Christina Hendricks: 'Pilot TV scripts all start to blend together after a while'

Hendricks says: 'I think the entire cast of Mad Men are still feeling that gratitude of being in work' (Getty Images)

My agents dropped me when I took on 'Mad Men' It was a scary idea – a period piece set in the 1960s in New York advertising – on a network no one had heard of, so they didn't want me to take the risk. But I thought, "Yes, this will probably get cancelled but I love the script and I'd rather do a show that I'm passionate about."

You don't really have a clue which scripts for TV shows are going to be a big success at the pilot stage. They all start to blend together after a while – its like, "Oh, here's another lawyer show, here's another cop show..."

Costume makes a big difference to my persona I can be someone different every day: one day I'll want to leave the house and look romantic, another day it'll be rock'n'roll.

Beggars can't be choosers There are so many talented actors and only a certain number of projects, so if you're between work, you just want someone to hire you and you don't care about anything else. I think the entire cast of Mad Men are still feeling that gratitude of being in work, so there's no ennui on set [production began in August for season five, which is scheduled to air next year].

No one acts just one way all the time You have your work face, your phone voice, the at-home-in-your-sweatpants moments and no-make-up moments. So a good TV show needs to show the duality of characters, rather then one-dimensional stereotypes.

Friends say I'm a really slow driver but I would say I'm particular and careful. My husband thinks so too, but he's a New Yorker, so he's used to being flung around in the back of yellow cabs, and his idea of sedate is a little bit twisted; I cling to the side of the car when he's driving and hold my breath.

My husband plays computer games almost non-stop He has every console there is. But the sweet thing is, when he wants to play, he'll say, "Come into my office," he'll put a movie on for me and then put some headphones on and play his game next to me as I watch the film, so we're together.

Christina Hendricks, 36, is an American actress. 'Need for Speed: The Run', in which Hendricks plays an in-game adviser, is available on most gaming platforms from 18 November (needforspeed.com/therun)