There’s no doubt that the idea of Mad Men star Jon Hamm playing super slapstick spy Sterling Archer enters the realm of dream casting. That being said, it shouldn’t surprise fans to learn that Archer show producers Adam Reed and Matt Thompson have been heavily considering the possibility. Archer recently completed its seventh season and has unfortunately received declining ratings over its past few runs.
During a recent sit down with Daily Beast, Thompson discussed the future of the series and the very real concept of a Archer live-action film adaptation.
In the interview Thompson talks about the growing debate among his team about the project and the inevitable (and likely soon approaching) last season of the animated comedy.
“It’s all up to whatever Adam [Reed] wants, to do, but he and I have definitely talked about it,” stated Thompson. He added the discussion has been an ongoing conversation over the past few seasons. ““We vacillate between if you do it, why are you doing the TV show? And should it be live-action, or should it be cartoon?”
Thompson went on to explain that the crew behind the hit FX series have always had one name in mind as their pick to play Sterling Archer himself. “It’s Jon Hamm. If Archer goes live-action, I do believe it will be Jon Hamm.” The tone of that remark may seem harsh to fans of the animated series given that lead titular character’s spot-on comedic timing is often attributed to the vocal performance of H. Jon Benjamin. While Benjamin doesn’t exactly fit Sterling’s physical description, it’s hard to imagine any Archer project without him involved.
