The lead role in LA Noire could have been portrayed by a different Mad Men actor, according to one of the game’s writers.
In a new interview with Cade Onder about the story of LA Noire’s development, Daniel McMahon – who was brought on to join director and writer Brendan McNamara for additional writing – revealed that Jon Hamm (who played the lead role of Don Draper in Mad Men) was originally proposed as the actor to play the game’s protagonist Cole Phelps.
“I remember sharing pictures of Jon Hamm in his suit wearing a hat, [and] being like: “Look at this guy. Like, look at this guy’”, McMahon recalled.
Instead, the role went to Hamm’s Mad Men co-star Aaron Staton, who played Ken Cosgrove on the show – a decision that McMahon conceded was a better fit for the character.
“It was never said at the time, but now I understand the vision, which was Jon Hamm is a wonderful actor, but he’s not Cole Phelps,” he explained.
“Jon Hamm would have been a much better Jack Kelso, honestly, because he’s a character of great power, he’s a character of control. Like Jon Hamm, [he] knows what he’s doing and gets shit done.
“And Aaron Staton was much better at portraying Cole’s fragility. A lot of the time Cole’s flapping around, having no idea what he’s doing. He’s very, very smart, but he’s also young, not very experienced, and and he’s just trying his best.
“So, I think Jon Hamm would have been incredible, but expensive, and – probably in the end – not as good casting for that character as Aaron Staton was.”
LA Noire was well received critically and commercially, but has never received a sequel since its original 2011 release. A planned spiritual successor called Whore of the Orient was announced months after the game’s release, but was cancelled five years later.
LA Noire did get Switch, PS4 and Xbox One ports in 2017, and a VR version the same year. That VR port, titled LA Noire: The VR Case Files, was developed by Video Games Deluxe, a new studio founded by LA Noire director Brendan McNamara.
Video Games Deluxe also handled the mobile versions of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition, and also stepped in to correct the critically panned console versions developed by Grove Street Games.
Rockstar responded by acquiring Video Games Deluxe last year, renaming it Rockstar Australia.
