Why was Jon Hamm wearing an Ian McShane mask in Toast Of London?
Reference to the Lovejoy star is a homage to his nearly being in the comedy
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Blink, and you may have missed it.
But in tonight’s Toast of London, Mad Men star Jon Hamm appears in one scene wearing a mask of Lovejoy actor Ian McShane.
He is found by Steven Toast in his “Hamm hole” – a gap between the bed where he hides from paparazzi – and is wearing the face of McShane.
A random bit of silliness in this madcap comedy? Not a bit of it.
RadioTimes.com can reveal that the use of the actor’s face is a very deliberate in-joke.
McShane had been approached to appear in a role in the comedy – we have been asked by the producers not to say which one in order to spare the blushes of the man who got the part – but it came to nothing.
RadioTimes.com understands that the hullabaloo around his possible casting was legendary inside the production – hence the in-joke nod to the actor.
A spokeswoman for the show said: “Ian McShane was approached to be in Toast of London series 3. Sadly we couldn’t make it work but we wanted to give a nod to him nonetheless.”