Renowned, most predominantly, as playing Roger Sterling on the popular US drama series Mad Men, actor John Slattery is now trying his hand at directing a movie, as he presents God’s Pocket, starring fellow Mad Men star Christina Hendricks, and the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Slattery discusses with us how he went about achieving such a gritty, bleak atmosphere in his debut production, and whether it was always his intention to eventually direct a feature film. He also speaks about working with such an esteemed cast (which also consists of Richard Jenkins and John Turturro), while paying tribute to Hoffman, who, as expected, turns in a quite incredible performance in this unforgiving drama.

God’s Pocket is released on August 8th.