Jon Hamm has expressed admiration for his co-star, Amanda Peet, for how she has managed the loss of her parents and a recent breast cancer diagnosis while maintaining a high-profile career.
Peet, 54, who recently returned for season two of Apple TV+’s hit crime series Your Friends & Neighbors alongside Hamm and Olivia Munn, shared in a deeply personal essay published in The New Yorker about being diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer at the same time both of her parents were receiving end-of-life hospice care.
In a new interview, Hamm, 55, revealed that he had known about Peet’s cancer diagnosis for some time. “She had told me about her diagnosis sometime ago, and it’s a very, very tricky balance to strike,” the Mad Men actor said.
Hamm also reflected on the loss of his own parents, though he noted that it occurred earlier in his life. “There’s never a good time to go through that. And obviously, she’s managing that as well as being a mom, and being a wife, and being a survivor on her own — all of that while maintaining a career and maintaining this high level of work that she’s doing is just tremendous,” he added.
When Peet first shared the news with him, Hamm recalled being “as compassionate as I could be,” and offering his support. “If there’s anything she needs, I’m happy to be there for her.” He also mentioned that he has known Peet and her family for some time, saying, “My heart goes out to her, and I’m happy that she’s healthy.”
In the New Yorker article titled “My Season of Ativan,” Peet detailed the emotional events that unfolded after her doctor discovered a tumor in her breast in August 2025. Shortly after learning of her own diagnosis, she found out that her father’s health was declining rapidly.
“My sister called: our father was about to die. Our parents, long divorced, were both in hospice, on opposite coasts. Our mothers had started in June, but our father’s was only a week in, so we hadn’t expected him to go first,” the Whole Nine Yards actor wrote.
She then recounted the weeks following her first clear MRI scan, when the hospice nurse informed her that her mother, who was in the final stage of Parkinson’s disease, was about to pass away. Peet decided not to share her diagnosis with her mother, fearing it might confuse her further.
“I wasn’t sure whether my mom knew that she was looking at me or whether I was just a constellation of interesting, disembodied shapes. I said ‘howdy doodle’ — that’s how she often greeted me,” she wrote. “But then I realized that she was communing without words, and I followed suit. Time was running out, and, besides, I had already told her everything.”
Peet stars in Your Friends & Neighbors, which premiered its second season on Friday on Apple TV+. The show follows Hamm as Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a recent divorcee who resorts to robbing his wealthy neighbors to stay afloat. New episodes of Your Friends & Neighbors season two air Fridays on Apple TV+.
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