Jill Marie Jones thought Starz had made a typo when it described "Ash vs Evil Dead" as a comedy.
From her time on the sitcom "Girlfriends," Jones knew how to identify a joke on the page, and she saw nothing funny in the sides for her character, Amanda Fisher, the disgraced cop trying to track down Ash (Bruce Campbell), who she believes killed her partner.
"I think in the world that [Amanda] lives in, it's a pretty normal detective world... and then crazy stuff is happening around," Jones told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "But the difference between this show and another [cop] show, we don't live in a world where Deadites live amongst us."
Jones may not get to play the comedy that the "Evil Dead" franchise is known for, but she was happy to stretch her drama muscles again, originally studying dramatic acting. Her role on "Ash vs Evil Dead" has given her the opportunity to play a little more action than in past projects.
Amanda's smarts and toughness attracted Jones most to the role, as did the character's ability to handle a gun. She was up for another project at the time of casting "Ash vs Evil Dead," but Starz secured her before the other network could act.
"'Ash' is the one that I really wanted," Jones admitted.
Your mother worked as a federal investigator. Did she hesitate with you pursuing a career path in such a tough business like acting?
You know, one of the many things that I'm very blessed in terms of my life is my mom didn't clip my wings ever. There were some crazy things that I thought growing up that I wanted to be and she just supported it. By the way, let's be very clear, if we're going into our 20s with these crazy things, I want somebody to sit down and have a real conversation [with me] but no, she never clipped my wings.
Starring on "Girlfriends" which aired on the small network of UPN, what have you thought about the success of shows like "Black-ish" and "Empire" on bigger networks?
I think it's incredible. First of all, I love both shows and I think that it's showing the masses that you can put African-Americans on television and people will watch. If you didn't know before, now you know.
Is there any show on television right now that you'd love to guest star on?
Oh my goodness, there's so many. I would love to have a Joan [Tracee Ellis Ross' character on "Girlfriends"] and Toni moment on "Blackish." To and play around for an episode. I'm in love with "Power" [on Starz]. But I don't want to be in a penthouse with Louboutins. I want to be on the street.
