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Is there anything Ken Cosgrove can’t do? Since the earliest seasons of “Mad Men,” we’ve known that this executive, played by Aaron Staton, is a rising star in the advertising industry and an accomplished author of fiction who’s had work published in The Atlantic Monthly. But Sunday’s episode of the AMC period drama revealed that Cosgrove, when filled up with something nice by a mysterious doctor who visits his office, is a pretty impressive dancer, too, and capable of performing an elaborate and angry tap dance for his colleague Don Draper (Jon Hamm) while repeating his now popular credo, “It’s my job.”

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While those words may be the work of Matthew Weiner and Jason Grote, who wrote this “Mad Men” episode — titled “The Crash” — those fancy moves are the work of Mr. Staton, who was rewarded overnight with a wealth of screen grabs, GIFs and more, preserving this moment in digital amber online. On Monday Mr. Staton spoke by telephone to discuss his moment in the spotlight.

Q.

What kind of a morning have you had today? Are you getting congratulations and high-fives all around?

A.

I actually am. I watched the episode with some friends, and they were like, “What? You danced!” Rich Sommer [who plays his agency colleague Harry Crane] sent me this thing, this little blurb — I’m sure there’s a term for it, and I’m just not familiar with — but it’s a little online snippet where it’s the dancing clip, sped up. And it says at the bottom, “It’s my job,” in big bold letters. It was really funny.

Q.

In all the time that you’ve been on the show, have you had a Monday morning like this, when you were this social-media star?

A.

Well, I’m talking to you. Having this conversation is sort of funny. What’s great about this show is, over the course of six seasons, all these characters have these insights or reveals. I remember when we saw Joan play the accordion – little tidbits like that, that are just fun. Little secrets.

Q.

Are you in fact a dancer? Did you have any training in it?

A.

I did. I took some classes in college, and my first job was in the Broadway show “Mamma Mia!” I played the fiancé [Sky], and I had to do a bit of dancing, albeit in flippers.

Q.

So when you came onto “Mad Men,” did Matthew Weiner know you had this dance and theater background?

A.

The truth of it is, it’s not something I’ve done in a while. It’s been a few years. First I got a text message, “Do you tap dance?” And so I had to go: “Do I? Let me check.” I’m still holding the phone — “What do I still know, if anything?” Mary Ann Kellogg — who has choreographed all of the dance sequences over the course of the show, from when Pete and Trudy did the Charleston and the “Zou Bisou Bisou” song last year — she came aboard, and we had fun figuring this out. Matt knew he wanted a time step in there, and there were a couple steps that I needed to work on and freshen up a little bit.

Q.

How much time did you have to prepare this?

A.

Fortunately they gave me about two weeks, and I needed every day of it. I really did. The hardest part was speaking while doing it. It was only maybe eight lines or so, but it’s a difficult thing. It’s like rubbing your stomach and patting your head.

Q.

Was it any harder having to do that for Jon Hamm, whom everybody wants to look cool in front of?

A.

It was hard to do, I have to say. But that shot was supposed to show how everybody was frazzled, everybody was crazy. He’s ripping up magazines before I come in. I was standing outside a closed door, but I hear magazines being shredded. It was a fun moment to play for that reason — everybody’s haywire.

Q.

How many takes did it require to get that scene right?

A.

Well, the first one I did, I threw the cane and knocked everything off the desk. That was definitely one. [laughs] We did about four.

Q.

Was this a scene that you had to keep secret from other “Mad Men” cast members?

A.

I had a little bit of advance notice because it was going to require rehearsals. But everything, we’re asked to keep it on the down low, even from each other. In this particular case, if another person knew, it wouldn’t have affected anything, really, although as we were shooting, people were like, “Wait a second, I gotta see this.” “He did what? Show me, show me!”

Q.

Do you expect you’ll have to repeat that dance routine for others over the next few days?

A.

[laughs] You know, I’ll just have Rich forward that Internet blurb.

Q.

There was another moment like that from this season, that also got widely circulated, where Vincent Kartheiser takes a nasty spill down the stairs. Would you rather be preserved as the guy falling down the stairs or the guy tap dancing for Don Draper?

A.

Oh, wow. I couldn’t make that choice. I was fortunate enough to get to watch Vincent shoot that scene, and he was a regular Chevy Chase. He did it well; he really did. And what you didn’t see was Matt Weiner demonstrate right before, and he also did a very good pratfall. But that’s a pretty great moment. We all want to watch Pete fall, don’t we? That’s just fun. Any time you get to watch Pete fall and hurt himself is just a delight.