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With A 'Wink' And A Nod, Unemployed Actor Plucked for 'Mad Men' Walk-on

NEW YORKER JUSTIN ZELL CHANNELED JOAN HOLLOWAY as a saucy school marm with a glandular problem to win a bit part on AMC's Emmy-winning series Mad Men.

Zell, an unemployed actor, was "estatic" to win, said his father Victor Zell, of Binghamton, NY Wednesday night. "You could hear the excitement in his voice. And then I called him this afternoon, and he was even more estatic because he got a call from Access Hollywood. They want to do an interview with him."

The younger Zell was out of town and expected to spring the news on his mom, Virginia "Bourbon" Zell, at dinner in Las Vegas today. The bit part is the culmination of years of singing and acting in elementary and high school productions and improv, according to his father.

"He's very talented,'' said Justin's proud papa. "He's been in this for years."

"The whole thing was too good I thought,'' said Dad. "The part that struck me [was] when he got to the very end when he looked away and brought his eyes back. And I thought...that's just phenomenal."

Allegedly, Zell was personally selected by Mad Men's very own creator (and Emmy winner) Matt Weiner and Co-Executive Producer Scott Hornbacher, no doubt because of the knawing hunger in his adorable belly and his tongue-in-cheek (wink-wink) adaptation of ambitious-at-any-cost office manager Joan Holloway. Zell submitted six taped performances to the contest, for which the public was invited to vote on the 18 finalists.

"Thank you so much. This is so awesome,'' Zell apparently commented to someone at AMC. He shared the credit with his friends who collaborated on the pieces. "We even had Mad Men watching dinner parties -- to which, however, I didn't wear a dress. Mostly." Zell wisely spared outing whomever selected the blue polyester day dress with geometric designs that he donned for his Holloway impersonation.

Zell's ironic snideness received only 603 votes -- or 1,500 fewer than fan favorite Jacob who turned in a convincing performance but clearly took himself and the contest too seriously. And, surely, a New York winner from the media capitol of the world would generate 25 times the buzz than a winner from anywhere else. At least, that is how the minds of marketing geniuses work.