Jon Hamm, John Slattery knew they'd be friends within 'five minutes' of meeting on 'Mad Men'

Don Draper and Roger Sterling are back in business.

After reuniting for 2022's "Confess, Fletch," "Mad Men" co-stars Jon Hamm and John Slattery have teamed up again for the crime thriller "Maggie Moore(s)," premiering Monday at Tribeca Festival in New York.

The pair's new movie (in select theaters and on demand Friday) follows small-town Arizona police Chief Jordan Sanders (Jon Hamm) as he works to solve the murders of two women, both named Maggie Moore. Slattery directs and handpicked Hamm to star.

"You need a guy who has a certain command of a situation and is a leading man − and I knew one," Slattery says.

"I know I'm in good hands, so it was a very easy yes," Hamm adds.

Jon Hamm, John Slattery 'started goofing around' the day they met

Hamm, 52, and Slattery, 60, have been friends since they met on the set of "Mad Men" in 2006. Slattery says he knew "five minutes in of Day 1" that the two would be a part of each other's lives for a long time.

"We just started goofing around and just hit it off," Slattery says, adding that the pair "clicked comedically" from the start.

Slattery is a "phenomenal joke-teller," says Hamm, which helped make Slattery a great director.

When making a movie like "Maggie Moore(s)" outside of the Hollywood system, "you're always behind schedule, you don't have enough money, you don't have enough time," Hamm says. "So you're always kind of on your back foot a little bit. And the one way to really alleviate the anxiety of that is through humor.

"(Slattery) is going to make the right decisions as a director to really shepherd this thing and make sure the tone doesn't get too maudlin or get too heavy, because obviously, the circumstances could certainly lead to that."

Jon Hamm on working with good friends: 'You're able to access that vulnerability'

Hamm's police chief goes through the wringer in "Maggie Moore(s)," and the role was at-times heavy and required a lot of "vulnerability," Hamm says. "What makes it easier to get into is feeling comfortable and feeling safe on set. Working with your friends, you absolutely feel taken care of, so you're able to kind of access that vulnerability."

Besides Slattery, Hamm was also working with his "30 Rock" co-star Tina Fey, who plays a key witness.

Fey's and Hamm's characters have a romantic relationship, too, and he describes working with Fey in that capacity as "very easy."

"This was a fun thing that I don't think people have gotten to see Tina do, which was a little less of a straight comedic role," he says. "It was a gas to get to be opposite her for that."

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The true story that inspired 'Maggie Moore(s)'

Though all of the characters in "Maggie Moore(s)" are fictional, the plot emerged from a real crime.

Paul Bernbaum, who wrote the film's script, drew upon the murders of two women who were both named Mary Morris and slain three days apart in Harris County, Texas, in 2000.

"If (our movie) ignites anybody's memory, that case is still unsolved," Slattery says. He encourages viewers with any information to call Crime Stoppers and "maybe help solve this thing."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jon Hamm, John Slattery have a 'Mad Men' reunion in 'Maggie Moore(s)'