Christina Hendricks is saying 鈥渢ime鈥檚 up鈥� with her latest TV outing. The actor, who became a small-screen feminist icon playing self-reliant secretary Joan Holloway on AMC鈥檚 Mad Men, is back in an audacious new drama that feels tailor-made for the current era of women reclaiming power from abusive men.
NBC鈥檚 Good Girls, premi猫ring Monday, follows three cash-strapped suburban moms who end up on the wrong side of the law when they rob a grocery store, nabbing $500,000 and invoking the wrath of criminals whose loot they stole.
But the darkly comic series also hits on timely subjects of sexual misconduct and female empowerment: In the first episode, Beth (Hendricks) kicks her philandering husband out of the house and pays his mistress to skip town, reminding her that they both 鈥渄eserve better.鈥� Later, she saves her sister Annie (Mae Whitman) from an attempted rape by her lecherous boss 鈥� pointing a gun and fuming how 鈥渆very man in the world thinks he can do whatever he wants.鈥�
鈥淭his was written before this particular [Me Too] movement started, and we shot that scene before the [Harvey] Weinstein of it all,鈥� Hendricks says, referring to the disgraced movie mogul. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bitter feeling, because it somehow is slightly more relevant, but it鈥檚 always been relevant. If we contribute to the conversation in a positive way, I would feel proud of that.鈥�
Good Girls marks Hendricks鈥檚 biggest TV role since Mad Men ended in 2015, after a seven-season run that netted her six Emmy nominations. She credits the 1960s drama for her many projects since then, which include Amazon鈥檚 period cop thriller Tin Star and films Egg and The Burning Woman, due later this year.
鈥淏efore Mad Men, people thought of me as quite sweet and silly and na茂ve, so I got these quirky little roles,鈥� says Hendricks, who first broke out in Showtime鈥檚 Beggars and Choosers in 2000. 鈥淎fter [the show], people started sending me these very strong female characters, as well as the other stuff. So it鈥檚 opened doors for me. That is a gift.鈥�
Hendricks, 42, says it was the camaraderie among Girls鈥� central trio 鈥� played by Hendricks, Whitman and Parks and Recreation鈥檚 Retta 鈥� that drew her to the role. Beth鈥檚 friends support her, yet bemoan her 鈥渋rrational, reactionary鈥� decisions, which include striking a deal with a gangster and running laundered money across the Canadian border.
鈥淩etta and I talked about that all the time, like, 鈥榊our real girlfriends will call you out on stuff, but they鈥檒l always be there for you,鈥� 鈥� Hendricks says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I liked about the script: It was real and wasn鈥檛 cloyingly sweet. They fight. They say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 a horrible idea.鈥� But at the end, they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃hatever you decide, I鈥檓 going to make sure you鈥檙e safe, you鈥檙e protected and you know you鈥檙e loved.鈥� 鈥�
Playing Beth also gives Hendricks the opportunity to show a kick-ass, sometimes foul-mouthed side she couldn鈥檛 with the steely Joan, as the gun-waving soccer mom kicks soup cans down grocery aisles and bludgeons bad guys with whiskey bottles.
鈥淐hristina is hilarious, and I don鈥檛 know if people have ever seen her be quite as funny as she is in Good Girls,鈥� says creator Jenna Bans, who worked on Desperate Housewives and four Shonda Rhimes series. 鈥淲hen I look at her, I just see a total fearlessness and a willingness to jump into the role. There鈥檚 really not much that fazes her.鈥�
