Gary Gershoff/WireImage
-
Entertainment
Photos
-
Entertainment
Television
-
Beauty
Celeb Hair
Mad Men actress January Jones has become a polarizing figure of late, and not just because Betty Draper, the character she plays on the hit AMC television series, is a cool blonde. Jones' off-screen reputation as a bit of an ice queen is now getting around. Even Jared Gilmore, the 11-year-old actor who played Betty and Don Draper's son Bobby on the show but is now leaving to star on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, had some less than peachy things to say about his 33-year-old TV mom.
When TV Guide asked if he had any advice for the actor who'll replace him, Gilmore warned: "Be careful around January (Jones). She's not as approachable as the others. She's really serious about what she does. Everyone else is so nice."
From the mouths of babes!
Jones' rep so far has not commented about the remarks from her TV son, but Gilmore's revelation may not come as a surprise to Hollywood insiders.
Hangover star Zach Galifianakis verbally ripped Jones apart back in May after Jones told the ShortList that he was the "most naturally funny person" she'd ever met. It sounds like a compliment, but when word of it got back to Galifianakis, he openly scoffed her. "If I remember correctly, she and I were very rude to each other," he said of their only encounter. "It was crazy. I was at a party -- I'd never met her -- and she was like, 'Come sit down.' So I sit at her table and talk for 10 minutes, and she goes, 'I think it’s time for you to leave now.' So I say, 'January, you are an actress in a show and everybody's going to forget about you in a few years, so f***ing be nice,' and I got up and left. And she thinks that's funny?"
Then there was her widely panned performance as superhero Emma Frost in this summer's X-Men: First Class, directed by Matthew Vaughn (who was also rumored for a while to be the father of Jones' baby, due this fall). Vaughn, who's married to model Claudia Schiffer, categorically denies the rumors.
Though X-Men was praised by critics, Jones' performance as mutant Emma Frost was not the reason. Jones' turn was widely panned by critics, and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof memorably bashed her for it on Twitter, writing: "Emma Frost's THREE mutant powers: Telepathy, Transformation to Solid Diamond and last but not least, Sucking at Acting."
Galifianakis, who makes a joke out of being as rude as possible to his talk-show guests on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, understands that being "nice" is a rare quality in Hollywood and something to be valued. Galifianakis' rudeness on the faux chat-show is schtick, but that doesn't appear to be the case with Jones.
And criticism from 11-year-old Gilmore is more devastating than Galifianakis', because it comes from a place of innocence.
January Jones may play an ice queen on TV, but it seems like she might want to work on warming up just a little bit off screen.
