‘In the Kitchen’: Harry Hamlin Dishes on ‘Mad Men’ Reunion & More Celeb Guests in Season 2 of Cooking Show

You’re cordially invited to more celeb-filled dinner parties courtesy of In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin. The five-episode cooking series sees the veteran actor, writer and entrepreneur link up with his niece Renee Guilbault, a classically trained chef and author, to serve up delicious dishes to an array of special guests. They’ll enjoy good food and conversation while cameras capture it all for viewers to enjoy as part of the AMC+ and IFC series. 

The premiere on April 30 will feature Hamlin’s Mad Men costars Ben Feldman and Kevin Rahm as they feast on a classic prime rib complete with port-wine sauce and classic hot fudge sundaes. Of course, Feldman also works with the star on Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, the hit series just renewed for a third season. The following week brings The Office fan favorites Angela Kinsey and Kate Flannery into the house as they enjoy a lemony one-pot chicken. Guilbault also uses leftovers for a hearty soup for tomorrow’s lunch. 

Other episodes to come include Joel McHale (Animal Control) and Aisha Tyler (Criminal Minds Evolution); Paul Scheer (Black Monday) and June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie); Kiowa Gordon (Dark Winds) and Annabeth Gish (Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches). 

Here Hamlin, who also is an executive producer of the series, sets the table for what’s to come. 

How do you look back on the first season? 

Harry Hamlin: I was very happy with Season 1. I didn’t want to tweak anything from it. I was pleasantly surprised when it came out and the way they edited and put together. I think (EPs/Directors) Don Argott and Sheena [M. Joyce] did an amazing job of directing and shooting the thing. For me, obviously, it’s a new thing because I’m not a chef. I’m a home cook and cook for my family and other people who seem to like my food. AMC wonderfully asked me to do a show. With my niece’s help, we were able to pull off something quite unique I think. I just hope Season 2 lives up to Season 1. 

It’s such a naturally organic show where these conversations just happen and we the viewers are a fly on the wall. 

I think the relationship between me and Renee is key. There is no script. We don’t even talk about what we’re going to say or do. We know we have to cook a certain meal. That’s it. That’s all we know. She and I think about it, get the ingredients together beforehand and all that. We just wait to see if any magic happens. If it does, it does and we’re lucky. If it doesn’t, nothing we can do about it. 

How would you say this project has tightened your bond with Renee? 

Renee and I getting together like this spawned a whole new business. Now we have the Open Food Company we created together. She has been in the food business for more than 30 years. Can you believe she started when she was 17? She has always wanted to make a difference in the food world, and now she has found the opportunity with this company. Completely transparent, open-source company that will sell only the most natural nutritious foods without chemicals or additives. That’s her mission, and I’m along for the ride with her and help any way I can to make this a successful business. It all came from the show in a way. 

There are a lot of fun duos this season including if you’re fans of The Office with Kate and Angela. 

How can you not be a fan of that show? They were fantastic by the way. It’s really cool that episode. All the people who came by for dinner made a great contribution to the show. I’m just thrilled and tickled pink we got who we got. All of them are relevant based upon AMC’s work and my appreciation for The Office and things like that. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. 

What goes into the guest list? 

It’s a team effort with AMC having a lot to do with that as well. Not everyone coming in I’m intimately friends with, but now I am. But Kevin in the first episode with Ben, I have a lot of history with. Especially with Ben because Ben was not only in Mad Men but also is in Mayfair Witches Season 2. Ben and I are very close. Kevin and I got really close on the set of Mad Men where he and I were sparring partners. I put it that way. We’ve all had some deep experiences together, so it was nice to have them. 

Not knowing some as deeply, does anyone surprise you? 

I had worked with Annabeth and crossed paths on Mayfair Witches, but she is a delight. Just a wonderful person and a great actress. I was pleased to get to know her better. 

Tell me about the dishes you’re cooking up. 

We did a lot of different things. There is one thing Renee came up with, which was this chicken dish. This slow-cooked chicken orzo. It’s an amazing, easy-to-do dish. I think a lot of people, particularly with kids, will adopt that recipe and do it once or twice a week because it’s so easy to do and feeds so many people and people love it. 

What’s the impression of your residence from guests? 

None of them had been here before, even the ones I’ve worked with, because we would just work on set or in New Orleans. We have a special place here. I love it here. This is my idea of a great home. Usually, we move out when we’re shooting it. We have a big crew. It’s a bigger crew than even what we had with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which we also shot here from time to time. This is a much bigger operation than that, so there really isn’t an option to live here during this time we were filming. We’d always have people bumping into each other all over. This becomes a set for a few weeks. 

What are some of the conversations we can expect to hear this season? 

I’m just going to let people watch the show for that. I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag. We have a lot of great fun. We have a lot of great comedians involved. Everybody has comedy in them and can be funny. Everyone who came to our dinners wasn’t too serious. I’ll put it that way. So, we have a lot of fun. 

I’m sure the drinks help too. 

Some people will like their vino, yeah. I’ll put it that way. 

This show comes around the same time another series Mayfair Witches was greenlit for another season. How excited are you? 

Well yay. I’m really happy about that. People seem to love that show. I’m thrilled it’s coming back. There will definitely be big changes because it’s set in Salem. My character made a transition in Season 2 playing two characters instead of one. We’re not sure how that’s going to go, but I’m excited. 

What kind of mindset do you have for the business at this stage of the game? It seems like you’re busy on all fronts. 

Most people my age (73) are retired. I’m not sure what that word even means. I will never ever retire. At this point in my life, with the experiences I’ve and people I’ve met and marriage I’ve had and kids I have. We’re in the thick of the best time of our lives. I think that is reflected in the podcast my wife Lisa [Rinna] and I do. It’s actually getting a lot of traction. People enjoy the back-and-forth she and I have after being together for 32 years and having the experiences we’ve had, raising kids and being in this business for as long as we’ve had.

All the different things we’ve done to maintain our lifestyle. I’m not sure you can make a living as an actor anymore unless you’re a huge movie star. Then you give up your anonymity for that. It’s a tradeoff I’m not willing to make as far as that goes, but we’ve been able to keep ourselves going with all kinds of different ideas we’ve had over the years. What is refreshing about this time of life is all these new things are on the horizon, so I’m very jazzed about it. 

Anything you haven’t done you want to do from your own bucket list? 

I have no desire to go up into space with Jeff Bezos. If there was a way to go for longer, maybe a week or so where I’m actually at the Space Station. That might be fun. As far as space, I’m happy to be supporting our land-based space efforts. My dad built the replica rocket behind me [on Zoom], the Saturn V, so I’ve been close to the space program all my life. That’s one thing I’ve thought about, but I’m not going to go there. Look, I have a pretty long bucket list that I don’t think we have time to go through. Put it this way, I’m having the time of my life. 

In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin Season 2 premiere, April 30, 11/10c, AMC+ and IFC