Peyton's Place

The average viewer may not realize this, but there have been frequent Baltimore references throughout Mad Men’s run on AMC. The show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, is a Park School alum and he sneaks in Charm City innuendos sometimes subtly and, other times, more blatantly, like with the casting of Baltimore native Peyton List. The model and actor plays Don’s-secretary-turned Roger’s-wife Jane Siegel and we got to talk to her about hometown memories, life on set, and her love for the Ravens.

What are some of your favorite hometown memories?
My favorite memories were probably at the Roland Park pool. That was kind of my summer hangout. I lived off of Cold Spring Lane, so we would walk down to Sam’s Bagels and The Daily Grind. I went back about a year ago with my boyfriend, and all these memories came flooding back. I thought Roland Park Country School’s theater was the biggest I’d ever seen when I was in my middle-school productions. But it looked a lot smaller this time around.

We hear you’re a big football fan.
I love the Ravens and every season, I’m like, “This is the year.” It’s always fun in L.A. because you don’t run into a lot of Marylanders. I was watching college basketball in a bar once and a man was wearing a Ravens jersey. We became best friends. I’m also the proud owner of a football from a Ravens game. It was a Christmas gift from a friend who plays for the Eagles [Jon Dorenbos]. My boyfriend asked if he could have the game ball signed by Steve McNair. The ball is dirty and deflated, but I love it.

Most girls hate fantasy football, but you like it.
I’m completely addicted. It’s just so much fun and it gets so competitive. It’s kind of like gambling because you can look at the projections, but you can also go with your gut. In some of our closed circuit leagues, our friends would cheat and ask [Dorenbos] if Westbrook was playing that night. We get pretty cutthroat.

The creator of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner, is from here as well.
It’s not just Matt—there are tons of people from Baltimore. When I wound up on that show, I was like, “This is where you’ve all been hiding.” Even in my audition, they loved the fact that I was from Baltimore. Baltimore is a big city, but it’s also small. It’s so cool to be able to cross-reference places back home with people on the set.

Is playing Jane on Mad Men as fun is it looks?
I have an absolute blast. When I came on, I had no idea what would happen to the character. They keep you guessing, even the actors. I had no idea she was going to wind up marrying the boss [Roger Sterling]. I remember sitting at that table read and everyone was like, “What?”

Do you get to keep any of the clothes?
Definitely not, but there have been times where I’m having one of those days, where I could really use my girdle. It’s uncomfortable, but it really makes you look so good.