Jon Hamm spent years insisting he wasn't cut out for fatherhood, but the 55-year-old actor and his wife Anna Osceola are now expecting their first baby together.
The Mad Men star told Us Weekly back in March 2012, when he was 41 and in a long-term relationship with actress Jennifer Westfeldt, that parenthood wasn't in the cards. His answer was blunt and self-deprecating.
"I'd be a terrible father!" Hamm said at the time. Westfeldt, then 42, offered a more reflective take in a separate interview with the New York Times that same month.
"I've thought about this a lot lately. I never thought I'd be this age and not have kids. But my life has also gone in a million ways I never anticipated. I kept feeling like I'd wake up with absolute clarity, and I haven't."
Westfeldt added that the couple had "a pretty great life together" and that the chance they'd regret not having children "doesn't seem like a compelling enough reason to do it." She left the door open, though, saying she might "wake up tomorrow with that lightning bolt" and "scramble to make it happen."
That bolt never came, at least not with Westfeldt. The couple split in September 2015 after 18 years together, issuing a joint statement to Page Six.
"With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history. We will continue to be supportive of each other in every way possible moving forward."
The breakup followed a difficult stretch. In February 2015, Hamm checked into rehab for a month to treat alcohol addiction. Westfeldt, the actress known for Kissing Jessica Stein, supported him through that period before they parted ways months later.
Hamm had already crossed paths with Anna Osceola. The two met on the set of Mad Men in 2014. But they didn't begin dating until roughly 2020, based on the timeline, the couple dated for three years before marrying in June 2023.
By September 2022, Hamm was speaking openly about the change Osceola had brought to his life. Appearing on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show, he credited her with reshaping his outlook entirely.
"[She] opened up the possibility of things like being married, having kids, you know, defining a new version of happiness, life, wellness."
That's a long way from "I'd be a terrible father."
An unnamed source recently told Us Weekly that Hamm's thinking on fatherhood has done a complete reversal. The source said Hamm "was in a very different mindset and a different place in his life when it came to having kids in the past" and that his "perspective has changed a lot since then."
Osceola, now 38, reportedly never pressured Hamm on the question. But the source said she "knew she wanted a family," and the couple eventually "got to a place together where they both felt ready to take that next step."
The source added that "they're both so excited and it really feels like the right time for them," describing Hamm as someone who "is in a place in his life where he's ready and genuinely excited to become a dad."
No due date or further details about the pregnancy have been made public.
People change. And sometimes the man who swore he'd be terrible at the job is exactly the one who's been getting ready for it all along, he just needed the right time and the right person to see it.
