John Slattery And Colin Hanks' Early Encounter On 'Mad Men' Before 'Nuremberg'

John Slattery reminisces about his Mad Men era. The 63-year-old actor remembered a "brief" encounter with his Mad Men colleague Colin Hanks while discussing their film Nuremberg with PEOPLE. 

Set for release in 2025, the drama film reunites Slattery with Hanks, 48, who took on the role of Father Gill in three episodes of the Jon Hamm-fronted series during its second season.

As Roger Sterling, Slattery appeared throughout all seven seasons of Mad Men from 2007 to 2015 and directed three episodes as well.

Although Slattery didn't share any scenes with Hanks in the show, he shared that they did cross paths on set. 

"We did encounter each other briefly back then," Slattery noted. "I wasn't involved with his story on the show, but we did meet and have a conversation."

Slattery then mentioned that Hanks is a "fantastic person" and they spent quite a bit of time together during the filming of Nuremberg. 

Directed by James Vanderbilt, the film follows U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) as he evaluates the mental state of Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) and other high-ranking Nazi officials following the Holocaust events. 

In the film, Slattery takes on the role of U.S. Colonel Andrus, who ultimately calls on Hanks' character, psychologist Gustave Gilbert, to offer a second opinion on Kelley's work.

Based on the nonfiction book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai, the drama also features Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, and Richard E. Grant.

Slattery shared that his initial interest in the movie was sparked by its stellar cast, which led him to read Vanderbilt’s script and the book written by Burton C. Andrus.

"The story is one worth being part of, and it involved amazing people to collaborate with. [Vanderbilt] had the resources to produce it with significant scale, which is quite rare," he remarked. 

"These kinds of films are seldom made at this affordable scale anymore."

Speaking about his camaraderie with fellow actors, Slattery commented, "We were a tight-knit group. Everyone got along really well. Michael Shannon has a great sense of humour.

"I've known Rami [Malek] for quite some time. We really enjoyed each other's company. Despite the seriousness during the day, we managed to unwind afterwards."

Slattery mentioned that the cast "all stayed in the same hotel" and enjoyed socialising after work. 

"There was a shared belief in the quality of the project and its significance. Consequently, we had a wonderful time," he revealed to PEOPLE.