Just last week January Jones revealed that, while they were dating, Ashton Kutcher told her he didn’t think she’d be any good at the acting biz, and that she should call it quits.
Well, Jones certainly wasn’t deterred by the lack of support from Kutcher. Already having cemented her place as a TV starlet with her role on Mad Men, Jones is ready to take on the big screen.
Before making a name for herself with Mad Men, Jones had supporting roles in numerous movies including Love Actually, American Wedding, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Jones has moved past being a supporting actress, signing on for starring roles in two films in the past week.
Last week Jones signed on for Dark Castle’s Unknown White Male with Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger, and it has now been revealed that she will also be starring with Nicolas Cage in Hungry Rabbit Jumps, a dramatic thriller from Endgame Entertainment.
Jones and Cage play a married couple, with Cage becoming involved with a vigilante organization after Jones is victim to a violent attack.
The Bank Job director Roger Donaldson will be directing, with Tobey Maguire producing.
Filming is set to begin in January.
very pretty lady. But Ashton was sooo right. She is a really bad actress. I love Mad Men. I cringe when she delivers her lines. She is laughable. Cannot everyone see this?! I think the producers were looking for a Grace Kelly sort of person. She may look like Grace Kelly but Lord! the girl's acting stinks. She cannot portray Grace Kelly by simply looking like her. It takes acting ability. Every actress on the show shines compared to poor January Jones.
I completely agree karlakay. She is the worst. At first I wondered if the director hired for that her vacant vapidness maybe to grasp the character. Cause let's face it, Betty Draper is a dingy, pretty face at best. But I feel like she could have a FEW more layers right? Anyway, her delivery of lines is unnatural and her movements are awkward. Take that scene where she breaks a chair out of “frustration.” She could have taken that scene to a place of real anger. Instead it looked like audience participation night at the local dinner theater. Basically, she couldn't be worse than if she looked at the camera.
I completely agree karlakay. She is the worst. At first I wondered if the director hired for that her vacant vapidness maybe to grasp the character. Cause let's face it, Betty Draper is a dingy, pretty face at best. But I feel like she could have a FEW more layers right? Anyway, her delivery of lines is unnatural and her movements are awkward. Take that scene where she breaks a chair out of “frustration.” She could have taken that scene to a place of real anger. Instead it looked like audience participation night at the local dinner theater. Basically, she couldn't be worse than if she looked at the camera.
It's a shame, because I love watching and getting lost in the show. But then Betty's in a scene, and I'm reminded that this is a TV show with actors.
On a basic level, I cannot buy that she's a mother of three in the sixties (her little girl voice–with an accent that sounds very modern to me, her lack of maternal vibe, etc.). And her character may be devoid of vibrancy or expression, but it's obviously a problem with her acting. A decent actor can play “dead inside” and still be layered; the only reason I know Betty feels trapped or lonely is because it's implicit in the writing, not the acting. It's sad, because so much could be done with this character.
Unfortunately, I just get bored when she's on screen. When she delivers her lines, sometimes I cringe. (I hope I don't sound too mean here.) I agree that they obviously chose her for her Grace Kelly-ish looks (to match her Cary Grant husband), but that's so disappointing. I often think of Julianne Moore in Safe, who plays a similarly sheltered and repressed housewife, who is gorgeous but also makes the character riveting.
The only time I enjoy Betty's scenes is when her neighbor/friend Francine is in them, because–damn– that actress is fantastic.
I agree that January Jones is a bad actor. I just started watching MadMen this year, and have seen Seasons 1-3.
The first few shows, I was sucked in by her ice princess looks, and thought the character was played deliberately cold, and unemotional, and I thought “interesting choices”. But, then, as Jones was required to play scenes alone, and had no reason to ‘hide’ her emotions, she was exactly the same! Even worse, actually, because she had to carry the scenes all by herself. There just is no ‘spark’, no inner voice, no core.
I felt bad for Jon Hamm, in his Season 3 crying scene, because Jones was just stupefyingly plastic, and I wanted the camera to just focus on him, because she kept taking me out of the scene, and ruining it.
By the way, Kate, Francine is played by the awesome Anne Dudek, and if you want to see more of her in a very different role- check out Season 4 and 5 of “House MD” – she plays Doctor Amber Volakis, otherwise known by House’s nickname for her = “Cut-Throat Bitch”. She and Hugh Laurie are great together.