Skinny Dipping, Peanut Butter, and Jessica Paré

Teeth? What teeth? Oh, right, those: The distinctive smile that people have harped on ever since she first appeared as a secretary on season four of AMC's hit series Mad Men. The teeth that people felt so free to criticize online that her Facebook bio says simply, "This is actually me, so please try not to say mean things. Thanks!" The ones that enough people, three seasons later, still search for to make "Jessica Paré teeth" the first suggested option when you type her name into Google. And the same ones that, mid-brunch—a kale salad, no croutons—on a cool winter day in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, the thirty-three-year-old actress unfurls in a wide smile before asking the question we've all asked after consuming any leafy green vegetable: Is there anything in my teeth? There isn't, just as Paré suspects. "You can't get a lot of shit stuck in these teeth," she says. She's right. Those teeth are a flosser's dream—standing straight, close but not touching, like coworkers forced into a company photograph. They're also just teeth. Effective and normal, highlighted simply because she chose not to dump twenty grand into having the exact same mouth as every other actor. Those teeth are not Mike Tyson's face tattoo. They are forgettable. A child of two actors, Paré (and her teeth) grew up with theatrics—and a taste for mischief that she acknowledges could forever have scarred her brother, who to this day probably hesitates before buying a pet. (Turns out parrots can't die of loneliness.) When she wasn't teasing him, Paré and her brother were teasing her parents. Once, after reading about the death of his mime teacher, her dad made the mistake of mentioning that this mime had retired. As she did back then, Paré jumps up from the table to demonstrate what a retired mime might do—like pretend to read the paper and pretend to golf. It's quite charming, and it draws a few confused stares from the people around us. //www.youtube.com/embed/yXoILGnHnvM?rel=0 That was her goal—drawing stares, and maybe making some money from it—when the actress moved from her native Montreal to Los Angeles in 2004 for a role on a WB series about a future president and his brother, Jack & Bobby. The show lasted only one season, which posed more than a financial problem for Paré: As a Canadian, she needed a new visa. To get one, she needed an employer willing to sponsor her, which meant she could go only for the really big parts. Not the easiest way to set yourself up for success. "I really struggled," she says. She applied for a green card to solve the sponsorship problem, but "what was supposed to take three months took nine. I couldn't work or travel, and any momentum that I had gained from Jack & Bobby just dissipated." Frustrated, Paré eventually auditioned to be a secretary on Mad Men. "I was ready to move back to my parents' place, ready to get a job at my friend's bar back home and just pack it in," she says. "I had nothing left to lose. I went into the audition thinking, This is it. If you don't like it, that's fine. Nobody else has." They liked it. Paré got the role—which she expected to entail a four-episode arc and what appeared to be a clear-cut ending: Her character would have sex with Don Draper, the kiss of death on a show with a main character who goes through women like tissues. Some of the show's crew members even said goodbye when they found out. But instead of being cast aside, that lowly secretary became the next Mrs. Draper. And then, just as sudden as her character's engagement, Paré found herself a fan favorite when her slinky rendition of "Zou Bisou Bisou" became as instantly iconic as Marilyn Monroe's birthday song to JFK. When season seven starts April 13, it's safe to say Paré will still be around. And that her teeth will be clear of any debris.