Mad Men had plenty of episodes where fans would just go ‘what the f*ck?’. The series is centered around advertising agencies in 1960s New York, but follows many interesting characters who came into this world from various avenues. One of them was actor Ben Feldman’s copywriter character, Michael Ginsberg.
Ginsberg was known for his erratic behaviour and beef with Jon Hamm’s Don Draper. He was a rising creative with his eccentricity being his biggest obstacle. His most memorable (and weirdest) scene is his final one, where he cuts off his n*pple and gifts it to Peggy Olsen. Feldman mentioned that he got mistaken for Van Gogh by fans due to this scene.
Mad Men’s Michael Ginsberg actor got mistaken for Van Gogh due to that n*pple scene
Ben Feldman is now known for playing Jonah in the sitcom Superstore, but he had his breakthrough with Mad Men. The actor mentioned that he was a huge fan before being on the show, and even began watching it from its pilot episode with his wife. He played the eccentric copywriter Michael Ginsberg, who is best known for his final scene in the show.
Mad Men has many shocking moments in its seven-season tenure. There is the lawnmower-over-the-foot scene and plenty of others that just caught the audience off guard by having the courage to go there. While Ben Feldman was not there for long, he still got the ending of a lifetime when his character Ginsberg cut off his n*pple and gifted it.
Ginsberg’s castration is one of the most bizarre moments in the series and has made Feldman forever be associated with his n*pples. It has also reportedly led fans to confuse him with Van Gogh, who famously cut off his earlobe during a confrontation with a friend. Feldman, however, said that he saw it as a positive sign. He said to Harper’s Bazaar,
But the strangest and kind of a really cool thing is, people are always bringing up my ear and mentioning that time that my character cut his ear off…I think people are mistaking my character for Van Gogh, which is a really cool thing. If you’re starting to lose your faith in the general intelligence of the American populous, there’s nothing like them mistaking pop culture for Van Gogh as a sign that people still read their history books and care about art.
While a silly mistake like this would have caused the general public to judge the intelligence of Americans, Feldman saw it as a sign of change, saying that the public was still aware of art and culture and could somehow associate his pop culture moment with one of the greatest artists of all time.
Ben Feldman had to keep the n*pple scene as a secret from the rest of the Mad Men cast
The Mad Men production was notorious for being extremely secretive. These days, such security is employed in high-profile projects like the MCU or for the films of directors like Christopher Nolan, who runs a tight ship when it comes to spoilers. However, showrunner Matthew Weiner would reportedly keep the cast in the dark until shoot day.
Ben Feldman, however, was reportedly informed of his infamous n*pple scene in Mad Men by Weiner himself. The actor recalled being called by the showrunner, as it would be his final scene on the show, and being informed about it. Feldman mentioned that he did not question it at all, as he was just so happy with getting such a legendary farewell.
Feldman had to also hold this secret with the rest of the cast until the table read for the season, where everyone was just shocked. He said,
I remember that table read, everybody regarded me as ‘the guy that might be sad he’s leaving’ but I had known for two weeks what was gonna happen and just couldn’t wait to finally have a chance to talk to the other people about it.
He mentioned that Matthew Weiner was also involved in the prosthetics for the scene and was so particular about the amount of blood that should be on Feldman’s chest after being bandaged.
Mad Men is available to stream on AMC+.
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