Who Survived the Fire? John Slattery Weighs in on His ‘Vladimir’ Character’s Ambiguous Fate

Though best known for playing womanizing advertising executive Roger Sterling in Mad Men, a role that earned him four Emmy nominations, John Slattery has had a long and expansive career. From starring in the prestigious Best Picture winner Spotlight to becoming a staple of the MCU as Howard Stark to popping up in critically acclaimed comedies like Veep, Arrested Development, and 30 Rock, his work spans just about every genre and medium imaginable.

His newest project is Netflix’s miniseries Vladimir, where he plays a professor named John, the husband of the nameless, fourth-wall-breaking protagonist (Rachel Weisz). Undoubtedly problematic yet impossibly charismatic, John finds himself in the middle of a sex scandal when his history of sleeping with students in decades past comes to light, though the fact that he and his wife had an open marriage muddies the ethical waters. Things get even more complicated when his wife starts falling for a younger colleague named Vladimir, though not always in ways you might expect.

Collider got the chance to speak with Slattery about his morally grey character. During the conversation, he also discussed improvising with Weisz, fistfighting with Leo Woodall, what he makes of that ambiguous ending, and what fans can expect from his new comedy film, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, which sees him playing a heightened version of himself and will be released on July 10th.

John Slattery Doesn’t Think His ‘Vladimir’ Character Is a Monster

“It gives you a pretty good leg to play it.”

COLLIDER: One of my favorite scenes of the whole show comes in the pilot, where John compares the Kardashians to a Greek tragedy, namely because I think he actually makes some pretty good points. I'm curious if you share your character's thoughts on reality TV.

JOHN SLATTERY: I suppose under the theory that nothing is original — that everything's been done at least once. I'm not a watcher of the Kardashians, so I was just trusting [creator] Julia [May Jonas]. She's such a great writer, and it’s such a funny idea. Of course, he makes a good point. He wouldn't have argued it if he didn't think he could make a good, convincing argument.

Speaking to the writing, every character is so morally gray, complex, and flawed, and John is definitely no exception. How much sympathy and understanding did you have for him, particularly when it comes to the sex scandal with the students?

SLATTERY: I think it's all there. He says, “I haven't laid a hand on anybody in 20 years,” and when he did, it was consensual. These women were of age. Yes, now, you would go, “There's a power dynamic, and it's an abuse of power,” and that's true, but then, they weren't considering that, so I think he believes that he hasn't done anything wrong. Especially considering that they have an arrangement between the two of them, which is nobody else's business but theirs. It gives you a pretty good leg to play it. I'm not looking for sympathy, necessarily, any more than the character is warranted to elicit. He's charmingly written in some aspects. He has a good sense of humor, so you kind of gotta let the cards fall where they fall.

I feel like his relationship with his daughter is really interesting. Sid seems to be closer to him in a lot of ways than her mother, and it turns out that she's sort of a mirror to him with some of her actions. I'm curious how you approached their dynamic.

SLATTERY: Ellen [Robertson] is a great actress. She's so cool, and open, and loose, and fun to act with. I think there's some guilt on the part of John about tangling her up in this thing, though she's a legal expert. They say, “Do you have the money for a lawyer? Because I don't.” They have their reasons, but they are self-serving. At the end, he expresses real remorse — “I think I fucked it up. I shouldn't have dragged her into it.” It doesn’t seem the most common-sense decision to involve your daughter in what is going to be an opening up of the details of a sex scandal. You wouldn't want anybody to know about it — the details of it — let alone your daughter, so it’s not a great decision.

John Slattery Loved Working With the “Really Funny” Rachel Weisz

“Rachel's just fantastic as far as, ‘Do whatever you wanna do, and I'll react.’”

The dynamic between John and M is equally interesting. He suspects that she might be falling in love with Vladimir, and instead of that causing conflict, it sort of rekindles a spark between them. Can you talk about that aspect of their relationship?

SLATTERY: I asked Julia about it in the beginning. “Who is this guy? What kind of music does he listen to? What does he read?” She was answering a bunch of questions, and then she wrote me a text that was like a paragraph, and then I showed it to my wife. She said, “This guy is not like my husband, but the more he's in the wrong, the angrier he gets. The harder he argues,” which I understood.

He consistently has to explain himself. “Where are you going?” “I'm off to see a friend.” Those things are ongoing. She lets him off the hook by being infatuated with Vladimir. He's not the only one exercising the freedom of the agreement. The difference between the relationships — and it's the interesting part of the progression of the show — is that his relationships haven't been, quote, “love relationships.” They've been more transactional or less emotional. Hers have been. You find out that she almost left with David after having had a kid with me years ago, and this relationship is deeper than the ones I'm having. I feel like it's sort of titillating to John, and then his feelings get hurt, and his ego gets bruised. How would it not? This young guy is showing up and pushing the old guy out the door.

Do you think that's the reason he asked to recommit in the finale? Is it an ego thing, or do you think there's more to it than that?

SLATTERY: I think they all come to realizations about each other. Certainly, in the book — it's different from the show, the book — but I think it's a little grasping. I guess it brings in a question: How realistic is the ongoing relationship between Vladimir and M? Does he see that this isn't gonna go anywhere? He's married, he's got a kid, and their relationship is better than they thought. His wife and I aren't having an affair. We're maybe stuck with each other, so if we recommit to monogamy, maybe we can survive it. But it seems a little desperate.

One of my favorite gags is John tending to his garden and having beef with that deer coming and eating the vegetables. There are so many great moments of comedy between you and Rachel, particularly in those scenes. How much room did you have to improvise and play with her in those moments?

SLATTERY: Total freedom. It was all in the script, but Rachel's just fantastic as far as, “Do whatever you wanna do, and I'll react,” and likewise. And Julia is not at all precious. As good as her writing is, if you had an idea, she'd totally be open to it, so there was a lot of freedom on the set just to explore stuff. And Rachel's really funny.

John is also a writer and is working on an epic poem. What kind of stuff do you think he writes about? What’s the writing style?

SLATTERY: I asked Julia that. Some of it is in the script. She says, “What's your poem about?” And he says, “It's what all old writers write about — getting old.” “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Do I dare to eat a peach?” Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Trying to stay alive and what it’s like to be alive.

John Slattery Explains That Insane ‘Vladimir’ Finale and Speculates About His Character’s Fate

“That's the best sort of ending.”

The finale sees John and Vladimir physically going at it. What was that stuntwork like with Leo?

SLATTERY: He dragged me out of that chair so fast and threw me on the floor. Leo's a big person. We’re great friends, and it was safe and all, but when he grabbed me and whipped me down on the floor, I was like, “Wow, this dude is not small. He’s very strong.” But it was fun. Those lines — “You’re so sexy when you’re angry” — some of them were in the script, and some of them, we were just fooling around, and they kept them.

That makes me appreciate them so much more. The protagonist tells us that both John and Vladimir escaped the fire; however, she has been known to maybe stretch the truth and lie to us a little bit. Do you think John did actually indeed make it out?

SLATTERY: I hope so. Obviously, different from the book. I like the ending. That's the best sort of ending. We shot some other stuff, which I won't go into, because you want to leave the audience with the best impression, which I think is that ending. You want to be wondering, and like you say, she has got her own version of the truth. But for the character's sake, I hope he makes it out. Vladimir, I could give a shit about, but I hope I get out.

What do you think his relationship with his wife and daughter look like after the events of the show if he escapes?

SLATTERY: He offers the “let's recommit to this thing” because it is a loving relationship. They do respect each other. They do love each other. They have whatever the arrangement they had, and whoever’s idea it was — John maintains that it was M’s idea the whole time — they could grow old together. I think his relationship with Sid will be okay, too. It was embarrassing, and it was mortifying, but again, he's not a monster. It could end up being fine.

I saw Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass at Sundance this year. It was one of my absolute favorite screenings to attend. What is the most fun part of playing a fictionalized version of yourself? I feel like not that many people get to do that in their careers.

SLATTERY: It almost could have been anybody. I mean, it was just such a funny character. The specifics of my relationship with Jon Hamm is funny, and it was the most fun. We had a great time. We shot it in a very short amount of time for very little money, but David Wain and Ken Marino are so smart and have done it many times, so it never felt rushed. It always felt loose and like we had time to goof around and find something alternate to what was written. It was just a gas. We had a great time.

All episodes of Vladimir are now streaming on Netflix.