blocked the experience, not only the drugs, but through sheer horrible experience. How about that green worm?
Now my favorite Mad Men quote is "I left my lunchbox on the bus and I'm having a baby."
OldSoul555:
I LOVE that line too!
My mom had me in the late 60's and doesn't remember a thing either. She said they gave her ether. I just had my daughter 5 months ago and remember every minute!
One more thing...let's give a little credit to the Director of Photography on Mad Men who is the one who directs all of the lighting and brings 1964 to life! I'm sure Matt would agree.
Love Betty and January's brilliant portrayal of her. All the stuff she did in this episode was amazing, from the trippy dream sequences to the harrowing birth scenes and the last scenes at home.
Yayyy...my first comments for Mad Men:
The entire program is like a rare jewel for me.
It is one of the best escapes. My Dad passed away a year ago. I bet this would have been a show he and I would definitely have watched together. Mom passed away almost eleven years ago. They were the coolest parents. She would have loved it, too!
This is the ONLY show I watch on T.V. on a "must see" basis. Sunday night is the perfect time slot. I think one of the greatest retro memories for me relative to television on Sunday nights: Bonanza
(with Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Parnell Roberts, Michael Landon). Ohhhh ...I loved Hoss Cartwright...tee hee.. now it's Don Draper...yummy!
The smoking and drinking during pregnancy...I blink twice and wince each time I see it...BUT THAT IS THE WAY IT WAS WAY BACK THEN. So glad that most folks in our society are now enlightened to the detrimental effects that behavior has during the prenatal stage.
BEST WISHES to this show's entire staff and crew. This is a stellar production in every way. You are certainly capturing the atmosphere of the '60s.
I love getting my Twitter updates. I sure do!
Even better than the "lunchpail" quote, for me, was when Betty tells Don he looks terrible, when she is the one that looks like she has been through it, cut to Don looking picture-day perfect.
I liked when he replied to her (after she said she needed to put her face on) that she looked beautiful.
.....and she did, in that way that one looks beautiful when one's strength and grit is shining through. She'd been dragged through it but good, and survived to tell the tale (if only she could remember it!)
..... probably better she can't!)
January truly is an amazing actress. I have seen tons of cinema and T.V. drama through the years...and she is definitely portraying a character that has the potential to grow and go in a variety of directions. It is wonderful, as an audience member, to see layers of complexities build on a character. As the seasons of Mad Men continue, it will be fun watching her grow with the times of the 1960's. Ditto for Peggy, another fab favorite.
I would like to know why Betty fired Carla. How can she cope without her?
Of all the characters on "Mad Men", I think Betty Draper is the most frustrating. There's a nice person waiting to come out, but she won't let her. She is very limited emotionally, especially toward her children. It breaks my heart to see how cold she can be towards them. When they come in to the bedroom and she's lying there with the baby, Bobby says he's bored (of course he is), and what is her response? "Go bang your head against the wall." Come on! Even a mother in the 60's had more sensitivity than that. Or should have!
It's interesting that she relates much better to the little boy Glenn - that troubled child - than her own children. Could it be because she has no responsibility toward him? I wonder if they'll bring that character back?
I would like to see her grow, but I don't think it's in the cards.