The Transformation Of Christina Hendricks From Childhood To Good Girls

Two of Hendrick's most prominent film roles come courtesy of ultra-violent Danish provocateur director Nicolas Winding Refn. Refn is the recipient of equal amounts of praise and censure for his bloody films like "Drive" and the "Pusher" trilogy. His films are regularly booed at Cannes, per Bloody Disgusting, but still get praised in reviews.

Hendricks first worked with Refn while still a series regular on "Mad Men." In 2011, she played Blanche in "Drive." Blanche is one of many double-crossing thieves in the film, which follows an unnamed driver doing one last job to help his neighbor out of financial precarity. Refn told the AV Club that his wife recommended Hendricks for the film, as he had no idea who she was. "My wife had seen photos of her and said she was very beautiful, but I was actually casting porn stars for that role," he said. Ryan Gosling told the New York Times that when Hendricks died in the film, "the audience gave a standing ovation."

Hendricks next worked with Refn on 2016's "The Neon Demon." That film is, in part, about the aspiring model scene in LA — a territory Hendricks knows well. Hendricks played the head of a modeling agency. "The Neon Demon" received mixed reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes calling it "seductively stylish" but ultimately hollow, with "an underdeveloped plot and thinly written characters."