For anyone who spent their entire weekend watching the newly-released The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix — and I'm assuming that's everyone — I have a little trivia treat for you! Did you know that the show's star, Ellie Kemper, had a very famous drama teacher? Naturally, he wasn't big yet at the time, but, these days, he's definitely someone you'd recognize. I'll give you a hint: his name starts with a J and ends with an -ON HAMM. That's right, it's Jon Hamm. Hamm taught drama at John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, his own alma mater, and Kemper was a ninth grade student of his. Which is insane, especially because they went on to costar in Bridesmaids together.
This all originally came to light in 2010, when Hamm revealed his connection to Kemper at the Sundance Film Festival, and it has resurfaced recently in light of all the Kemper-related Googling. (Seriously, love her.) Here's what Hamm said at the time:
One of my students is actually Ellie Kemper, who's now on The Office. It's really cool to see them blossom and find their own way in.
So sweet, I love it! And here's what she had to say about him:
He was a heartthrob! All the girls would sign up for his class… for a good reason!
And while "because the teacher is handsome" is absolutely a valid reason to sign up for a class, it sounds like Hamm was pretty effective, as well. So that helps:
In addition to being really handsome, he was an excellent teacher. He taught me drama work, mostly improvisation, which I did a lot of in college and in New York. It's my favorite thing to do.
So crazy, right? You learn something new every day.
