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Kiernan Shipka Opens Up About Her Childhood Role on Mad Men and Its Impact: 'They Were So Protective'
Kiernan Shipka reflects on growing up as a child actor on the set of Mad Men, and recalls how the cast protected her from the show's mature content.
Kiernan Shipka has recently opened up about her experiences as a young actress when she first appeared on Mad Men at the mere age of six as Sally Draper. She went to the Dinner’s On Me podcast hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, where she explained how her former cast members, as well as the producers, did everything they could to shield her from the mature content of the drama.
Although they tried very hard, Shipka confessed that she was already aware of far more information regarding what was going on in the program than they perhaps thought she was at the time. The Red One star elaborated on how she nearly thoroughly recalled every part of her life while growing up that involved being on the Mad Men set. The show went on for 7 seasons from 2007.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina said, "I don’t know if it was because my brain and body just decided to remember, like, audition, first day, the whole thing. I’m glad for that. I mean, I’m sure there’s some days that are blips, but that’s kind of everything."
Although her character, Sally Draper, was put in diverse adult situations, the producers of the show, such as Matthew Weiner, and stars such as Jon Hamm and January Jones, who played Sally's on-screen parents, Don and Betty Draper, respectively, put great effort into making the environment as safe as possible for a young Shipka.
Shipka added, "They were so protective over me and my kind of innocence and not exposing me to stuff that, you know, was sensitive or more adult. I always knew what I was reacting to. Like, I always knew what I was walking into. I just didn’t have to see it over and over again."
She also mentioned that she wasn’t allowed to watch Mad Men episodes as a child, except for the season premieres. However, as she turned 21, Kiernan Shipka took it upon herself to eventually watch the entire series during the COVID-19 pandemic. While watching herself play Sally again, Shipka noted that now she was in a position to analyze the character's emotional evolution chronologically, as well as how naturally Sally's actions at the time executed her feelings.
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