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As Don Draper, the dark and stormy ad executive from “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm has won millions of fans and critical acclaim, as well as six Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
But, despite his talent and critical raves, he has never clinched the prize.
And fans are concerned that Hamm — who was tapped by Emmy again last week — won’t win this September and probably never will. “Mad Men” ends next year, giving Hamm just two more chances, and predictors say his odds aren’t great.
Why? Some say he’s too gorgeous.
“It’s called ‘Slap the Stud Syndrome,’ ” says Tom O’Neil, creator of goldderby.com, an awards prediction Web site.
“Hollywood is run by a bunch of old geezer guys who say to these handsome leading men, ‘You have good looks, money, the babes, the whole world at your feet. Here’s the one thing you can’t have. We have power to withhold this one thing.’ ”
Hamm, 42, is the latest victim of a pattern of handsome leading men getting snubbed by the Emmys.
George Clooney, nominated two times for his role on “ER,” lost to the avuncular Mandy Patinkin of “Chicago Hope” in 1995, and to bald Dennis Franz of “NYPD Blue” in 1996. Rob Lowe, nominated for “The West Wing” in 2001, was bested by a hefty James Gandolfini of “The Sopranos.” David Duchovny, nominated twice for “The X Files,” was beaten by Franz in 1997 and in 1998 by Andre Braugher for “Homicide: Life on the Street,” in a role that never smouldered.
Jared Harris, who played Lane Pryce on “Mad Men” from 2009 to 2012, admits his former co-star was hit by the sexy stick.
“He is a good-looking bastard, isn’t he?” Harris tells The Post.
But unbelievably, Harris says, Hamm nearly missed out on the career-changing role because he didn’t have the looks.
“What’s funny about that is [‘Mad Men’ creator] Matt Weiner had to convince the money people, the studio or the network, because they didn’t think he was good-looking enough!” Harris says. “They had to fight for him.”
Other insiders say Hamm’s missed out because of the “Mad Men” curse: Even though different actors have been Emmy-nominated a collective total of 25 times for their work on the show, not one of them has ever won.
“As far as Jon Hamm’s nomination, he’s an Emmy winner in my eyes every year,” says Robert Morse, who plays agency partner Bert Cooper and is hoping to win an Emmy himself for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series after three failed bids. “He’s just sensational, and we just love him and we certainly hope that it’s his year.”
(It’s worth noting that Hamm doesn’t just suffer from a “Mad Men” curse; he was nominated and lost three times as a guest star on “30 Rock” as Liz Lemon’s boyfriend, too.)
Harris, who was nominated for an Emmy for “Mad Men” himself last year, says Hamm might be too convincing as Draper.
“He makes it looks so easy. That’s partly why, maybe, he hasn’t won,” Harris says.“There’s something about the perfect actor meeting the perfect role, and you create this sort of iconic character. And he’s absolutely done that.”
Harris compares Hamm to Sean Connery, who embodied the role of Agent 007. “People didn’t know how good Sean Connery was as James Bond until afterwards,” when fans saw other actors tackle the part, he says.
But AMC, the network that broadcasts “Mad Men,” isn’t going to take this year lying down. After last year’s historic shutout — the show didn’t pick up the gold statue for any of its 17 nominations — Weiner hired Michele Robertson, the campaign consultant for Oscar Best Picture winner “Argo,” as his personal publicist. (Robertson directed The Post to AMC’s publicity department for comment, but reps there did not return our calls.)
The other knock against Hamm’s Draper is that he’s a cool and aloof character, which doesn’t give the actor many opportunities to display massive range. Bryan Cranston’s character Walter White in “Breaking Bad,” by contrast, goes from responsible science teacher and family man to killer drug lord.
Cranston has beaten Hamm three times.
AMC says it is submitting the season’s finale, which Emmy voters will use to judge Hamm’s performance. In it, Draper gets drunk at a bar, fights with a priest, and makes a shocking revelation about his dark past to his co-workers and kids. O’Neil says the episode is key to Hamm taking home the gold.
“Don Draper is the ultimate button-downed man,” he says. “He barely lets us in, and that’s one of the drawbacks of the character, because he’s so reserved. He’s such a cool dude. It hurts him in the Emmy running when they’re looking for the big, flashy stuff.
“But in that finale,” O’Neil says, “he does that poignant soul-searching that [Emmy] voters are looking for.”
Despite critics’ lukewarm response to the latest season of “Mad Men,” Harris has his fingers crossed for Hamm. “I really hope that he wins. I’ll be watching and cheering him on, definitely.”
Who else is rooting for Hamm? Susan Lucci. As Erica Kane on “All My Children,” Lucci became famous for going home empty-handed 18 times at the Daytime Emmys before finally winning with her 19th nomination.
Of Hamm, she tells The Post: “I think he’s terrific, and I wish him the best of luck!”
But Hamm, who’s up against Cranston again this year — as well as Damian Lewis, who beat him in 2012 for “Homeland” — is going to need all the luck he can get. Either that, or he needs to stop wearing such hot suits.
kstorey@nypost.com