Christina Hendricks Tells How She Ended Up on American Beauty Poster

Christina Hendricks says it usually comes as a shock to most of her fans, but she has a connection to the 1999 film American Beauty.

The actress, best known as fan-favorite Joan Holloway on the iconic AMC series Mad Men, dropped by The Rich Eisen Show on Friday to talk about her celebrated career.

Going through a fact-or-fiction portion of their chat, Eisen asked if it was true Hendricks is on the American Beauty poster. The actress said it was true, but only a portion of the entire image is her.

“I used to be a model, and one of the gigs that I got was to go and shoot a movie poster,” Hendricks explained. “I had no idea what the film was. There were two models, myself and one other. We did different versions of her hand, her stomach, and my stomach and her hand, and my hand and both. My hand made it in and her stomach made it in.”

She continued, “I did a few gigs where I did some hand modeling. I was a ballet dancer, so I guess I know how to move my hands in an elegant fashion. It was just a plain ole gig. I probably got paid $100 or something. I was just thrilled to have a job! I didn’t know what American Beauty was going to be. And then I finally saw and was like, ‘Hey, that’s my hand!’ I thought very little about it for a very long time.”

American Beauty was a massive box office and critical success. The film won five of the eight Academy Awards it was nominated for, including best director for Sam Mendes and best picture.

Hendricks now stars on NBC’s Good Girls, which is currently in its fourth season.

Watch the full Eisen segment below.