TORONTO - An irreverent Jon Hamm had reporters in stitches Friday as he and the cast of Ben Affleck's "The Town" held court at a Toronto International Film Festival news conference.
Those who know Hamm for his Emmy-nominated turn as the stoic, mysterious Don Draper on AMC's acclaimed "Mad Men" might have been surprised by the restless wit he displayed as he enlivened the staid media gathering.
It began with one scribe asking the square-jawed 39-year-old about Affleck's presence as an actor-director on the film, a Boston-set thriller about a team of bank robbers.
"It was an awful experience, he's a horrible human being -- talent-free, I guess we could probably say," said Hamm, clad in a checked button-down shirt and a blue blazer.
"It was pure misery. It was two and a half months of absolute, abject terror, misery and a horrible experience.
"Write it all down folks. It was horrible."
A moment later, he shifted gears and gave a serious assessment.
"No, it was truly a wonderful experience and knowing a little bit about how much preparation and hard work goes into merely directing something, to actually have to bring that intensity and the wonderful performance that he brought in front of the camera, it's an amazing achievement and I'm very proud to be associated with it."
Yes, underneath the good-natured ribbing, there was obvious mutual respect amongst the cast of "The Town" present on Friday, a group that included Affleck, Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Chris Cooper and "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively, who received a disproportionate amount of attention from the photographers gathered at the conference.
The film -- a tense, well-acted tale in which Affleck's character tries to excise himself from a life of high-stakes heists -- has been the subject of much Oscar buzz for its stellar cast, though Affleck brushed aside a question about whether the Toronto fest might prove an Academy Award springboard for the film.
"I don't think that's our agenda," he responded. "We care about people seeing the movie. I care about people seeing these guys' performances. This is a great platform to be in, because internationally, all over the world, it gives the movie exposure."
An earnest Affleck fielded most of the session's questions, patiently responding to queries about his cast, Toronto and even the similarity between a scene in "The Town" and one in his 1997 breakthrough "Good Will Hunting" -- "That's embarrassing, but thank you," he said politely.
"The Town" takes place in the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown, an area that -- according to the film -- produces more bank robbers than any other region in the world.
Affleck grew up in Cambridge, which is geographically nearby but worlds apart socio-economically, so he researched real-life cases as he worked on the film's script (which he wrote with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard from a novel by Chuck Hogan).
Renner, meanwhile, had never even been to Boston at all -- surprising, given that his relentlessly intense performance (in which he recites his lines with an accent as thick as clam chowder) is generating awards hype.
"I had to do a lot of work to overcome my ignorance to the location, the accent, the people," said Renner, who stayed quiet during much of the conference. "So I had my work ahead of me. So it made it a lot of fun to work."
The film features several high-octane car chases through the tight, winding streets of downtown Boston and a climactic showdown in the bowels of Fenway Park.
Producer Basil Iwanyk said that Affleck's name holds a certain weight in Boston and allowed the filmmakers to gain access to areas they might not otherwise have been able to use -- he even called Affleck the "Pope of Boston."
"I'm pretty sure the Pope is the Pope of Boston," Hamm interjected. "I mean, it's a very Catholic city."
Again and again, Affleck attributed the film's success to the strength of his cast. And he provided a self-deprecating anecdote about Hall watching his monologues disapprovingly. In doing so, he mimicked her British accent.
"You see that terrible impression he does of me?" Hall asked. "That's what it's like being directed by Ben. It sounds like Austin Powers."
That repartee between the cast was noticeable at a few moments, including when Affleck responded to a question about whether the film's love scenes were awkward.
"It wasn't really pornographic or anything," Affleck said.
Hamm, once again, couldn't resist.
"But by contrast, my sex scenes with Ben, which were cut from the film -- I think wisely -- were really, really--"
"They were raunch," Affleck finished, to much laughter.
"The Town" opens Sept. 17.
