Megan Draper is Don Draper's second wife and one of the Mad Men characters who end up seeing him for who he truly is, but a fan theory argues that she was also meant to be actress Sharon Tate. The long-spanning AMC drama chronicles the debauchery-infused lives of New York City ad men in the 1960s and follows a slew of interesting characters, most notably Jon Hamm's Don Draper.
Enigmatic and haunted by his past, but confident and swanky, the ad executive is an extremely layered protagonist. One of his more unappealing traits (which is par for the course as far as men on the show go, and was very much a more acceptable part of society in eras such as the '60s) is his constant womanizing. But, despite all of his flaws, he still manages to have two wives over the course of the Mad Men series: first Betty, and then Megan (Jessica Paré). He and Megan strike up a romance in season 4, though their relationship doesn't last either.
A popular fan theory sent the internet buzzing in 2013, positing that Megan was meant to be the late TV and movie actress Sharon Tate. The idea was first sparked due to season 6, episode 9, "The Better Half," when Megan is shown standing in her underwear and a white shirt with a red star featured on the front. Astute Mad Men fans swiftly noticed a striking similarity to her outfit and that which Sharon Tate sported in a 1967 Esquire spread. The actress wore a seemingly identical shirt and was also pantsless. Tate, who was tragically and brutally killed in one of the Manson murders of 1969, could easily fit into the show's timeline. In addition, Megan Draper's character is also an aspiring actress. The hypothesis only gained more momentum when Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant tweeted that the wardrobe similarity was "no coincidence."
The internet continued to find other links between the two women — including their older and unfaithful husbands (Tate was married to director Roman Polanski) and residences in the canyons of California. And, on Reddit, u/venicerocco theorized about what was, at the time, a very possible, near-future death for Megan: "Tate was murdered in August of 1969, so next season probably. She was murdered by a home invasion, and this season of Mad Men seems to be really emphasizing (normalizing?) the idea of the home being 'invaded' by the outside..." Of course, it's now known that this Mad Men theory didn't pan out; the series was set from 1960 to 1970, and Megan Draper never died.
But, even so, there are too many similarities between the two women to be mere coincidence, and the show's eagle-eyed, investigative fans laid out arguments and evidence in such a way that makes it nearly impossible to think that the creative team wasn't purposely injecting clear connections. In the case of Janie Bryant's tweet, at least one instance seems to have been openly acknowledged. The Draper-Tate concept was one of the most popular Mad Men theories during the beloved series' long run, and though it wasn't 100% correct, fans and those behind the show were able to have some creative fun with subtle references and amateur, yet thoughtful, detective work.