Is January Jones stupid, or is her life some kind of performance art?
For a while now, I’ve considered January Jones one of least intelligent women ever to achieve success in Hollywood. My opinion of her lack of intelligence is based on several factors: A) several interviews where she comes across as vapid and apathetic, B) her inability to play anything but the “Betty Draper” archetype, a small-minded, petty, childish little girl stuck in a grown woman’s body, and C) finally, the whole Bobby Flay incident. The Flay thing really solidified the image I have of January as not-too-bright. Now, do I think January is maliciously stupid? Eh. I think she just wanders around, expecting her blonde prettiness to be the height of her life’s achievements. Even the Flay stuff didn’t seem like she was trying to brazenly attach herself to a married man – it just seemed like she was drunk and naïve and he was paying attention to her, so “why not?” in her mind.
Anyway, January has a new interview in USA Today – the full piece is here. January’s starting promotion on Unknown, that odd-looking film starring Liam Neeson, where she plays Liam’s wife (or does she?!?). I’m not sure if the interview really changes my opinion of her. She’s not full-blown “Oh, sweetheart, you just need to shut your piehole” stupid like Jessica Simpson, but there are moments…
On the paparazzi: “They wait down the street on either end to see which way I’m going to go,” says Jones, who is photographed daily doing the most mundane activities: walking her dog, running to Kinko’s, shopping (and walking her dog again). “The weird thing about it is, it kind of makes me feel safe… I live alone, and I feel like they’re always there, they’re always watching. If someone were to come in and rob me — there’s photographers. It’s like the best security system ever. Maybe I’m that pathetic at this point… But it’s a constant presence.”
On “life as art”: “I sort of feel like I’m acting all the time on set, even when they say ‘cut’… I think the more confident I get with myself, the more I’m allowing myself to be heard.”
On Liam Neeson: “[He’s] everything I kind of expected him to be, which is great. He’s a lot more soft-spoken than I thought he would be. He’s kind of got this quiet wit, which is very charming and smart.”
On X-Men: First Class, where she plays mutant Emma Frost: “When I was first approached, they were like, ‘By the way, it’s 1962,’ ” she says with a note of amused exasperation. “I was like, ‘You must be kidding me.'”
On being a vagabond: “I haven’t been here the last two years, with the exception of four months in the summer for Mad Men,” says Jones, ticking off her temporary homes: New Orleans, Berlin, London, Georgia. “That’s the only thing I struggle with — with the success of the job — is that I’ve had to be kind of a vagabond.”
On the continuing negotiations/wrangling for a fifth season of Mad Men with Mad Men’s creator Matt Weiner: “They should just give him whatever he asks for,” Jones says with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, the guy is the show.” Although AMC spokeswoman Olivia Dupuis says an announcement has not been made on when the show would return, Joel Stillerman, AMC senior vice president of programming, confirmed Season 5 of Mad Men at the Television Critics Association in January. It’s just a matter of when. “If it gets too late in the next couple of months and there hasn’t been anything resolved, then I’ll just go and say, ‘Listen, I’m going to take a project,’ ” Jones says, noting how producers work with the cast.
January is counting on Betty Draper always being around: While Mad Men is known to shed characters at the whim of Weiner, Jones says Betty is safe, despite reduced screen time in Season 4. “Her presence, even when it’s not on camera, is such a huge part of the show, and she’ll always be in it,” she predicts.
Fan reaction to Betty Draper: “The first two seasons people felt straight-up pity and felt ‘Poor Betty’ and ‘Why is he so mean to her?’ ” she says. “And now they’re like ‘Ugh, Betty.’ ” Not that she takes the criticism personally. “If I’m able to go into a character and realistically portray someone who is awful and have people hate me for it, then I’m doing well,” Jones says. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Thanks to Betty’s nasty ways, Jones is getting offered juicier roles. “The first couple of seasons, people empathized with her or pitied her, and I was getting kind of the sad, poor-me roles, or the victim roles, and now I’m getting the badass, bad-guy roles now that Betty’s (changed…I’ll be forever grateful to Matthew Weiner and Mad Men for doing that for me.”
On her modeling gig with Versace, and wearing the plunging, red Versace at the Globes: “I think people assume I have a contract with them or something, and I don’t,” she says. And to heck with the critics. “Joan Rivers thought it was slutty,” she says with a shrug and a smile. “Everyone can have their own opinion. I certainly do.”
Walking the red carpet with a boyfriend: “It definitely puts your relationship out there, so you shouldn’t do it before you’re ready,” Jones says. That said, “I’d definitely do it again.”
On Jason Sudeikis: “We’re still friends,” she says. “We still keep in touch. But it’s been a long haul with schedules and all that stuff.”
On dating other famous people: “I think you just date whoever you have a connection with. I think ideally it would be easier to meet someone who’s not in your business, just because if we’re both working, it’s very difficult to work out. But what are the chances I’m going to meet some great scientist that understands that I have to make out with other guys on a daily basis?” That said, marriage and kids are “definitely” in her future. “Not to be cliché, but why do this if you don’t have anyone to share it with?”
A Jon Hamm story: For now, Jones can go toe-to-toe with her seasoned co-stars. “Jon Hamm was teasing me the other day. He was like: ‘I’m the youngest guy you’ve made out with in five years.'” She gives a wicked grin. “I think it just makes him feel better because he’s nearly 40.”
[From USA Today]
See? It’s not like Jessica Simpson’s powerful stupidity, but there is something… lacking, something disengaged. Like she seems emotionally and intellectually distant. Maybe it’s all just an act, and maybe she’s really a passionate, interesting person. But it just feels like she has good people around her and she just says and does whatever she’s being told.
I know I seem to be nit-picking her, and if you guys want to point out all of the ways that I’m totally wrong about her, I’ll hear you out. She just seems so… dull. Dim, I guess. But I’m open to other theories.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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