Lane Pryce

Lane Pryce arrives from London to oversee Sterling Cooper's finances after the British takeover, a starchy outsider in a firm full of American swagger. Correct, formal, and quietly funny, he tries to keep order among people who don't much respect the rules he's enforcing, and clearly longs to be liked by them.

Jared Harris plays Lane's reserve as armor over real loneliness, so every small thaw — a joke, a night out, a rare burst of enthusiasm — lands with disproportionate warmth. The show uses him to needle American self-image from the outside, but Harris makes sure Lane is never just a device; his hunger to belong is the whole performance.