MUMBAI: Hollywood actor Jon Hamm, best known as the dapper Don Draper in hit US TV series “Mad Men”, has begun shooting his new film in the home of Bollywood, according to those working on the movie.
Hamm is in Mumbai for the making of Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm”, based on a true story, in which he stars as sports agent J. B. Bernstein who discovers two Indian teenagers and signs them up to play baseball.
“This is so cool and yet so weird - Jon Hamm playing me in a movie - this shoot has begun,” Bernstein wrote on Twitter, posting a picture of Hamm being filmed in the Indian city.
A member of the film crew, declining to be named, confirmed to AFP late Tuesday that shooting was under way in Mumbai’s northern suburbs.
Hamm, 42, has also been spotted out on the town posing with fans and dining with top Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, according to local media reports.
Slated for release next year, “Million Dollar Arm” is directed by Craig Gillespie and also stars Indian actor Suraj Sharma, last seen in Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning “Life of Pi”.
In the real-life tale behind the film, Bernstein used a reality TV show to recruit Indian cricket players to Major League Baseball, with the chance for them to win training in the United States.
Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, the 2008 winners, accompanied Bernstein to America to learn the new sport and were eventually signed up to the Pittsburgh Pirates team.
