'Mad Men' Star, Champagne Drinker: Christina Hendricks

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CAN YOU RULE the workplace with sharp zingers and a sharper figure? Playing Joan Holloway — the voluptuous, sometimes-vengeful office manager on AMC's "Mad Men" — Christina Hendricks suggests you can. She'll be back as the pre-women's lib power broker Aug. 16 at 10 p.m. as the drama about martini-downing, secretary-bedding 1960s ad execs begins season three.

» EXPRESS: Joan went through some pretty tough things last season, including rape. What's up this season?
» HENDRICKS: People said season two was darker than season one, but they may find that the new episodes have more humor than they're expecting.

» EXPRESS: Does Joan wield power with her butt-hugging frocks and snug sweaters?
» HENDRICKS: I think Joan would be powerful regardless of her outfits. She's a woman who is not ashamed to use everything that she's got.

» EXPRESS: Does the roll come on with the girdles and pointy bras?
» HENDRICKS: Wardrobe, hair and makeup help any actor, because all of a sudden you're in disguise, in another person's clothes. It also helps to walk onto the set and be surrounded by things that look like the '60s.

» EXPRESS: Is the 1960s underwear as uncomfortable as it looks?
» HENDRICKS: In season one, it was a bigger deal getting in and out of the stuff. Now it's second nature. But at the end of a day in a girdle, you think, "My back hurts. My waist hurts."

» EXPRESS: Do any shows or movies from the 1960s inspire you?
» HENDRICKS: I never wanted to be a 1960s actress playing someone in the '60s, since there're such different acting styles through the decades. But I have watched things like "Days of Wine and Roses" to be inspired.

» EXPRESS: What's it like to use old technology like typewriters on set?
» HENDRICKS: It's funny, there's always someone to show you what to do, but we did get this big, old copy machine on one episode last season, and it was ridiculously foreign. It's funny to be using something like that, and to look over and see Elisabeth Moss [who plays her co-worker Peggy] sending text messages!

» EXPRESS: And you wear vintage clothes in your real life, too?
» HENDRICKS: I've worn vintage since I was 12 years old, so I've always loved it. But now I've learned to appreciate the 1960s on me. Before, I used to be attracted to things from the 1920s and 1940s for the romance, feminine lace and bows.

» EXPRESS: What else do you like to put on off-screen?
» HENDRICKS: In fashion, I'm quite eclectic because I like the idea of becoming who I want to be each day. One day, I might be dressed in a feminine, proper dress; the next, I might wear a T-shirt and rock 'n' roll jeans.

» EXPRESS: Do you ever mix up "Mad Men"- style cocktails after work?
I was just saying to my fiance that it'd be nice to make a signature cocktail when people come over. But I'm lazy — I just open champagne.

Photo courtesy Frank Ockenfels/AMC