all about vincent kartheiser

Adios!

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:03:56 GMT

So I opened all the search engines I usually use when finding Vinnie stuffs. I started searching and searching and searching till I finally stopped, opened text edit, and here I am typing my farewell message. I've been thinking about it for quite some time now and I decided to really do it today. At first it was fun updating a fan blog, but it became a dragging chore in the end. And I just really have so many things going on in my life right now that I can't spend my valuable time googling Vincent Kartheiser anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still am and will forever be a fan of such an amazing actor; I'm just no longer interested in updating this LJ.

I like it whenever I give you guys something that makes you squeal. But you're better of going to the LJs of merlinmaus or aldo_77 instead for your VK fix. If you want to search for VK news on your own, you may use these:

www.blogpulse.com
www.bloglines.com/
technorati.com
www.icerocket.com/
www.topix.net/

And here's a list of other sources: www.abstracts.net/gossip.html

I thought of deleting this LJ so that I won't be tempted to update it, but I figured I'd still like to visit your LJs once in a while, read your interesting thoughts on VK- and non-VK stuffs, and comment on them.

Simply put, I'm a lazy blogger and I have other priorities. So little time, so much to do. I have all the Mad Men Season 2 episodes in my laptop, but I haven't even watched them yet as I just don't have the time.

What else? I guess that's all I have to say. It's been fun LJ-ing with you.

***Shasha***

My last hurrah... =(

Vincent and Some Bunnies

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:53:45 GMT

Slightly bigger pics here (I had to crop them for some reason):

1 http://www.playboyonline.com/style/fashion/mad-men/mad-men-pg2.html
2 http://www.playboyonline.com/style/fashion/mad-men/mad-men-pg8.html

`Mad Men' stars have fun as anxious Pete and Peggy

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:43:06 GMT

NEW YORK – On the "Mad Men" premiere last summer, a boozy Pete Campbell hauled himself from his bachelor party to the door of Peggy Olson's modest Brooklyn apartment.

"I wanted to see you tonight," implored Pete, an overzealous ad account executive who, at that late hour, was gripped by panic at his looming marriage.

Peggy, the winsome new hire in the Sterling Cooper secretarial pool, surprised herself by letting him in.

Airing on AMC Sundays at 10 p.m. EDT, the Peabody Award-winning "Mad Men" now is in its second season. And it has kept Pete and Peggy entangled in multiple ways, none of them romantic and most of them hush-hush (including the child that Pete still doesn't know about).

Fortunately, things are much lighter between Vincent Kartheiser and Elisabeth Moss, who play that pair on the splendid '60s-era drama. In a joint interview, they tease each other, laugh a lot, and seem like pals.

Turns out Kartheiser (at 29, a former regular on "Angel," the spinoff of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and Moss (who is 26 and played presidential daughter Zoey on "The West Wing") had met before they got "Mad Men." A few years back, both took part in a filmmaking workshop.

"You had a prima donna actor," says Kartheiser in self-appraisal, then nods toward Moss magisterially, "and Miss Perfect."

"Two sides of the coin," chuckles Moss.

Kartheiser recalls a scene: "I had a disease called congenital analgesia, which means I couldn't feel anything. My character was always burning himself with cigarettes and saying, 'Whatever.'"

"And I was supposed to be in love with you," says Moss with a grin.

On "Mad Men," they enjoy far more, um, dramatic leeway.

"At the beginning Peggy was definitely naive," muses Moss, appraising the distance she's come, "and I wouldn't say she's toughened up, but, instead, the problems hitting her now have become bigger. At first, it was learning to use a typewriter, and now it's a baby — with the father of the baby someone she works with."

But she's moving up in the agency. A quick learner, she's now helping create ad campaigns. And she's gingerly overcoming anti-female bias in the workplace — even from Pete Campbell.

Meanwhile, Campbell continues trying to win approval from Don Draper, the magnetic though tormented agency exec at the show's core. But Draper (played by Jon Hamm) hates him. Campbell, for all his skill in the advertising game, lacks people skills. He's sort of a jerk — isn't he?

"Well, it's unfortunate that you see it that way," Kartheiser tells the interviewer with mock indignation. "Some people just AREN'T as likable as others, no matter what they do. Pete Campbell does the same (stuff) as Don Draper, but Draper's way more likable, and gets away with things."

Of course, no sweeping term such as "likability" does justice to the series' world of characters, who, even as they all share screen time, emerge as complex individuals.

"Jon is the lead, and he always has something going on," says Moss. "But I don't think the rest of us feel left out, or that we don't get our moments."

"We trust Matt," says Kartheiser, meaning "Mad Men" mastermind Matthew Weiner. "I don't think anyone in our cast has any doubt that he always has the best story line in mind, and that's what we're there to serve."

"Yesterday he said to me, `The next episode we're shooting is about objects,' and I said, `OK,'" Moss marvels. "He always has this grand idea, and we're just lucky to be part of it."

Moss even feels lucky to have "carried" Peggy's "child." It was a shrewdly gradual plumping-up process that went unrecognized as anything other than weight gain, even by the unwitting mother-to-be — until, much to Peggy's shock on the season finale, she went into labor.

"Over seven episodes, I had four stages of padding and three stages of makeup," says Moss. Friends she hadn't seen in years watched the show and — shades of Kirstie Alley! — worried that she had an eating disorder. "But they didn't want to ask."

"Like: `Did you quit smoking?'" chortles Kartheiser.

But that was last season (and 1960). Now "Mad Men" has progressed to spring 1962.

For Moss, who (like Kartheiser and most of the cast) wasn't born yet, it's a history lesson she is moving through.

"But I've learned more about the similarities than the differences between then and now," she says. "Usually, you look back on another era in terms of the milestones. But at the same time, people were just living their lives."

She might have added: That's where the unexpected drama unfolds, where "Mad Men" lives its life.

Source

Mad For Men

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:25:45 GMT

Hair isn't as much as issue for bad boy Pete Campbell, but calling him a "bad boy" may upset portrayer Vincent Kartheiser.

Tour guide: Vincent Kartheiser

But we digress, and the next stop is much more interesting: It's Vincent Kartheiser, who we asked what it's like to play Sterling Cooper's resent bad guy.

"We all are a bit of a Pete Campbell," Kartheiser's says. "We all have that little brat in us. He does things that are awkward and uncomfortable. He's the guy in the office who's a douche bag. He's sleazy and says the wrong thing at the wrong time, but he's not a bad guy. He's just trying to get his, and not everyone can get along."

Vincent's prickly Pete

Last year, the little blackmailer tried to use the sad story of Don Draper's stolen identity to his advantage. Clearly, a bad buy move, but it's equally clear Kartheiser doesn't like the label and we can't help but tease him for being so defensive of his character.

"I should be defensive," he laughs good-naturedly. "I've heard that question so much that I've started questioning how much thought is going into it. Ultimately, you have to look beyond the idea of bad guy versus good guy. This is life. This isn't Star Trek. We have no Romulans. Dislike Pete if you want, but I don't think he's the protagonist."

For those who are new to this show, in this world of Mad Men, the Campbell name is quite powerful -- and Kartheiser says that Kennedy-esque reputation leaves his character in a tenuous position.

"It helps and it hurts," he considers. "Pete has this last name that gets him the job, the money and the girl, but he can't outlive it. That's all he'll ever be. Even though he's all these things to his wife, and even though he has great ideas, he's 'just the guy with the good name. What an idiot.' "

There's more going on with this old money man that his coworkers realize, but all they see is the silver spoon dangling from his mouth.

"This guy could probably take a seat on the stock exchange if he wanted to, but he walked away to do something his family disowned him for," Kartheiser said. "His family doesn't respect him at all. They look down on him for his choice. He has big balls and takes a big risk, but no one at the office realizes that."

Mad about dad?

His character takes on more credence this season, now that Pete's lost his unsupportive father in a plane crash. It was certainly eye opening to spend an evening "mourning" with that strange, cold Campbell clan!

And with the story still playing out, the loss is sure to affect the prodigal son. "This comes from a time, the ‘60s, when we actually felt we should do better than our fathers did," Kartheiser says. Whether or not Pete faces his daddy issues, he still has Don Draper to emulate and surpass at the office.

"You're going to start to see more and more parallels between these characters," Kartheiser previews. "It's going to push the onus on the audience to say, 'Why don't you like Pete? What makes him so different from Don?' They both cheat on their wives, they both have secrets..."

But don't mistake Kartheiser's devil's advocate frame of mind for him being his character's fool. He knows why one is beloved, while the other is reviled.

"Don's clever, funny, handsome, strong and simple in the way he approaches things," Kartheiser says. "Pete's condescending and he doesn't realize everyone has a tough life. He reminds a lot of people of rich people they know and I don't think people like people who come with silver spoons."

I only copied the VK/PC bits. For the full 'Going mad for the stars of Mad Men' article, click here.

Attention Deficit Theatre presents Mad Men S2EP1 and S2EP02

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:11:18 GMT

I'm glad ADT is back, although I don't want to read the entire recap for fear of being spoiled. Yap, I haven't seen any season 2 episodes yet. =0

For Those Who Think Young
Flight 1

Episode 1

Scene: Shortly thereafter in the conference room. The account team sits around staring at a plate of sandwiches. Don obviously is late for a meeting.

Kenny: I’m hungry.

Duck: I’m a drunk.

Peggy: I’m really big for my britches now that I’m a copywriter.

All: Shut it. We still don’t respect you. Go find out where Don is.

Paul: Check out the beard I grew during the hiatus. I’m like Orson Welles over here.

Dale: Draper must have knocked Peggy up, then she came back when she was all skinny.

All: Who in the hell are you?

Dale: I’m apparently named Dale. I just showed up without any introduction or backstory.

Pete: Peggy? Knocked up? Oh, don’t make me guffaw. What an entirely ridiculous notion. Ha ha ha ha. No, she went to a fat farm. I thought we had verification.

Scene: The Campbell home. Pete comes in and gives Trudy a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Pete: Hello, Lovely. Happy Valentine’s Day. Good God, what are you wearing?

Trudy: I know. It’s the most hideous fabric ever. The wardrobe people clearly have it out for me.

Pete: I really bought that candy for me, not you. Open it. I want one. Because I’m a selfish ass.

Trudy: I’m bitter. Harry’s wife is pregnant and I’m not. And some overly fertile woman I saw on the street pissed me off today. It’s this big club they’re all in together.

Pete: She doesn’t have what you have. And by that I mean a weaselly, gun-toting yet emasculated husband who knocked up the secretary and has a secret love child lurking out there somewhere. I am totally going to snap one of these episodes. Just you wait.

Scene: Montage of various characters at home watching Jackie Kennedy give a White House tour on television

Jackie Kennedy: Hi. I’m disturbingly Stepford-y.

Salvatore: Where’s her husband? Not that I’d have any reason to look at JFK, mind you.

Kitty: Surprise! You scored a beard during the break! The credits say I’m Kitty Romano, so I guess we’re married. What could possibly go wrong?

Joan: I’m ignoring my doctor boyfriend while he paws me. You just know I’m going to hook up with Roger again. God, I hope he doesn’t croak on me.

Pete: I’m a cad. I just ate all of Trudy’s candy.

Scene: The next day at Sterling-Cooper. The guys are sitting around a table while two young interviewees march by.

Kenny: We’re so screwed. Hey, Harry, congrats on your soon-to-be fat wife.

Harry: Yay, me. I guess we smoothed over that whole “I nailed Hildy the secretary” thing.

Pete: Are you happy?

Harry: Hell yeah. Now I don’t have to prance around the office late at night in my tighty whities for the viewing public to see.

Scene: Pete’s office. The team gathers around to panic about the interviews.

Kenny: Come on, Daddy. How often do you get to celebrate getting some girl pregnant?

Pete: Woo-hoo! Here I come.

Harry: He meant me, dumbass.

Pete: Oh. I knew that. Because I most certainly haven’t ever impregnated anyone. Certainly no one in this room. Speaking of, Peggy, do you want to have kids?

Peggy: Eventually. Can I go now? This is awkward.

Episode 2

Scene: The hallway outside a noisy party.

Pete: This sounds like the place.

Trudy: I’m pretentious. I’m worried about the car. Because this is New Jersey, which clearly is peopled entirely by hooligans.

Pete: We can still go home. This was your idea.

Trudy: But all of these people work for you, you big strong management type, you.

Pete: Huh? Oh, right. Lovely, go easy on that. Some of them don’t feel that way. And, by the way, I’m really a peon and just keep lying to you about my job.

Trudy: What?

Pete: I said a dog peed on me while I was buying a corncob.

Trudy: Swell! Let’s go inside.

Scene: The hallway of Paul’s apartment. Eugene is climbing all over Peggy.

Eugene: Come home with me.

Peggy: Why?

Eugene: Because I live alone. And I’m a good kisser.

Peggy: I’m in the persuasion business. Frankly, I’m disappointed by your presentation. Now, if you were married and carried large firearms around the workplace, I’d let you violate me on unsuspecting office furniture at 8:30 a.m.

Pete’s Couch Cushion: She ain’t kidding, buddy.

Scene: The next day in the Sterling-Cooper office. Roger and Don walk in and find everyone standing around the radio.

Roger: Excuse me. This is a place of business.

Paul: Shut it. A plane went down. American Airlines flight 1 to L.A.

Peggy: Well, that sucks. Speaking of sucking, I’m randomly bringing a massive vacuum to the office. Carry on.

Don: Cancel everything in production for Mohawk Airlines. We don’t want everyone opening the morning paper and seeing a Mohawk ad next to a picture of a floating engine. Now stop crying and figure out how we’ll hit the ground running in three weeks.

Paul and Duck: Sure thing. But first, let’s tell inappropriate jokes about plane crashes.

Pete: Hey, me, too! Has Head and Shoulders been invented yet? I have great jokes about that.

Scene: Later in Don’s office

Don: Hidey. What’s going on?

Pete: I just got off the phone with my brother. My father was on that plane.

Don: Oh. Wait, I know this one. Did he have dandruff?

Pete: I’m serious. I don’t know what to do.

Don: Go home.

Pete: I don’t know how old he was. Am I supposed to cry?

Don: You’re in shock. Go home and be with your family.

Pete: Ewww. Why?

Don: Because that’s what people do.

Pete: Is that what you would do?

Don: Yeah. Well, first I’d probably drink myself into a stupor, and then I’d wander to the Village and service my old mistress. Then I’d get my boss drunk and full of oysters so he’d puke right on cue in front of a room full of clients. Oh, and I’d drive my long-lost brother to suicide. But then I’d totally go home to what’s her name.

Pete: Betty?

Don: Oh. Right.

Scene: The Campbell house. The family is gathered around to talk about arrangements.

Trudy: Hey, here is an idea. Let us never use contractions and deliver our lines like we are catatonic.

Pete: Good idea, Lovely. OK, Mom. You go first.

Pete’s Mom: I shall cancel my trip to Sarasota. There is so much to do. Hey, what is that?

Trudy: What, this garish elephant statue behind me?

Pete’s Mom: Take it. I want you to have it.

Trudy: Are we terrible actors or great actors? Are we really supposed to talk like this?

Bud’s Wife: He was such a fine man. My father admired him.

Trudy: What a nice thing to say.

Bud’s Wife: I like to offer a nice bouquet of thoughts. OK, that's it. Who wrote this crap? Are we really supposed to believe people talk like this? I went to Julliard, dammit. It's the writing, people, not the acting.

Bud: Hey, Pete. Dad was broke

Pete: Crap. What about the old lady’s money?

Bud: Not so much. Dad sucked that away, too.

Pete: Double crap.

Mom: Father called you Salt and Pepper.

Pete and Bud: P-push it real good!

Scene: Another restaurant. Duck is meeting with Shel Knealy from American when Pete shows up.

Duck: We stupidly jumped the gun and fired Mohawk.

Shel: God, that was dumb. We have no idea what are plans are.

Pete: Hidey. Your plane just killed my dad.

Shel: Wait, I know this one. Head and shoulders, right?

Pete: I'm serious.

Shel: Oh. I'll pass that along. Maybe there's an opportunity for us after all.

Pete: Woo-hoo!

If you missed the Season 1 recaps, you can check them out here.

Q&A - Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell)

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:05:23 GMT

In this exclusive interview with AMCtv.com, Vincent Kartheiser discusses his character Pete Campbell, not to mention the actors portraying him in the "You Could Be on Mad Men Contest."

Q: Episode 2 has Pete coping with the death of his father -- and you coping with the death of Christopher Allport, the late actor who played him. What was that like?

A: Christopher Allport was really great. We only had one scene with him last year, but it was a great scene. And I think the way Matthew [Weiner] handled it in the show is amazing because he doesn't play to that obvious reaction. The death of someone so pivotal in your life really creates a self-analysis...I think the bigger question about the episode is "How are we supposed to respond in certain situations? What am I supposed to be doing now that this thing has hit?" This is a very small and bad analogy, but I just had a flood at my house, and I looked at my house full of mud and I was like, "What am I supposed to do?" I knew there was something I should be doing in this situation, and I think emotionally that's what Pete's going through. I'm just thankful that my parents will live forever, because that's just how it's going to happen, okay?

Q: Do you think this development makes Pete more sympathetic?

A: I think people should be able to empathize with him on a certain level. It's hard for me to think too much about whether the viewing audience is going to sympathize or not with Pete, because this is a character that I've now been with for three years. I think there's a certain amount of people who still won't like him. And I think there are people in the world that when I hear bad things have happened to them, I won't sympathize or empathize. Some people have it coming.

Q: What's the hardest part about playing Pete?

A: The most difficult part sometimes is that people are constantly shunning him and locking him out of conversations. He gets humbled several times in the first season, and I think it's a strong character trait of his that he can take that and continue to bully his way into the next thing. But it's such a blessing to have a character like this. The words just jump off the page and the characters fall in line and very rarely or ever do you see someone going, "What am I doing this for?"

Q: Have you been paying attention to the videos of fans saying your monologue for AMCtv.com's contest to win a role on Mad Men?

A: Yeah I have. I feel anger towards all of them that they're trying to one-up me. [Laughs] I don't get it. Why don't you guys just go do Jon Hamm. Come on! Who wants to be Pete Campbell anyways? I mean, I do. But I didn't think there was any other freak out there who wanted to be Pete.

Source: AMC

AMC's Mad Men Bags Nearly 2 Mil. Viewers in Second-Season Debut

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:44:09 GMT

Don Draper may become a household name after all.

The brooding centerpiece of AMC’s critically acclaimed original series Mad Men returned to the tube Sunday night to his biggest audience yet, as the season two premiere averaged nearly 2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research fast nationals data.

The 10 p.m. debut––which also happened to be competing directly with ESPN’s coverage of the final installment of a three-game series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox––more than doubled its first-season average, drawing 1.95 million viewers versus the year-ago 915,000.

Among the network’s key demos, Mad Men served up 996,000 adults 25-54, up nearly 25 percent versus the season-one average, and 955,000 viewers 18-49, a 22 percent improvement versus the prior 13-episode average.

Source

COSTUMING MAD MEN

And the wardrobe may be having an effect. Actor Vincent Kartheiser, who plays unctuous young ad man Pete Campbell, said when he gets fitted for suits and shirts now, he's more exacting.

"I'm like, this shirt is not a 14-and-a-half. You need to bring this in. I need it tight!" he said, smiling broadly.

Source

TALKING TO MORE MAD MEN: PETE

Kartheiser (right) on Pete's troubled self-image: "The thing for Pete is, he does feel sad for himself. The first season is a lot of him saying, Why can't I get what I want? He represents the next generation of youth, but like youth now, he's very apathetic, very whiny, I deserve it now. He feels he's a tragic character, underused and undermined, so he's righteous in a way, he feels he's doing the right thing.

"I just love him because he's real, that's a real man, and he's in the room right now 20 times over. There's a lot of men who martyr themselves and trample a lot of other peoples' dreams, and they just don't see it."

Kartheiser on preparing to play Pete: "One thing Matthew does that's so amazing and we're so blessed by is that he writes for us, he sees things not only with the character but in your own life. Not things that happened...but he watches what I do and adjusts to that. I've read a couple of advertising books from Ogilvie and that era. I watched some films that I thought I had to see, that the character would have seen, and listened to some music, but that was for the first season. Mainly it's what Matt gives you. people aren't nearly as tuned in to their generation and what their decade is about as they will be thirty years later, so going in with some sort of ultimate realization about the '60s is not going to help (you play) your character."

Among Sterling Cooper's clients in the first season was, unofficially, the 1960 Nixon-for-President campaign. I told Kartheiser that Pete's self-pity reminded me of Nixon, and the actor looked surprised. He has a different take: "I think Pete is a little more Kennedy in a weird way. I think that's a curveball they're throwing at you. Don, our protagonist, is a self-made man who is also a womanizer, but the difference with Pete is, he's actually forward-thinking, he actually is Kennedy. He actually is from a family with money and this kind of Hahvahd upbringing. And we didn't see all that then because of the publicity machine that was behind JFK. But I think Pete's a lot more like the men we look back on and admire from that era.

Pete on his character's relationship with boss Don Draper, which included a failed attempt to bring Don down at Sterling Cooper: "I think the arc of his character last season was really interesting. He got married and a large part of getting married was, This is what life's about. Now I'm going to enjoy happiness and this is going to bring me a sense of security and achievement, and it doesn't, because life isn't so simple. And he continued to place faith in work, hoping that will bring him security and achievement and the sense of worth he doesn't get from his family, and he takes a shot at (success) because he's not getting the respect he feels he deserves... He makes this move, and I think he learns a bit about the politics of the office and learns a bit about his power in the office and his stature in life, and I think that's an eye-opening thing for anybody to be humbled in that way.

"But we don't know what Cooper did in his past, what Sterling did in his past, what Draper did in his past. Draper's not exactly noble, he just is very handsome and understated. He's better at hidin git. And he's more naturally likeable. We don't want to admit that we judge people the second we meet them, but we do. I think part of everybody not liking Pete is that they have to look at themselves. I get people coming up and saying, People don't like your character, and I go, How do you know people like you?

"Really, what does Pete do different than Don? They both cheat on their wives, they're both self-centered, they both have these secrets. Pete walk away from his legacy, he could probably take a seat on the new York Stock Exchange if he wanted to, and he walked away from that to do something his family disowned him for. He actually had really big balls and took a really big risk, but nobody at the office even knows he's doing that."

Source

Lotsa Vinnies 2

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:23:54 GMT

The younger generation (who would now be in their 70s) is represented by Sterling Cooper newcomer Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), a newlywed uncertain of his place in the male pecking order.

Kartheiser says there is humor laced through the darkness, especially when looking back at some of the little things about the 1960s. In one episode, for example, his character has to return a wedding gift, a newfangled "chip and dip" party dish that his co-workers find ridiculous.

TBO

The rest of the cast is equally accomplished, with Moss and Kartheiser the standouts.

Kartheiser, meanwhile, has one of the show's toughest roles. His Pete is ambitious, shallow, and occasionally cruel, but he's also a poor little rich boy whose family looks down on him. Perhaps that's why he constantly seeks approval from the perennially disapproving Don.

Pete's role is somewhat small in the premiere but, in the season's second episode, he takes center stage, and Kartheiser is astonishing. He makes Pete sympathetic without making him soft.

Conn Post

Decked out in jeans and a well-worn T-shirt, Kartheiser’s youthful appearance belies the sycophantic account executive he plays.

“To say that because these characters come from a different era, that they are this whole different breed of human, it just isn’t going to work,” he said. “I think you hear now, ‘Oh, kids are growing up so fast.’ But we’ve always had weird ideas about how fast people grow up. I personally think people are always the same. People are growing up the same now as they were then.”

As the 13 episodes of the second season unfold, Kartheiser said, “You are not going to see Matt (Weiner) shy away from any of the plot lines. He’s not going to rush. The pacing of the season is beautiful and Matt is looking long-term. This is chapter two in a 25-chapter book. This is just a piece of the puzzle.”

Boston Herald

LOS ANGELES -- Advertising hotshot Pete Campbell leaned back in his chair, planted his feet on the desk and offered his guest a midafternoon shot of Jameson whiskey. One swig later, the sobering truth was revealed: The booze is really salt water.

"It helps a lot," said Minnesota-raised actor Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Campbell and was playing tour guide on a recent day off. "It's not just the attention to detail. It's the idea behind the detail. It's not just to be there. It all serves a deeper purpose."

Star Tribune

Lotsa Vinnies

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:28:22 GMT

There are rules and laws protecting against sexist comments and conduct. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. “It’s just gone undercover. Men are still pigs. And women are too,” insists Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Pete Campbell. “I grew up with four sisters. You can’t fool me! When it comes to a group of guys and girls, we’re all pigs!”

Tango Mag

Campbell emerges as a degraded carbon copy of Draper, handing his wife a box of Valentine's chocolates he bought on the way home from work. Draper treated Betty to a night in a swanky Manhattan hotel the same night, and Campbell eventually ate all the candies himself.

"He's a young man who wants what he thinks he deserves," said Vincent Kartheiser, who plays Campbell as a twisted rich kid, disowned by his family for choosing advertising instead of continuing the family business as a stockbroker. "And he's willing to throw a lot of people under the bus to get what he deserves. That's a scary thing."

Tampa Bay

Kartheiser said there's "a lot of trust among this cast" in Weiner and the writing staff because of how great it's been so far."

Desert News

Next week's ep, co-written by Weiner, is a more linear tale, centered around a newsworthy tragedy of the day, which offers Sterling Cooper a chance to capitalize - at a cost. It focuses on Peggy and on the young, ambitious, troubled account exec Pete Cooper, played by Vincent Kartheiser. When I talked to Kartheiser a couple of weeks ago, I told him that Pete reminded me of a young Nixon; he was surprised, saying he'd always thought of Peter as more of a JFK type, with his fine background and sense of entitlement. And in truth he's both, a sign of the way Weiner embraces ambiguity, as these character search for themselves in a time of looming change.

MeeVee

There are plenty of reasons to look forward to the second season of AMC's acclaimed drama series "Mad Men" (premieres 10 p.m. EDT Sunday). But while relishing scenes between Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his wife, Betty (January Jones), or Draper and his cad of a boss, Roger Sterling (John Slattery), this season I find myself most drawn to scenes that feature Draper's ambitious underling Peter Campbell. Vincent Kartheiser does a great job with Campbell's sometimes awkward, sometimes smooth, sometimes downright pathetic antics, revealing his dark urges, vulnerable turns and outright confusion with stunning authenticity. Kartheiser's flexibility as an actor is on particularly fine display in the second episode of the season, when Campbell's desperate search for some guidance during a crisis is utterly heartbreaking. -- Heather Havrilesky

Salon Critics' Picks

Vincent Kartheiser's Playboy Interview

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:33:08 GMT

This is nauseating...soooooo many Mad Men articles today I'm not even gonna bother posting them all!!!!! But this one I don't want you guys to miss: (source)

Sterling Cooper’s weaselly go-getter Pete Campbell is deftly portrayed by the chatty Vincent Kartheiser, seen here at left with Playboy’s fashion director Joseph DeAcetis. The young actor stepped away from our September photo shoot to talk about today’s advertising and Pete’s forward fashion sense.

PLAYBOY: You play a man that works in the advertising world. What are your thoughts on today’s commercials?

KARTHEISER: I think jingles are really impressive. If you can get a good jingle, you can really blow someone away.

PLAYBOY: Any specific examples?

KARTHEISER: Well, You take something like that “$5 footlong” Subway ad right now, and that really sticks in your head. It reminds you there is a bargain going on and if you’re hungry and you’re walking down the street, that might lead you to a Subway.

PLAYBOY: As a semi-insider, what do you think of the advertising world?

KARTHEISER: It’s interesting because advertising has become such a part of our culture that we actually judge it. If you ever sit down with your buddies to watch a game and the commercials come on, people always comment on commercials. People say, “what’s that supposed to mean?” or “Do they think that is going to make me buy their product?” Like this whole Mac and PC thing. I own a Mac and I like Macs, but I don’t like their commercials and it makes me not like the company as much. People talk about commercials and like movies, art and literature they become something that we believe we know something about. In that way, we’ve been misled by the advertising industry. It is subliminal hints and catch phrases and manipulation. But they’ve lured us into laughing hard enough or cringing hard enough to make us think that it is worthy of critique or thought.

PLAYBOY: Tell me about Pete’s fashion sense.

KARTHEISER: Pete is actually quite forward thinking when it comes to fashion. He doesn’t wear hats, much like Elvis didn’t. Most men in 1960 did. His clothes are also a bit more vibrant than most others. He wears a lot of blue suits and patterned ties.

PLAYBOY: What can we expect from Pete in the second season?

KARTHEISER: I can’t talk about that other than to say he has never really learned how to speak with people. He has problems ingratiating himself to his co-workers, and like in most businesses, it is tough to move ahead if your bosses and your underlings don’t respect you.

Sexy Mad Men's Set Secrets Revealed!

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:12:36 GMT

CAMPBELL'S SCOOP: Clad in a hipster tee, jeans and Skechers, Vincent Kartheiser looked all of 16 (save for the scruff he was sporting). Holding court in his character's office, he explained to reporters that Pete Campbell rubs Don and the other veteran admen the wrong way because he's "ahead of the curve. Pete's right about a lot of this s--t, and they don't want him to be."

LOL, Skechers? That's so high school!

More Mad Men secrets here.

On the ‘Mad Men’ set, success sells

Vincent Kartheiser, who plays the ambitious account executive Pete Campbell, sees the clothes as a metaphor. “Part of this show is actually boys pretending to be men,” he said. “There’s a large portion of this office of guys playing advertiser. They’re just playing dress-up.”

“I like playing Pete,” added Kartheiser. “I don’t know if I like Pete. But it’s fun to do some of the things he does.” Like trying to blackmail Draper — who viewers learned last season wasn’t who he appeared to be and reinvented himself — into giving him a promotion.

Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/moviestv/story/398610.html

'MAD' ABOUT VINCENT KARTHEISER

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:55:13 GMT

I love it that he watches Entourage. I'm such a fan of that show!

By JARETT WIESELMAN

"Mad Men" is a show littered with good people doing despicable things, but then there's Pete Campbell, arguably the worst guy doing even worse things – cheating on his wife, impregnating Peggy, blackmailing Don – and yet Vincent Kartheiser infuses Pete with a sympathetic side. Not an easy task. The Post caught up with the 29-year-old to get the scoop on "Mad Men's" hotly anticipated season two premiere.

Q: What did you think when you got the part of Pete Campbell?

Vincent Kartheiser: I thought, "This is an amazing role" and "This is like the Ari Gold [Jeremy Piven's character on 'Entourage'] of the show - he gets all the dialogue - and I don't have to sweat out the 15-hour days that Jon Hamm does." I loved it and right away I was like, "I can play this guy, I know this guy, I can shake him out of me."

Q: Fans might, but do you see Pete as the villain of the show?

Vincent: I think it's a real dynamic. I think the relationship between Don and Pete happens all the time in business and in friendships - often times in groups of friends, there is a guy everyone wants to be and if you're not that guy, there's a love and a hate for them - a want to be accepted, but also this want of them to need to be accepted by you, which will never happen. It's a real dynamic, one that most men can relate to.

Q: What kind of research did you do for the role?

Vincent: There wasn't a lot of research - I looked at a few books and saw a few movies, but I really depended on the people that Matthew hired and on what he told me. You know, just like today there were people who slouched and stood strong back then – it was more character stuff we talked about than 1960's stuff. You don't look at every scene like how would this have been done in 1960, you look at it like any other scene and explore the dynamic between the people - who haven't changed that much.

Q: Does the set help you set the mood?

Vincent: I think walking on to our set is not only beautiful, but it plays a role - I think we've all become a little used to it, and we own it, it's ours now, so it's not like we still walk on to it thinking, "Oh, it's 1960." When you do a show for long enough, it's yours - it's our office, it's our bullpen. It doesn't feel like 1960, it feels like Sterling Cooper.

Q: What was it like the night you won the Golden Globe?

Vincent: Unbelievable. That moment, just getting nominated was unreal and then when we heard Jon Hamm's name we all lost our minds on such an extreme level. And when it came around to "Mad Men" winning Best Drama, we were a little horse from the previous screaming, it was a great honor. It sucks that it happens to be the one year it wasn't on TV, but it pushes us, gives us the impetus to make season two even greater. And push for another Golden Globe next season.

Q: Is it nice to have a network that's so incredibly supportive?

Vincent: I think it was amazing to know the first season we had that support, but I think what's more difficult, was that the first season, not pulling rank and changing stuff and getting scared. Having the balls to do it in the first place but to stay on board with Matthew and give him the reigns to hire a bunch of no-name actors and really just create the show he wanted to create. That's where AMC stepped up and the fact that they're doing it again this year, is amazing, but we knew they would, when the show was just an idea in Matt's mind, they knew what he had.

Source: NY Post

Mad Men Season 2 Premiere

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:17:33 GMT

+++ From the TCA Awards when Mad Men received the award for Outstanding New Program+++

Source: Wireimage, Daylife, and Getty Images (Thanks to dresden_doll_01 for the heads-up via ONTD!)

24th Annual TCA Awards

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:15:21 GMT

Preview:

By Alan Sepinwall:

Some years, the winners bolt as soon as the show is over. (Or, in the case of last year with both Alec Baldwin and David Chase, as soon as they've accepted their final award.) While Hanks and Fey and Michaels all left fairly quickly, everybody else stuck around for the rest of the night, so I got to both pay homage to some of my favorite actors (Bryan "Salvatore" Batt from "Mad Men," Andre "Bubbs" Royo from "The Wire") and to pay witness to bizarre scenes like Vincent Kartheiser (Pete from "Mad Men") and Jamie Hector (Marlo from "The Wire") swapping cell phone numbers. I had to really fight the urge to interrupt their tete-a-tete with my best, loudest impression of Lester Freamon screaming, "That's the cell number of the mother-****er who dropped 22 bodies on us!"

Source: Wireimage, Getty Images, Reuters, Jamd

TCA Press Tour: Mad Men Set Visit

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:46:23 GMT

Some VK interviews during the said visit:

Vincent Kartheiser, who plays up-and-coming adman Pete Campbell discussed the generation gap on the show. "Pete is more of a modern man," he said, "and Don and the others are dinosaurs." According to IMDB, Kartheiser was a history major at UCLA, so this job is right up his alley. He spoke of "Kennedy men" vs. "Nixon men." In his mind, these two men represented grand American archetypes of the era, something that would be fun to further discuss with him over beers. Or perhaps highballs.

Source

A theme from the first year that will continue involves the relationship between Don Draper -- the very model of a self-made man -- and his young, upper-class subordinate, Pete Campbell. Draper plainly can't stand Pete, for reasons that both elude and infuriate the younger man. All through last year I was more or less convinced that this was because Draper, who literally created his own identity, could never abide a blue-blooded legacy like Pete. They could never get along, I reasoned, because they were so clearly the opposite of one another. It made perfect narrative sense.

But Vincent Kartheiser, the actor who plays Pete, gently pointed out the error in my thinking. Pete's family were in finance, his father had expected, nay, insisted, his son follow in his footsteps. Pete's decision to pursue a career in advertising had infuriated the old man so much he could barely stand the sight of him. "Pete's a self-made man too, in that respect," Kartheiser said. "He's more like Draper than Draper knows."

I stand corrected.

Source

We also tour the set of the Draper home, their kitchen, living room and aforementioned bedroom, and then stop by the costume department.

Cast members Vincent Kartheiser, who plays scheming snake Pete Campbell, and Elisabeth Moss, who portrays Peggy Olson—and had Campbell’s illicit baby in the shocking finale of the first season—are busy defending their characters.

“He’s a very human and normal character, and I think he’s all of us,” Kartheiser tells a scrum of reporters. “We’re all a little bit of Pete Campbell. We all have that whiny little brat in us.”

Source

A Big and Small VInnie Update

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:06:08 GMT

Michael Gladis's sister, Chion Wolf, added 8 VK pics on her photostream including that of Vinnie when he "just finished watering the streets of L.A." (Mary's words). LOL. (Thanks aldo_77 for pointing that one out and your own caption and to shelly of BOK for discovering the Flickr pictures and merlinmaus for the heads-up!)

edited for copyright violations *spanks self*

And more new-old mini Vinnie pics courtesy of Wireimage:

And now some words from Vinnie to end this post:

*** Visual elements combined with the scripts help actors understand a period before almost all of them were born, Kartheiser says. "The writing gives you an idea of how people think and feel. The props and outfits give an idea about how society behaved and the style and manners of the era. It definitely helps you drop into a world." (source)

*** Vincent Kartheiser, who portrays Pete Campbell, an ambitious young account executive, was doubling as armchair sociologist today, and explained the popularity of a series that depicts America’s optimistic New Frontier era as rotten at its core. “There is a large portion of America that doesn’t feel about America the way we did in 1960, and I think we want to know why we don’t,” said Mr. Kartheiser, 29. “We want to know what went wrong.” (source)

A Vinnie Photoshoot (July 4)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:29:31 GMT

These pictures, however small they are, deserve a post of their own.

Source: SPN

That's all folks! I'll just update again next week should I find more pics... Ciao!

TCA Press Tour

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:02:44 GMT

Lots of VK and Mad Men stuffs in the web lately, but I'm lazy to update on a daily basis. If you wanna read a more updated LJ, you may wanna befriend aldo_77. She frequently updates her LJ with VK goodies including Mad Men (with or without VK). But if you're a real MM fanatic (with or without VK), then proceed to Basket of Kisses. I swear they never ran out of good Mad Men posts.

But I just really had to quit procrastinating and post this as it comes with the most recent Vinnie pics (July 9). (But if you want 60s throwback pics, then go to AMC for some Pete Campbell wallpapers.)

Hot! Very!

That boy has a beautiful smile...

I see two people sleeping!

VK mentions @ the tour:

* According to Weiner, episode two, in which Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) experiences a major tragedy, "The second episode is about the experience that people have—for all the people in the characters in that episode—about how you're supposed to react, how you should react. The word should is 100 times in that script."

* Vincent Kartheiser on the occasional weirdness of Pete: “I think the interesting thing about doing television is you get the opportunity to show a lot of parts of a character that probably that person wouldn’t even show to the whole world, you know, the scene where he sits at home is with the .22 rifle while his wife yells at him something that probably a lot of
people at the office don’t know a lot about. So I think we’re all kind of Pete, and I don’t think it’s a great stretch…at least not for me. Maybe no one’s like Pete. Maybe it’s just me. But it’s not a great stretch for me to imagine him doing most of those things, and I think it’s in all of us.”

Source: E!, Premium Hollywood, Getty Images, AMC, Courant

"Mad Men:" The madness begins

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:09:44 GMT

Something to look forward to come July 27:

Pete's (Vincent Kartheiser) wife helps him put on his cufflinks.

If you're thinking hot sex, well, me, too. But we can't really tell for sure. That's the only Pete scene in episode 1 that was mentioned here: http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/2008/07/mad-men-the-madness-begins.html Beware! ~~Kinda spoilerish~~ Mad Men Season 2 stuffs on there. But nothing major was given, really. The writer called them "insights". You can read the article and still won't be able to tell what's gonna happen with the Mad Men characters. I swear!

Special shout-out to aldo_77 (you gotta un-friends-only your LJ, hun; you have good Mad Men/VK bits there) who gave us some bad news and good news:

The Bad - VK isn't among the Emmy semi-finalists.
The Good - There's a new Starfury: The Chosen video on youtube by Sean Harry:

Season 2 Pete Campbell

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:48:47 GMT

Source: The Watcher

Mad Men Update

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:56:34 GMT

Update # 1: Mad Men Season 2 Promo Pic

Update # 2: It's confirmed that there's going to be a Mad Men Season 3 and you can even be an extra if you're interested.

Update # 3: Mad Men Season 2 Trailers. I'm lazy to watch everything, so I'm not sure which particular video/s you could spot VK.

Update # 4: I finally found the link to Advertising Age's online edition. Thanks to Maureen Ryan of The Watcher.

*** Link to 16-page Mad Men magazine: http://www.adage-360media.com/adage360/madmen/

*** Here's the Pete Campbell bit:

Extra Story

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:41:28 GMT

by Robbie Smith

In a bar covered in fake blood next to a topless bartender.

So I signed up to be an extra in a movie called "Ricky 6" not knowing anything about it. My role was to stand at a bar drinking grape juice (as if it were wine). Once the director said rolling, out shuffled Vincent Kartheiser covered in blood from a doorway opposite the bar and a topless bartender stands up from behind the bar. On the first take I asked Vincent what the fake blood tasted like as it was all over his face and he took a big lick of it smearing his makeup job and infuriating the makeup crew who ran out to fix it. Incidently he said it tasted like cherry.

Source: the celebrity cafe via Google Alert

Worst Vinnie Fan Ever!!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:28:49 GMT

I've been too preoccupied with basketball lately that I had a temporary amnesia and totally forgot about the chat with VK. Yeah, I wasn't there!!! So, so terrible. It could have been my one and only chance to cyber-speak with VK. *sob* Who chatted with him? What were the questions asked? To think that I have been preparing the questions I'm supposed to ask as soon as I found out about the chat. Boo!

Anyway, to those interested, "the June 23 issue of Advertising Age has a 16-page black & white "retro" supplement featuring MAD MEN." One of the stories included is PETE CAMPBELL: THE LIFE OF AN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE.

Thanks to Julie Farin of Mad Men Yahoo! Group for the info.

Mad Men Has Its Moment

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:28:44 GMT

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22madmen-t.html?ref=magazine
Pictures: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/06/22/magazine/0622-MADMEN_index.html

Is that Vincent in his tighty whities? *giggles*

Boys!

Spotted 2!

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:02:19 GMT

Spotted 1

MONDAY, JUNE 16
I saw Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men on the Continental redeye from Newark to LAX. He was dressed just like Pete Campbell in a brown suit and vintage skinny tie, and bopping around the terminal to whatever was on his iPod. Staying in his character's groove I guess, he was only slightly more subdued once on board (first class of course). Much better looking in person than on the show, but an occasional burger wouldn't kill him - the guy is rail thin.

Source: Defamer