January Jones

January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Betty Draper in Mad Men (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She also portrayed Melissa Chartres in The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018) and has starred in films such as American Wedding (2003), We Are Marshall (2006), The Boat That Rocked (2009), Unknown (2011), Seeking Justice (2011), and X-Men: First Class (2011).

Early life

January Kristen Jones was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on January 5, 1978, the daughter of store manager Karen Cox and exercise physiologist Marvin Jones. She was named after January Wayne, a character in the Jacqueline Susann novel Once Is Not Enough. In 1979, her family moved to Hecla, South Dakota, but moved back to Sioux Falls in 1986. She graduated from Roosevelt High School there.

Career

Acting

Jones has had supporting roles in Anger Management (2003), Love Actually, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. In 2005, she appeared as a U.S. border guard’s wife in the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. In We Are Marshall (2006), she played the role of Carol Dawson, wife of American football coach William “Red” Dawson. Jones also starred in Good Kill (2014), opposite Ethan Hawke.

She played the lead female role in the movie Love’s Enduring Promise as a pioneer family’s oldest child. Her character falls in love with a mysterious man who saves her father’s life. She also appeared in the AMC original television drama series Mad Men for seven seasons as young suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper Francis. She received two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nomination for her performances.

Jones is also known for her role as Cadence Flaherty, the love interest of both Steve Stifler and Paul Finch in the 2003 comedy film American Wedding, the third instalment of the American Pie film series. She played a con artist in the Law & Order episode “Quit Claim” who, as a lone surviving suspect connected to a real estate scam involving organized crime, frustrates the efforts of Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. She also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, a British film about offshore pirate radio in the 1960s, renamed Pirate Radio for North American release in 2009.By that time she had been successful into her career.

Jones was ranked No. 82 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. She appeared on the cover of “The Hot Issue” of British GQ magazine in May 2009. She appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of American GQ magazine, and has been a ‘topic’ in the magazine several times. On November 14, 2009, Jones hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, which featured the musical guest The Black Eyed Peas.

In 2011, Jones starred in two thriller films, first in Unknown alongside Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and later in Seeking Justice alongside Nicolas Cage and Guy Pearce. She portrayed Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class.

Jones appeared as Melissa Chartres in the Fox television comedy series The Last Man on Earth (2015–18). She joined the cast of Netflix’s 2019 comedy series The Politician, playing Dylan McDermott’s wife.

Jones had a leading role in the 2020 Netflix series Spinning Out, playing a troubled, bipolar single mother of two figure skaters.

Modeling

Jones began her modeling career in New York at the age of 18, after a modeling scout expressed interest while she was in high school. Jones has modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch, Versace, Clearasil and Kérastase. She has graced the covers of numerous international fashion magazines, including Interview, Allure, Rolling Stone, Town & Country, The Hollywood Reporter and W in the United States; Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Tatler, Glamour and Red in the United Kingdom; Cosmopolitan in Germany; Grazia in Italy; and Tu Style and GQ in Italy.

Charity work

In 2009, Jones joined the marine conservation organization Oceana, as a celebrity spokesperson, working to save endangered sharks and to inform others about sharks’ vital importance in nature. She has gone swimming with sharks for a public service announcement for the group.

Personal life

Jones dated singer Josh Groban from 2003 to 2006.

In September 2011, she gave birth to a son named Xander, whose father’s identity was not publicly disclosed.

She later dated her Last Man on Earth co-star Will Forte in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	It’s the Rage	Janice Taylor
2001	The Glass House	Girl
2001	Bandits	Claire / Pink Boots
2002	Taboo	Elizabeth
2002	Full Frontal	Tracy
2003	Anger Management	Gina
2003	American Wedding	Cadence Flaherty
2003	Love Actually	Jeannie
2004	Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights	Eve
2005	The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada	Lou Ann Norton
2006	Swedish Auto	Darla
2006	We Are Marshall	Carole Dawson
2009	The Boat That Rocked	Elenore
2011	Unknown	Elizabeth Harris
2011	X-Men: First Class	Emma Frost
2011	Seeking Justice	Laura Gerard
2013	Sweetwater	Sarah Ramírez
2014	Good Kill	Molly Egan
2015	Unity	Narrator (voice)	Documentary film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Get Real	Jane Cohen	Episode: “Pilot”
1999	Sorority	Number One	Pilot
2002	In My Life	Diane St. Croix	Pilot
2004	Love’s Enduring Promise	Missie Davis	Television film
2005	Huff	Marisa Wells	Episodes: “The Good Doctor,” “The Sample Closet”
2007–15	Mad Men	Betty Draper	67 episodes
2008	Law & Order	Kim Brody	Episode: “Quit Claim”
2009	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)	Episode: “January Jones/Black Eyed Peas”
2010	Project Runway	Herself / Guest Judge	Episode: “A Rough Day On The Runway”
2015–18	The Last Man on Earth	Melissa Chartres	63 episodes
2017	Animals.	Diana (voice)	Episode: “Roaches”
2017	Return of the Mac	Herself	Episode: “New Kid on the Talk”
2019	The Politician	Lizbeth Sloan	3 episodes
2020	Spinning Out	Carol Baker	10 episodes