Christina Hendricks is now a DJ and people are lining up to hear her

The line outside the auditorium was nearly 200 people long. It wasn’t an unusual sight for the South Pasadena concert venue from bookers and promoters Sid the Cat. Their year-old destination, located in a 19th century primary school, has already hosted Sylvan Esso, Mike D, Death Cab for Cutie and Nice as Fuck’s Jenny Lewis. But on this October Saturday in question, the stage was empty. Instead, the crowd was there for actress Christina Hendricks at the venue’s bar.

Most would expect Hendricks, the instantly recognizable redhead from Mad Men, To drive And Good girlsto be there to do a one-woman show. Maybe experimental theater. Maybe she’s just joined the legion of celebrities with their own line of spirits. But they clearly don’t know Hendricks, because she was there as a DJ. “Everyone who knows me says, ‘Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense,'” Hendricks says. The Hollywood Reporter. “Because I’ve been doing this since middle school, creating playlists and forcing them on people. That’s my favorite part.”

Rumors about “DJ Christina Hendricks” began earlier in 2026 after she made two appearances at San Diego listening bar Part Time Lover. Her beginnings were a bit of a fluke under pressure from her close friend, harpist and DJ Mary Lattimore. She suggested that Hendricks bring some of his own records from Los Angeles. She would show him the ropes and they would share the billing. Hendricks says she hesitated for a split second before recognizing what kind of wish fulfillment was on the table. Everyone played for two hours. Hendricks proved a quick study and Part Time Lover asked him back. But since Lattimore was busy, she decided to go it alone. She was getting familiar with the equipment and it looked like a relatively low pressure scenario.

“When we started walking to the theater, my husband said, ‘I think there’s a line out front,'” says Hendricks, who is married to cinematographer George Bianchini. “I said, ‘Oh no, honey, it must be for restaurants and stuff.’ As we got closer, he said, “No, I’m pretty sure that’s a phrase for you.” That’s when I started to feel pressure.

If she still feels pressure, it seems to be overshadowed by the kick she gets from it all. At Sid’s Bar, a former classroom in a 140-year-old building, Hendricks looked cheerful as she flipped through a playlist that meandered between Shoegaze, Chillwave, Electronic and Indie Sleeze. The crowd, which seemed to weigh heavily on the thirty- and fifty-somethings, nodded in approval. And when Hendricks moved from Washed Out to The Knife, this geriatric millennial, for one, felt very seen.

The free show marked Hendricks’ first concert in Los Angeles County, so the audience was understandably skewed a bit industry-wise. Mad Men designer Matthew Weiner was in the crowd, as was Hendricks’ understudy and longtime stand-in, Becky Stockton. Johnny Jewel, the artist and music producer who scored Hendricks’ vehicle Lost Riverwas there, as were Bianchini’s colleagues. Many came in and out during the four-hour set, although the bar remained at capacity until it closed with Broken Social Scene’s “Protest Song.”

Hendricks says she’s still getting used to different crowds and isn’t sure what to think when people aren’t dancing. “I try not to let people’s reactions determine whether they had a good time or not,” she says. “As an actor, I hope you make people feel something and tell a story. But it’s someone else’s story. With this, I’m not just the performer but the director and the editor at the same time. I’m in the room with the audience, so they’re part of it too. I realized it’s just a different way of telling a story.”

I recently completed two acting projects: the third season of the Apple TV+ drama series The buccaneers and BBC miniseries Reputationin which she stars alongside Naomie Harris – Hendricks says she turns to DJing as much as she can. This Halloween, she will return to San Diego for another set at Part Time Lover. And throughout the month of November, she will be part of a guest DJ series on KCRW, programming an hour of music each week. For the first two weeks, which she had already submitted during our conversation, her intention is to stick to shooting live. Then she plans to stretch a little more. A “sad girl’s dream hour,” an A-guitar-driven set, and a dark, brooding jazz playlist are all on the table.

When I remind Hendricks that it’s almost awards season and invitations for her to Hollywood DJ parties are probably already being written, she says she’s game. “I would love that,” Hendricks says. “The good thing about it is that every time I do it, I get more calls – offers to come do things, people telling me they’ll help me learn new things – and I say yes. Let’s do it all.”