BASED on a true story, the New Line Cinema comedy Tag shows how far some guys will go to be the last man standing.
For one month every year, five highly competitive friends (Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner) hit the ground running in a no-holds-barred game of tag they’ve been playing since the first grade—risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take each other down with the battle cry: “You’re It!”
This year the game coincides with the wedding of their only undefeated player, which should finally make him an easy target. But he knows they’re coming…and he’s ready.
In cinemas on July 27, Tag is distributed in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Jon Hamm’s nuanced portrayal of the high-powered advertising executive Don Draper on AMC’s award-winning drama series Mad Men has firmly established him as one of Hollywood’s most talented and versatile actors. He has earned numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award in 2015 for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series; Golden Globe Awards in 2016 and 2008; Television Critics Association Awards in 2011 and 2015; a Critics’ Choice Television Award in 2011, as well as multiple Screen Actors Guild nominations. Mad Men concluded its seventh and final season on May 17, 2015.
Playing Bob Callahan in the new all-star comedy Tag, Hamm was most recently seen starring in Tony Gilroy’s Beirut, alongside Rosamund Pike. In a critically acclaimed performance, Hamm starred as a former US diplomat who returns to service to save a former colleague.
Later this year, Hamm will appear in Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale, as well as Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens series for Amazon. Hamm recently completed production on Scott Z. Burns’s The Torture Report, and will begin production on Noah Hawley’s Pale Blue Dot, opposite Natalie Portman.
Last year Hamm starred in Edgar Wright’s hugely successful heist thriller Baby Driver, opposite Ansel Elgort and Jamie Foxx. Hamm also appeared in the independent film Marjorie Prime.
In 2016 Hamm starred in Keeping Up With the Joneses, opposite Zach Galifianakis and Isla Fisher. In 2015 Hamm lent his voice to the wildly successful animated feature The Minions, alongside Sandra Bullock and Steve Coogan. Hamm’s previous film credits include Million Dollar Arm, based on a script by Thomas McCarthy and directed by Craig Gillespie; Friends With Kids, written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt; Bridesmaids, with Kristen Wiig; Ben Affleck’s The Town; Zack Snyder’s fantasy thriller Sucker Punch; Howl, with James Franco; Shrek Forever After, in which he voiced the character Brogan; The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Keanu Reeves; Jennifer Westfeldt’s Ira & Abby and Kissing Jessica Stein, which she wrote; and We Were Soldiers.
Hamm’s appearances on the Emmy-winning comedy 30 Rock, from 2009 to 2012, earned him three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also hosted Saturday Night Live three times, once in 2008 and twice in 2010, to critical acclaim. In addition to Mad Men, Hamm also appears in the second season of Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Hamm played Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne, the senior prophet who fools four women into being held captive for 15 years while they believe to have survived the apocalypse. The role earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. His additional television credits include A Young Doctor’s Notebook & Other Stories, a BBC miniseries in which he stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe and also executive produced; and the Larry David film Clear History. Hamm first came to audience’s attention in the NBC series Providence. Signed for a cameo role, he impressed the producers so much that he ended up with an 18-episode run on the series.
A native of Saint Louis, Missouri, Hamm received his Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Missouri-Columbia and currently resides in Los Angeles.
What drew you to Tag and to the character of Callahan?
I love playing a congenial doofus, which has been made abundantly clear in my comedy career. (Laughs) But what I really like about Tag is that it’s based on a true story about a group of friends who genuinely love being in each other’s life. I have a very close set of friends that I feel the same way about, which inspires me. By playing this silly children’s game, the film’s characters stay in touch with one another. I am really connected with that idea.
How do you stay connected with old friends?
I have many good friends, mostly from high school.
Some of them live in New York, and others still live in my hometown of Saint Louis (Missouri, USA), and I make sure to look them up on a regular basis.
One of my best friends lives in Australia; we were just texting the other night because his mom had sent me a fun picture of us when we were kids. It was just so evocative of that time in our lives. We look each other up whenever we’re in the same town. It’s just the best feeling.
You’re describing the film’s heart and emotional core, but Tag also has some big action sequences. What was it like to film those?
Tag is an action-comedy that combines those two genres very effectively. It’s a beautifully tailored comedy with action elements that enhance the humor. It’s wildly cool.
Does that combination of action and comedy add a degree of difficulty to each element?
The way (director) Jeff Tomsic pays homage to scenes from some incredible action movies certainly adds a degree of difficulty to the film’s action-comedy scenes. At the same time, it makes it more fun for audiences—and this movie is a lot of fun. It’s appealing across the board. It’s got something for older audiences who identify with the characters, and something else for younger people, who might get inspired and come up with some tradition of staying connected with friends that fits in their lives. That’s a unique and cool aspect of Tag.
Did you bond immediately with your costars, or did it take some time to come together?
I had worked with most of the cast before. I had just done a film with Isla (Fisher), had known Ed (Helms) for years through the comedy scene and mutual friends, worked with Jeremy (Renner) on The Town, knew Hannibal (Buress) from my appearances on Saturday Night Live, and knew Jake (Johnson) through various and sundry channels. The only person I really didn’t know was Annabelle Wallis, and we got along incredibly well as soon as we met. It was a fun group of people having a great time together. We would often meet off-set to go to dinner and do fun things around (the film’s location in) Atlanta. So, it was not hard to replicate that feeling of the characters being longtime friends.
During a visit to the set, Hannibal Buress told us that on a day off from filming Tag he went to see Baby Driver. He told us that your performance as the murderous thief Buddy blew his mind, especially given that he was currently working opposite you in a comedy. Did he ever tell you that story?
No, I didn’t know that. That’s cool. I met Hannibal when he was a writer on Saturday Night Live, and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. He’s such a unique talent. Hannibal’s jokes in this movie are so perfectly suited for him. I was glad that the screenwriters captured his sense of humor, sometimes on quick notice because we did a lot of improvising.
Talk about working with Jeff Tomsic, who makes his feature directing debut with Tag.
The film has such a crazy ensemble and so many moving parts, that I’m sure bringing it all together was a tall order for Jeff. But he really pulled it off.
Jeff was incredibly laidback but somehow kept all the plates spinning and came up with a movie that’s wildly funny and that really delivers on its emotional message.
When the movie opens, what do you hope audiences take away from it?
I hope Tag inspires people to connect or reconnect with other people in their lives. So, many are connecting via social media, which is fine but isn’t a substitute for actual physical connections, and that’s what inspired the real-life guys to keep playing Tag. They genuinely wanted to stay in each other’s lives. They came up with this sweet nonsense to keep those friendships intact.