“I Got To Grow Up With Sally”: Kiernan Shipka Reflects On Her Mad Men Days
Kiernan Shipka, now 25, has opened up about her unique journey from child star to accomplished actress. In a candid digital cover story for Cosmopolitan, Kiernan reflected on her time playing Sally Draper on the iconic series Mad Men, a role she took on when she was just 10 years old.
“When it comes to Mad Men, I have a very vivid memory of most scenes I did. I remember my first day. I remember my audition. It’s very etched in my memory. But what I didn’t know at the time was what the scene was really about, so there’s something cool about going back and looking at stuff in which you played a piece of the puzzle and going, ‘Oh, whoa, now I see the puzzle,’” she stated.
The show creators made a conscious effort to protect Kiernan from the mature themes and graphic moments in the script. “They were so protective over me and my kind of innocence and not exposing me to stuff that, you know, was sensitive or more adult,” she shared on Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast.
“I think at a certain point, I was like, ‘Guys, I know what this is. Like, I’m good. I’m fine,’” she said further, adding, “But I really, like, admire and respect the way that they handled it. But I do think in my head, I was probably like, ‘I’m mature. I’m an adult. I know what’s going on here. Like, it’s fine, guys.’”
Still, Kiernan feels grateful for the balance she experienced while growing up alongside her character. “I just got to be Sally and grow up with her in a way that never felt like she was learning too much before me,” she explained.
However, there was one moment where Sally had the upper hand: “She did get her period before I did though. I was like, ‘Is this what it’s going to be like?’ I remember it feeling like a trial run. I was a little scared, but it was still fun. Anytime I got to do anything on that show, I was excited.”
Kiernan also shared that during the 2020 pandemic, she revisited Mad Men — but not to analyze her performance. “I rewatched it more to enjoy the story of the show than to see myself in it,” she said. “I have a very changing relationship with watching myself. The further away I am from a project, the easier it is to do.”
Despite tackling mature roles early in her career, Kiernan insists she never felt her innocence was compromised. “At that young age, it’s not your job to know what the whole thing is about; it’s your job to be the character. It touches me because I feel like I was never really robbed of my innocence in any way,” she said.
Now a seasoned actress with credits like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Sweethearts, Kiernan continues to thrive in Hollywood, reflecting fondly on her early days in the industry.
