Christina Hendricks

Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress known for her role as Joan Holloway in the AMC cable television series Mad Men, and as Saffron in Fox's short-lived series Firefly. Hendricks was named "the sexiest woman in the world" in 2010 in a poll of female readers taken by Esquire magazine.Hendricks was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho, from third through eighth grade. She holds dual British and American nationality, as her father is British. While in Twin Falls, she began her acting career with Junior Musical Playhouse Company, with roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Grease.[citation needed] In 1989, her family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where Hendricks appeared in several Fairfax High School plays and local community theater.

Hendricks has made a number of guest television appearances, starting as a regular in the series Beggars and Choosers. Since then, she has starred in the series The Big Time and The Court, opposite Sally Field and Craig Bierko, as well as the legal drama Kevin Hill. She has also had recurring roles in ER and Firefly and guest-starred in episodes of Angel, Miss Match, Tru Calling, Presidio Med, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas. Hendricks starred opposite Kip Pardue in South of Pico. La Cucina, an award-winning indie film, premiered on Showtime in December 2009 and stars Hendricks as a sexy writer opposite Joaquim de Almeida. She has appeared in four episodes of the NBC TV show Life in the recurring role of Olivia, detective Charlie Crews' soon-to-be stepmother and Ted Earley's love interest.

She is set to appear in a new action-thriller directed by Nicolas Winding Refn called Drive alongside Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling. Hendricks is known for her buxom physique and red hair, although she is a natural blonde and began coloring her hair red at the age of ten. On October 11, 2009, Hendricks married actor Geoffrey Arend. In July 2010, Hendricks' hourglass figure was highlighted as a positive influence for women by UK Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone, who said "Christina Hendricks is absolutely fabulous... We need more of these role models. There is such a sensation when there is a curvy role model. It shouldn't be so unusual." Hendricks commented in September 2010 that the media is too focused on women's bodies and not their actual talents, "I was working my butt off on the show [Mad Men] and then all anyone was talking about was my body." Esquire magazine named her "the sexiest woman in the world" in 2010 in a poll of female readers. She also starred in music videos for "The Ghost Inside" by Broken Bells, and Everclear's "One Hit Wonder". Her best-known role is that of Joan Holloway on the award winning AMC series Mad Men. Hendricks' character is the office manager of advertising agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP), providing mentoring to a group of women who must deal with the come-ons and callousness of professional advertising executives.