Rashida Jones Talks To AOL On Season Two "Parks and Recreation"

[JamesG]

After getting caught in between Jim and Pam on The Office, actress Rashida Jones has moved on to another Thursday night NBC comedy: Parks and Recreation, co-starring Amy Poehler.

Rashida plays Ann Perkins, a nurse who is now dating Leslie's (Poehler) co-worker, Mark (Paul Schneider) -- a big improvement, considering that her last relationship quite literally ended in the pits.

Parks -- which was just renewed for a full second season -- has seen a big improvement from season 1, says many critics and fans. But according to Jones, that's not entirely the case.

AOL TV recently chatted with the star about the quality of season 2, the pickup news and whether Karen will ever return to The Office.



A big congratulations on receiving a full second season. What was the reaction like on set?

It was nice, actually. There was a nice little synthesis on the day that we found out. I feel like it's been leaking into the consciousness a little bit.

People are really starting to feel the show, and jive with it, and root for it and like the characters ... It all kind of happened on the same day where we had this really nice piece in Entertainment Weekly, and then we had this nice news in the LA Times ... [So] there was all this good energy surrounding the show, and then to have the opportunity to continue that, and continue to grow with the actual legitimate pickup was just so great. We've kind of been becoming a cast a little bit, and it also really gels.

The day that we found out, we'd done this episode where we were all together in the woods for the entire episode, and we had gone through loving each other, hating each other, being sick of each other, making each other laugh really hard, and for it to come around with the pickup was really nice.




Was there any apprehension about the pickup, considering your audience is much smaller than, say, NCIS'?

Look: You work in TV, and you're an actor ... Nothing's for real until you're told it's for real, and even when you're told it's still not for real [laughs].

So, I think there's always a bit of apprehension. I mean, we were hoping that we would be given a shot, because unfortunately, really most of NBC's promotion has gone towards Community, which is great, because they picked up that show, too.

But we haven't really been given the boost of promotion to propel us to whatever next level of viewing we need to be it. So, we're happy to be given the opportunity.




Many people have said that season 2 has vastly improved from season 1. What do you accredit this to?

You know what? It's a little bit of a pet peeve of mine, because a.) season 1 is six episodes long ... Any show takes at least 10 episodes to figure out what it is; it just takes that long.

The British Office is an anomaly, and it will be, I think, forever; and English television is different, because of the way they develop. But American TV shows, it just takes 10 or 11 episodes to figure out what the hell is going on. And I actually would say that the first six episodes are really good ...

The truth is, I think people like to be able to come to things on their own terms, and the only way they can do that is if they discredit it first, and then they surprise themselves by liking it second. And I get the psychology of that completely. It's just a little bit like "Oh, so you're gonna pick me up from the ashes that you created?" [laughs]

But I'm not bitter about it at all, because I know that, especially with a TV serial situation, the audience has to come to it and love it on their own, and that's how they feel good about it, and I'm so happy to let them to do that, and I'm glad that we have the time to do that and the breathing space to do that.




I've noticed that the show is really starting to become an ensemble this season; even Jerry is now a character. Are we going to see more of this?

Oh, yeah. For sure. The Office did set a good precedence for that, where they just cast interesting, original people, and then something like Creed shows up, and you're like, "Oh my God, that's my favorite thing in the world!"

But yeah, absolutely. Jerry and Donna are a major part of the show, and continue to be. Absolutely.




Ann is now in a relationship with Mark. What's the status on that?

I think they're genuinely starting to like each other. I think at first Ann dated Mark sort of like the same way that everybody voted for [our] President, where they're like "It's not Bush!"

But now, she's kind of starting to like him, and I think they're starting to like each other, and I think he's surprised by the fact that he's even capable of being in a committed relationship. But we do have this past called Andy that just follows out everywhere.




I get the feeling that Andy's never going to go away.

No, he's not. He's totally not -- first of all, because Chris Pratt is just too good; I don't think anybody would want him to go away. But also, I think he's realized that he made a big mistake.




Ann is kind of the "straight man" of the show. What is she doing hanging out with so many crazy people?

From the beginning, we have talked to the writers about trying to justify why Ann has [held] onto this life that's not hers, essentially. I think she's a little bit cuckoo. I think that's starting to come out.

You have to kind of be a little bit crazy to surround yourself with all these crazy people, even though she's the voice of reason ... I feel like she is definitely getting a little bit crazier, which I really like, because it's just nice for me; it's a nice change for me. I'm so used to playing rational characters. And if you're friends with Leslie, I think you're just a little bit crazy. You have to be.




I see Ann and Leslie as a modern day odd couple. What makes their friendship work?

Well, I think the true things about Leslie. She's incredibly loyal, she's incredibly honest, she's very passionate, and she's linear. She cares about the same things over and over again. She's very consistent, and I think that for Ann, as far as friendships are concerned, that's probably the most important thing to her, is that somebody says what they mean, and means what they say.

And then also, her childish enthusiasm, I think, is really nice. Ann is so known, probably, for taking care of dying people, and having a crappy boyfriend ... Leslie's enthusiasm for life, and then her enthusiasm for Ann, is probably so refreshing.




Aside from Mark, what's next for Ann?

More kind of friendship development with Leslie. She's just kind of more ingratiated with the Parks and Rec City Hall crew. She spends a lot of time there. I don't know she works [laughs].

We talk about it a lot on set. In a couple of our improvs -- who knows if they'll make it in? -- but just a lot of like "What are you doing here? Do you ever go to work? You don't even work here!" [laughs]




Jim and Pam just got married on The Office. Your character, Karen, was not at the ceremony. What do you think she'd say to the happy couple?

Karen has a baby and a husband, so she'd probably say "Good for you! Go find your happiness."




What was the back-story behind Karen's husband and kid, anyway?

I think the writers really wanted to give Karen her moment. Because of the nature of the love triangle -- I mean, I think everyone has this problem -- she was caught, and she was sort of in a crappy situation because she was the third point of the triangle. And as much as she liked Jim, there was always this thing that was destined to happen, so, you know, poor Karen.

So it was nice to be able to see her have her own life, and find her own happiness, and I think they just wanted her to have that moment of comeuppance, where her dumb ex-boyfriend was stealing her printer from her place. She could be like, "Oh, that's somebody I used to date, and I actually have an adult life now. Thanks for reminding me."




So was that her moment, then? Or will Karen return to the show?

I don't know. At this point, I don't see the necessity. I would love to do the show again. I loved working on that show. I wouldn't totally count it out.

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