I have met Tom Hanks. Several times. And he's been very nice.

- John Slattery

When I was coming up, everybody wanted to be Tom Hanks. There was always Robert De Niro and Al Pacino - they were the heavily dramatic stuff. I always had a foot in both camps. The hardest thing was to resist the advice to be like someone else. It took me a while to figure that out.

- John Slattery

Characters can become boring. That's what's tricky about television. It goes on and on - you're playing this same character for five seasons and it gets easy to fall into just walking on the set and assuming you know how to play a scene.

- John Slattery

As an actor, you see a sliver of how the show is made, but to see the actual writing process and the re-writing process and the casting process and art direction and set design - all of this is happening in a very intense period.

- John Slattery

You put a movie star or a bunch of movie stars in a movie, it doesn't mean people are gonna go see it. It's been proven time and time again.

- John Slattery

You learn pretty quickly: if you fall in love with your edit, you're bound to be heartbroken because it will all be re-cut.

- John Slattery

When I was growing up, the top movies dealt with grown-up, complex emotions.

- John Slattery

On 'Mad Men,' I have a bit of an advantage because I know who gets better as they repeat a scene and who's best at the beginning.

- John Slattery

I've never directed anything before 'Mad Men,' so I don't feel I have any advice for the other directors.

- John Slattery

I've dyed my hair a million times and it looks terrible, always. It just looks fake. And it doesn't make me look that much younger.

- John Slattery

I've done a lot of pilots. A lot of shows. You're young and you do a job just because you know someone gave you a job.

- John Slattery

I think the ongoing discussion of the world of advertising is, 'Where is the soul in advertising?'

- John Slattery

I think I gravitate towards people who express themselves in a simple and funny way.

- John Slattery

I like to try the scene over and over, but given the confines of television, I don't have that option.

- John Slattery

The rule of surfing is never tell anyone where you go.

- John Slattery

I guess, you make a big studio film, you spend a lot of money on it and you hope people go see it. It's really risky.

- John Slattery

I don't have to worry about how my movies sell because I'm not the guy in front.

- John Slattery

And I don't want to jump out of an airplane - I've done that.

- John Slattery

When I first started, I was kind of surprised that anyone would ever hire me at all. So I took everything that I was offered.

- John Slattery

My wife tells me I need to learn to be more patient with my son.

- John Slattery