Arend met her boyfriend criteria: "a sense of humor, confidence, likes cool music. The only 'type' I have is all the guys I'm attracted to have big eyebrows," she says. They also share a love of preparing and eating good food, and she practically salivates as she describes meals she made from the Top Chef Cookbook. At a time when many actresses starve themselves into a size 2, Hendricks embraces her voluptuous curves.

"I've gotten really positive feedback from women who are happy to see a woman who doesn't look emaciated on TV," she says. "On this show, luckily, they hired us because of our acting ability and they let us be who we are."

She also gets a great response to her vintage wardrobe on the show, which flatters her curves. "I would wear most of it," she says, describing one favorite. "There was a dress I wore in Season 1, with Roger in the hotel room, that makes an appearance in Season 2. It has a fuchsia little tie around the neck and a little fishtail in the back. I've never seen anything like it," says Hendricks. This season, Jackie Kennedy's influence will be seen in Joan's outfits, "but she won't be going for the boxy thing. She'll stick with the tighter clothes."

Hendricks spends about two hours in the makeup trailer to achieve her much-sprayed up-do. She wasn't born with her signature fiery locks, but has been a redhead since the age of 10. "I wanted to be Anne of Green Gables, so my mom was like, 'Let's put a rinse on!' I went to school with flaming red hair."

Hendricks, now 30, was born in Knoxville, Tenn. but moved often as a child because her father worked for the U.S. Forest Service. "I always wanted to be in the arts. I wanted to be a ballet dancer but I was never quite good enough. I realized it was a masochistic profession, really tough. My mother used to do community theater and got my brother and I involved at a very young age, as a way to meet friends in a new town," she says. "I know a lot of actors who have the same sort of background. Having to observe all the time and fit in, you become an observer of behavior and I think it really helps with acting."

As for her current gig on Mad Men, "It's so rare that you get on something like this," she marvels. The show's critical and popular success "is kind of blowing our minds," Hendricks confides, surprised and thrilled about the reception–and talk of a possible Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

As much as she loves the Mad Men milieu, she wouldn't really want to live in the past, and points out the opportunities that exist today that weren't available to women back then. "We can run for president of the United States of America," she reminds. "I don't want to live anywhere but now."