Christina Hendricks

Actor

• Born: May 3, 1975
• Place of Birth: Knoxville, Tennessee

Contribution: Christina Hendricks is an Emmy-nominated American actor best known for her role as Joan Harris on the AMC series Mad Men (2007–15).

Background

Christina Rene Hendricks was born on May 3, 1975, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Robert and Jackie Hendricks. Her father was an English-born American citizen who worked for the United States Forest Service, and her mother was a psychologist. When Hendricks was a child, the family moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, where they lived until she was a teenager. They later moved to Fairfax, Virginia.

Once Hendricks started high school, her mother began pushing her to perform in school plays, and she discovered that she enjoyed acting. She auditioned for parts at the local playhouse, and throughout high school, she acted in productions such as Blythe Spirit and All My Sons.

After high school, Hendricks became interested in modeling. Her photos appeared in magazines such as Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, and she continued to model until 2002, when she was twenty-seven years old. By the late 1990s, however, she had decided to focus on her acting career.

Career

Hendricks began acting professionally in commercials in the late 1990s before securing a small part in the 1999 television film Sorority. Later that year, she acquired several additional small acting jobs on television series such as MTV’sUndressed and the WB’s Angel, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff series.

In 2000 Hendricks landed steadier, more prominent work when she was cast in the recurring role of Kelly Kramer on the Showtime series Beggars and Choosers, which was cancelled in 2001. She then appeared on several more television shows over the next few years, including ER (2002), The Court (2002), and Firefly (2002–3).

After working on several little-seen television films and shows, Hendricks landed her first main role as Nicolette Raye on the legal drama Kevin Hill. The show aired twenty-two episodes during the 2004–5 season before it was cancelled due to low ratings. Hendricks stayed active over the next several years with guest appearances on the shows Cold Case (2005), Jake in Progress (2006), Las Vegas (2006), and Without a Trace (2006). She also had a recurring role in four episodes of the NBC series Life (2007–8).

By 2006 Hendricks had become frustrated by her lack of mainstream success. She saw a chance at stardom when she read the pilot script for the AMC period drama Mad Men and decided to audition for the part of executive secretary Joan Holloway. Hendricks ultimately won the role, and Mad Men, which began airing in 2007, turned out to be her big break.

The show revolves around the employees of the fictional advertising agency Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City during the golden age of advertising in the1960s. Hendricks plays Joan Holloway, later Joan Harris, Sterling Cooper’s curvaceous redheaded office manager and, eventually, partner. Hendricks enjoyed playing the sharp, authoritative, and confident Joan, though she later said that she was sometimes repulsed by the character’s cruel dialogue.

Mad Men was universally acclaimed, with special praise going to the sets, costumes, historical accuracy, and acting. Critics singled out many of the show’s actors as especially talented, and they did not overlook Hendricks in her supporting role as Joan. From 2010 to 2015, the actress was nominated six consecutive times for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series and won two Critics' Choice Television Awards for best supporting actress in a drama.

The worldwide success of Mad Men allowed many of its actors to expand their careers into film and other projects. In addition to Mad Men, Hendricks secured supporting roles in numerous films, including Life as We Know It in 2010 and The Family Tree, Detachment, and Drive, all in 2011. The same year, she also made a guest appearance on the television series Body of Proof, on which her husband, Geoffrey Arend, plays forensic pathology fellow Ethan Gross.

Later in 2011, she appeared with Sarah Jessica Parker in the comedy I Don’t Know How She Does It before landing a part in Ginger & Rosa (2012). Also in 2012, she had a role in the film Struck by Lightning, written by and featuring Glee star Chris Colfer.

After Mad Men's final season in 2015, Hendricks continued to appear in films and television series. Her film roles included that playing talent agent Roberta Hoffman in The Neon Demon (2016), the young widow and former showgirl Brenda Leonides in the adaptation of Agatha Christie's Crooked House (2017), and the protagonist's older sister, Katherine, in American Woman (2018). Hendricks television appearances have included roles on The Romanoffs (2018) an anthology series about characters who believe they are related to the Russian royal family; Tin Star (2017–19), in which she plays a cutthroat oil executive; and Good Girls (2018–19), which Atlantic critic Shirley Li describes as a feminist version of Breaking Bad (24 May 2019). In Good Girls, Hendricks stars as Beth Boland, one of a trio of Detroit mothers who rob a supermarket in order to make ends meet and in doing so, end up on the radar of a local gang. for her performance as Beth, Hendricks was nominated for a 2019 Satellite Award for best actress in a series, comedy or musical. In 2022, Hendricks starred in the film The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. She also lent her voice to the character Cherie on the television series Solar Opposites (2020-2024).

Impact

Hendricks has attracted widespread acclaim for her role as Joan Harris on Mad Men. Aside from her acting talent, Hendricks has made an equally significant impact on modern fashion, with her fuller figure inspiring new trends in an industry where skinny models are the norm.

Personal Life

Hendricks became engaged to actor Geoffrey Arend in December of 2008. The two married on October 11, 2009, in New York. In October 2019, the couple announced that they were separating after ten years of marriage and twelve years together.

Bibliography

Brown, Laura. “Christina Hendricks: Hollywood’s New Siren.” Harper’s Bazaar. Hearst Communications, 6 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Chiu, Melody. “Christina Hendricks.” People 25 Mar. 2013: 118. Print.

"Christina Hendricks." Internet Movie Database, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0376716/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2024.

Freeman, Hadley. “Mad Men and Me: Christina Hendricks Interview.” Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Hendricks, Christina. “Hendricks on Hendricks.” Interview by Dan Levy. Flare May 2013: 155–63. Print.

Hendricks, Christina, and Matthew Weiner. “Mad Men: Matthew Weiner and Christina Hendricks Dissect 5 Scenes from ‘The Other Woman.’” Interview by Jace Lacob. Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 8 Aug. 2012. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Hendricks, Christina, and Matthew Weiner. “Mad Men: Matthew Weiner & Christina Hendricks on ‘The Other Woman,’ Part 1.” Interview by Jace Lacob. Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 7 Aug. 2012. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Li, Shirley. “Why Good Girls Is Such a Rewarding Show.” The Atlantic, 24 May 2019, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/05/good-girls-nbc-season-2-christina-hendricks/590173/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2024.