From Tribeca pastries to an unexpected dog adoption detour, the “Mad Men” star leans into the kind of unscripted New York moments he refuses to give up
NEW YORK -- John Slattery likes to live spontaneously. That's one of the many reasons he has called Manhattan home for more than 30 years."I love that you can just walk outside for a cup of coffee and bump into a friend and decide to go to the Whitney," he said.
Slattery, 63, moved to an apartment on Bank Street in the West Village after marrying actress Talia Balsam in 1998. At the time, he had established himself as a character actor. Then, in 2007, everything changed. His role as the vodka martini-guzzling Roger Sterling on"Mad Men" earned him sex-symbol status and four Emmy nominations. Since the show ended in 2015, he has starred on Broadway and appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including, most recently, the Netflix series"Vladimir." Growing up in the Boston suburbs with five siblings, Slattery didn't know he wanted to be an actor."My mom was a big movie nut," he said."I would be ready to go out and play baseball or something, and I'd come into the living room to say, 'I'll see you later,' and she would say, 'Come here and watch this with me for a second.'"Together, they would watch Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell movies."I kind of got obsessed," he said. Slattery spent a Sunday with The New York Times, ditching plans at the Angelika so he could look for a dog to adopt.Slattery usually rides his bike from his apartment in SoHo to Frenchette Bakery in Tribeca early in the morning. But a recent trip to California kept him in bed later than usual. And instead of biking, he took a car. He blames that on the knee surgery he had three months ago."I went to LA to visit my son and recuperate in a place where it wasn't 11 degrees outside," he said.After he ordered a croissant and a coffee, a young man approached."Excuse me, but are you the guy from 'Mad Men'?" the man asked. Slattery put his coffee down, nodded and shook hands with the fan. He doesn't mind being noticed or interrupted."Most people are nice and say nice things, or they don't say anything at all," he said."There aren't too many people who come up and tell me, 'You suck.'"The plan was to take a walk on the High Line and head to the Angelika for an afternoon screening of the 2000 film"In the Mood for Love." But Slattery wasn't in the mood. He wanted to adopt a puppy. For the past two years, Slattery and his wife have been grieving the death of their Jack Russell terrier mutt, Peanut. The couple adopted the dog from Animal Haven 18 years ago.He had nearly adopted a dog during his trip to Los Angeles, but it looked too much like Peanut. "We are not trying to replace him, but my wife and I want a dog around Peanut's weight, which was 20 pounds, because we travel a lot," he said."We want a dog that we can put in a bag and take on a plane with us." Ex // Top Stories Where every culture is beautiful: Carnaval season commences Thirteen competitors will perform for a chance to headline the Mission parade and festival Local experts: Ruling on federal vaccine policies is a win for science A federal judge struck down recommendations made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, producing a bittersweet victory for infectious-disease specialists In bid for Congress, Connie Chan offers a ‘pragmatic’ track record Richmond-district supervisor says her time and tenure in city politics offer a template for a potential stint in the House of RepresentativesAt Animal Haven, Slattery asked to see Chihuahua mixes. The staff brought out three from the same litter: Feta, Ricotta and Swiss. He took an immediate liking to Feta, a rambunctious brown-and-white female who is 2 months old."You are ridiculously cute," he told her. He sent his wife pictures.In 2014, Slattery directed Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro in the crime drama"God's Pocket." Christina Hendricks, who played his mistress on"Mad Men," starred in the film, too. "Unfortunately, Phil died a week after we sold the movie," Slattery said."It did great everywhere but here." A poster for it was out of stock at Posteritati on Centre Street. Instead, Slattery asked to see an original poster from"In the Mood for Love.""The idea of creating a mood is really hard to do, and Wong Kar-wai does it so well," he said of the movie's director."The restraint and the emotion, the way it's shot and made, it's all just amazing."Four years ago, Slattery bought a copy of"Vladimir" by Julia May Jonas at Three Lives & Company, his favorite bookstore, on West 10th Street. In the Netflix adaptation of the book, Slattery plays John, a professor facing Title IX allegations from his former students. His character is in an open marriage with a writer-professor portrayed by Rachel Weisz. "I read the book and thought I'd be a good fit for the role of John," Slattery said."His sense of humor, and his self-deprecation, and the fact that he knows that he's past his prime was appealing to me."3:30 p.m. "I'm starving," Slattery said. At Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village, he quickly scarfed down a slice of pepperoni before greeting a few fans. Such run-ins might not have happened had he and his wife lived in Los Angeles as planned. "Talia was pregnant with our son Harry, and we had picked out a house in LA," Slattery said."Then we went to New York, where I had an apartment, and were coming back from Starbucks when we saw these guys wheeling out a bunch of dumpsters from this building on Bank Street. We asked if an apartment was open in the building." There was. A two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of the building was available. The owner had recently died. The apartment was their home for close to a decade, and they have settled into the city. "I haven't had a slice of pizza in a long time," he said."This is why I love New York. You can be impromptu."
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