Rolling Stone Goes Inside "Mad Men"

By: Joyce Lee
Topics: Television

Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks on the Sept. 16 issue of Rolling Stone (Rolling Stone)

NEW YORK (CBS) Once classified as unknown actors, the stars of the Emmy-winning drama series "Mad Men" are now household names and have landed themselves on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

PICTURES: Jon Hamm
PICTURES: Christina Hendricks
PICTURES: January Jones
PICTURES: Peggy Olson

The Sept. 16 issue provides a behind-the-scenes look of the "Mad Men" set and features leading man Jon Hamm on the cover situated between his cleavage-baring costars Christina Hendricks, Elisabeth Moss and January Jones.

In the magazine, Hamm admits that he was no leading man before show creator Matthew Weiner hired him.

"There was no back-story with me, so people can project all this stuff and genuinely believe the mystery of this guy," he says.

Today, he's one of the hottest actors in television and will soon be seen on the big screen in Ben Afflecks' action flick "The Town," which is out Sept. 17.

Moss, who plays the ambitious secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy Olson on the series, agrees that she spent most of her acting career "in relative obscurity."

"Matt always says that he basically hired a bunch of not-famous people, but people that had been working for a really long time," she says.

Both Jones and Hendricks were also seemingly unknown before "Mad Men." Today, their careers look promising. Jones was granted the opportunity to host "Saturday Night Live" and was recently a guest judge on "Project Runway." Hendricks was named Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive and is now the face of London Fog's fall ad campaign.

PICTURES: Christina Hendricks for London Fog

The magazine is now available on newsstands.