For Christina Hendricks, Beauty Comes Down to Corsets and Molding

After four seasons on the NBC crime caper “Good Girls,” Christina Hendricks was done with digging through trash bins and having guns held to her head.

“I joked around, ‘Just fit me in a pretty dress on an antique sofa in a corset,’” she recalled. “‘I want it to be clean and I want it to be beautiful.’”

Then along came “The Buccaneers,” an Apple TV+ drama inspired by the Edith Wharton novel but with a modern inflection, about five untraditional American girls who storm 1870s London in search of husbands and titles.

“I feel like I almost manifested it,” said Hendricks, who plays Patricia St. George, the newly wealthy New Yorker who has two daughters in the running. “Even though the stakes are very, very high for Mrs. St. George, they’re social stakes rather than life and death.”

As for those corsets, no problem. “Girl, after years and years of undergarments on ‘Mad Men,’ to me that’s like throwing on a T-shirt,” she said in a call from Dublin, where she’s shooting the comedy series “Small Town, Big Story,” before speaking about her fixations on Instagram ballet, vintage furnishings — and molding. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

1

Watching Ballet on Instagram

I grew up as a ballet dancer, and it was always a little bit of a heartbreak that I wasn’t able to continue it and pursue it as a career. And I certainly don’t have an opportunity to go and see ballet live very often. It started occurring to me that I could follow dance companies on Instagram and get this little bit of what I crave a few times a day.

2

Beaded Fringe Lamps

There was a lamp artist named Kathleen Caid, and I collected quite a few of her lamps. They transport you to another time, almost immediately. There’s a romance about them, there’s a delicacy about them, and they also make everyone look beautiful in the room.

3

A Room With Personality

If someone has taken care and time to make their room reflect who they are, I’m always impressed with that. I would say my style is sort of vintage eclectic. There’s some deco, there’s some Victorian, there’s a lot of whimsy in my home. We always joke that if it’s a piece of furniture that looks like it could run away — it might have legs or hands — I probably want it.

4

People-Watching at the Mall

You get all sorts of people there for all sorts of reasons. I just love that no matter what state you’re in — or if you’re homesick or just need something familiar — you go into a mall and you could be in Anywhere, USA.

5

Dog Walks

I love that it’s their favorite thing to do, and they seem to be peacocking and strutting down the street. But I also love my interaction with the parents. I immediately look at the dogs and I start talking to the dog in a cute voice, which doesn’t go over very well in Dublin, by the way.

6

Female Singer-Songwriters

Joni Mitchell was the first, and then Kate Bush and Tori Amos. Now it’s Angel Olsen and Margaret Glaspy and Sharon Van Etten. Sometimes I feel like they’re speaking for me, or that there’s a bit of pretend, like you wish you were up onstage with that guitar. The poetry that they’re able to write, it’s a bit of a fantasy.

7

Spaghetti From a Box, Sauce From a Jar

This is my absolute comfort food. If I’m happy, if I’m down, if I don’t know what I want, it will always hit the spot. Sometimes I add toppings — a little blob of goat cheese, some olives. It will always, no matter what, be my favorite dish.

8

Molding

Anything that was built before 1930, I’m a fan of, and I do find myself walking into modern rooms or spaces thinking, “Now all they had to do was add molding and this room would be warm. Why would they not have done that?” I’m impressed with the details that someone would take care of before the furniture came in to make a beautiful space. But to me a room is not a finished room without molding.

9

Dressing for the Occasion

I have a great appreciation for when someone dresses for the room or the building or the country. I love the attention to detail and the sense of fun. It gives me something to get excited about and a little bit of inspiration for the night. I need maybe a bit of a costume in a way.

10

Untamed Flowers

When I moved to England, it was the first time that I saw these wild arrangements with fresh herbs and berries spilling over. It took my absolute breath away. They indulged in the wildness of it, as if you tripped on a stone on a walk and grabbed what was in your hand and came up with brambles and flowers all mixed together. It felt so Green Gables, so romantic.