John Slattery likes to live spontaneously. That’s one of the many reasons he has called Manhattan home for over 30 years. “I love that you can just walk outside for a cup of coffee and bump into a friend and decide to go to the Whitney,” he said.

Mr. Slattery, 63, moved to an apartment on Bank Street in the West Village after marrying the actress Talia Balsam in 1998. At the time, he had established himself as a character actor. Then, in 2007, everything changed. His role as the vodka martini-guzzling Roger Sterling on “Mad Men” earned him sex-symbol status and four Emmy nominations.

Since the show ended in 2015, he has starred on Broadway and appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including, most recently, the Netflix series “Vladimir.”

Mr. Slattery spent a Sunday with The New York Times, ditching plans at the Angelika so he could look for a dog to adopt.