Mad Men’s Cast and Creator Say Goodbye

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is famously down on spoilers, and he has offered no clues as to how his AMC drama will wrap up in Sunday’s series finale. But in the months leading up to the end of Mad Men‘s seven-season run, we asked him and the show’s cast to reflect on their characters, the show’s legacy, and how they think audiences will react to the end.

Weiner, on splitting the final season into two halves:

“I didn’t know it would be more work, that there would have to be two premieres and two finales. All I kept thinking the entire time was how lucky to be able to end the show and end it the way [I] want to end it.”

Jon Hamm (Don) on the final stretch:

“I had to work every day, so I couldn’t really afford to be emotional and sit around moping. The last few days were fairly Don-heavy. But it was the end of something that we all felt very passionately about.”

Christina Hendricks (Joan) on her character’s motivations:

“She thought she wanted to be a wife with a successful husband and that turned out not to be all it was cracked up to be. Then she realized she was quite good at this job. Some days she’s super up, some days she’s super down, and I think that’s real.”

Elisabeth Moss (Peggy) on what she’ll miss most:

“Peggy herself. I still haven’t come to terms that I won’t be able to play her anymore. I do think that we left her in a place that I couldn’t have ever written and couldn’t have ever imagined loving so much. If that’s her end, I think it’s perfect.”

January Jones (Betty) on what she thought of the ending:

“I was in tears the whole day. My last fitting, my last table read, and speaking for her for the last time–it was like someone died. I wasn’t expecting to react like that. The audiences will be surprised and nothing will be tied up.”

Robert Morse (Bert Cooper) on what happens after the show ends:

“Maybe Don Draper will run for president. President Draper. I can see it now. Maybe he’ll hire me as his coffee boy.”

Mad Men, Series finale, Sunday, 9/8c, AMC