A ‘no bull’ January Jones likes her scripts that way, too
As she bids goodbye to ‘Mad Men,’ she’s already moving in for the ‘Kill’
NEW YORK If you have a happilyever-after script, something involving gauzy gowns and decent proposals, please don’t send it to January Jones.
On AMC’s Mad Men, which airs its finale Sunday, she has perfected the disdainful glare of Betty Draper Francis, who in Sunday’s episode learned she has terminal lung cancer. On Fox’s comedy The Last Man on Earth, which has just been renewed for Season 2, she’s Melissa Shart, the lust interest of main character Phil Miller (creator and star Will Forte). And in Good Kill, in theaters and on demand Friday, she’s the frustrated wife of a drone pilot (Ethan Hawke) who has posttraumatic stress disorder.
So it’s no wonder that for Jones, “bad marriages are more interesting than good ones. No one wants a show about a happily married couple. It’s so boring.”
In real life, Jones, 37, is, some entertainment outlets have reported, dating Forte, something she will neither confirm nor deny. “It’s refreshing to go to work and laugh,” she says. Forte “is so funny. ... He works harder than anyone. He’s there all the time, writing, editing. He’s a nice boss to have.”
Which of the characters she has recently played is closest to the real Jones? “The one on Last Man. I don’t really feel like I’m acting. It’s my sense of humor. She’s super-dry. I’m also no-bull.”
Says Good Kill director Andrew Niccol: “She swears like a truck driver. She drinks beer with you. It’s so far removed from what you see on Mad Men. ... A lot of people in this industry come with an entourage. They’re giving you a per- formance of themselves. She doesn’t do that.”
Indeed, Jones has on a jumpsuit, which she bought during a brief trip to Manhattan so she wouldn’t need to shave her legs. She already has FaceTimed twice this day with her son Xander, 3, who is home in Los Angeles.
And unlike Mad Men’s Betty, the twice-married character, she’s neither icy nor emotionally neutered. Jones gets sentimental when talking about Men. But she won’t be hosting a viewing party at home in L.A.
“I just need to be out of town that day. ... I miss everybody. I miss speaking for Betty. I’ll never have a character like that again. There’s so much freedom in playing her. She messed up so much and she’s so flawed. I loved it. Betty tries her best.”