Which actress played Peggy Olson on Mad Men?

Elisabeth Moss played Peggy Olson on Mad Men. Peggy begins the series as Don Draper’s secretary at Sterling Cooper before developing into a talented and ambitious copywriter.

Moss’s performance follows Peggy’s professional transformation across the show’s seven-season run. Peggy enters a male-dominated advertising workplace in the early 1960s, where women are generally expected to remain secretaries or support staff. Her move into creative work makes her one of the series’ central perspectives on changing gender and workplace expectations.

Moss was already known to television audiences for playing Zoey Bartlet on The West Wing, but Mad Men brought her wider recognition. She appeared as Peggy in 88 of the show’s 92 episodes and received multiple Primetime Emmy nominations for the role. A common mix-up is identifying Christina Hendricks, January Jones, or Kiernan Shipka: they played Joan Holloway, Betty Draper, and Sally Draper, respectively.