Matthew Weiner: No, I loved that movie. But I was on a similar path with Kiernan, in the sense that you’re always gambling with a child actor. I had no right to hope she’d turn out this beautiful. But you never know how a 6-year-old is going to develop. Will they become self-conscious in front of the camera or lose interest? But Kiernan is a prodigy. You are.

PG: Do you remember auditioning for the show?

Kiernan Shipka: I feel so lucky because I remember all of it. There were two auditions. And it was a pretty brief scene. I did it twice — with just a little variation.

PG: You were doing variations at 6?

MW: She came in and knew the lines cold. Could you even remember your phone number at that age? So, I had her do the scene again, just to see if she could. I also give kids a series of instructions, like, ‘Walk to this spot, say the line, then walk over there and sit down.’ If they can do them in order, without freaking out, you’re 50 percent there.

KS: It’s so interesting to hear this now.

MW: Then you start looking at the performance. And I don’t want to embarrass you, but Kiernan had the cutest lisp in the entire world.

PG: People were awfully sad when you grew out of that lisp.

KS: Sorry.

MW: She felt like a real kid; she wasn’t pushing it. But the extra step I do is meeting the parents. That’s how you find out if the kid wants to do it, or the parents do. And from the minute I met Erin [Kiernan’s mother], I knew that this was no show pony. Kiernan was an actress and so poised and — I hate to say it — a freak.