Might Jon Hamm Play A Live Action ARCHER?

Fans of FX’s hilarious animated spy parody Archer were just left with a Sunset Boulevard-esque cliffhanger last week, more frustrating in that the cable network has not announced whether or not the show will be back for season eight. But if Sterling Archer and his cohorts don’t make it back to the small screen, it is possible that they will appear on the big screen.

Speaking with the Daily Beast, series co-creator Matt Thompson revealed that if the series doesn’t get its eighth season pickup, it could continue on the silver screen. In either animated or live action form. Noting that he and other series co-creator Adam Reed have a discussion about the possibility every couple of years, Thompson stated –

It’s all up to whatever Adam [Reed] wants, to do, but he and I have definitely talked about it… We vacillate between if you do it, why are you doing the TV show? And should it be live-action, or should it be cartoon? The talk is there, we just still haven’t decided. I don’t think there will be a movie before the last episode of Archer airs on TV. I don’t think we’ll make a movie before the series finishes.

But if they decided to go live action, there comes a very big question. Part of the show’s appeal is the performances from all of its vocal cast, lead by H. Jon Benjamin. In fact, it seems pretty unthinkable to see Sterling Archer in action, be it live or animated, without Benjamin’s slightly gravelly drawl. While many of the voice cast do resemble their animated counterparts – Aisha Tyler (Lana), Jessica Walter (Malory), Chris Parnell (Cyril) and to a lesser extent Lucky Yates (Krieger) and Judy Greer (Cheryl) – Benjamin is a bit of an outlier in that department. The character’s look was originally based on a a friend of Thompson’s who was a model, and the rakishly suave Archer is a far cry from the bearded and balding Benjamin. So who plays the title role?

It’s Jon Hamm. If Archer goes live-action, I do believe it will be Jon Hamm.

An astute choice, and with the show’s definite influence of the 1960s and Hamm’s association with the 60s-set series Mad Men, could lead to some fun moments. But Thompson is aware that Benjamin’s work is key to the character’s success and proposes a creative way to merge Hamm’s lookwi th Benjamin’s sound –

Maybe you could do it with Jon Benjamin’s voice coming out of him?

Hamm also has another connection with the show, playing a crazed sea captain in the show’s 4th season two-part finale.

Remember, though, that all this is contingent on whether or not Archer gets an eighth season oreder. Speculation is that, despite some declining ratings over the last couple of seasons, FX should pick up the show for at least one more go-round. So it may be a few years before we hear anything more concrete on an Archer film.