Appearances: Night of Fashion and Technology

24 May: Rashida at the Night of Fashion and Technology at Soho House, West Hollywood. The event was hosted by Victoria Beckham, Eva Longoria Parker and LG Mobile Phones.

Images: Self-portrait in McSweeney's

Rashida drew this self-portrait for literary journal McSweeney's (as seen in issue #34). It will also be part of a book - "a contemporary collection of self-portraits by talented creative people" - published by McSweeney's.

Link: Salon slideshow of 20 sketches by various filmmakers, writers and actors

Appearances: Parks and Recreation Emmy Screening

Wed, May 19: Rashida attended the Parks and Recreation Q&A session and season finale screening at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theater in North Hollywood.

Other attendees included castmembers Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Rob Lowe, Adam Scott, Jim O'Heir & Retta and producers Greg Daniels & Mike Schur. The panel discussion was hosted by Seth Meyers.

News: Comic Book Signing in LA

Meet Rashida and her comic book collaborators this Saturday in LA!

Meltdown Comics

Meet the creative team behind Oni Press’ Frenemy of the State.
Rashida Jones (writer), Christina Weir (writer), Nunzio Defilippis (writer), and Jeff Wamester (artist)

Saturday, May 22nd @ 7PM
Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Other Works: Frenemy of the State Preview

Comic Book Resources has posted an exclusive preview of the comic book series Rashida co-created. The first issue, Frenemy of the State #1 (Codename: Noob, Part One) comes out today.

Story by
Rashida Jones, Christina Weir, Nunzio DeFilippis
Art by
Jeff Wamester
Cover by
Jeff Wamester
Publisher
Oni Press
Cover Price:
$3.99
Release Date
Wed, May 12th, 2010

An all-new series from the star of NBC's PARKS & RECREATION and veteran comic scribes DeFilippis & Weir! Ariana Von Holmberg is an heiress with a secret. But what she's hiding isn't a sex tape or a drug addiction or an affair with a professional golfer—it's a new career as a CIA operative! What better cover for an agent than a globe-trotting, care-free femme with a penchant for flights of fancy? But can Ari balance her high society obligations with her new role as a spy or will the weight of two worlds bring her dual lives to a violent end?
--Comic Book Resources

Appearances: Charlotte Ronson Spring Cocktail Jam

Rashida at the Charlotte Ronson and JCPenney Spring Cocktail Jam on May 4. The party and music performances were at Milk Studios and the after-party at Trousdale.

Pictured with Nicole Richie, Samantha Ronson, Sara Gilbert & Mark Ronson.

Style.com: Rashida Jones, Olivia Thirlby, and More at Charlotte Ronson's I Heart Ronson Party
Tee Party
Charlotte Ronson collaborated this season with her stepfather, Foreigner front man Mick Jones, on a line of limited-edition I Heart Ronson for JCPenney tees inspired by the band's album cover art. Foreigner, in turn, headlined the party Ronson hosted last night at Milk Studios in L.A. to celebrate the new collection. "It's actually more nerve-racking playing in front of friends and family than total strangers," admitted Jones backstage. "But the party atmosphere here helps."

Also in the crowd of young Hollywood types like Rashida Jones, Nikki Reed, and Olivia Thirlby were Ronson's music producer brother, Mark, and her DJ sister, Samantha. ...
--Evelyn Crowley

Movies: The Big Year

Rashida has landed another movie role :) She's joined the cast of The Big Year, a birdwatching comedy (?!) starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. She plays an avid bird watcher and the love interest of Jack Black's character (!?!). Filming started yesterday in Vancouver.

Variety: Trio of actors wing to 'A Big Year'
Frankel starts shooting Fox 2000 comedy Monday
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

The cast of Fox 2000 comedy "The Big Year" has just grown bigger, including the additions of Rashida Jones, Anjelica Huston and Jim Parsons.

David Frankel begins lensing the previously announced Steve Martin-Jack Black-Owen Wilson topliner today.

Also joining the cast are Rosamund Pike, JoBeth Williams, Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Anderson and Tim Blake Nelson; Kevin Pollak and Joel McHale are in talks.

Based on Mark Obmascik's 1998 tome, "The Big Year" is about three men who try to outdo each other during a year-long competition to spot the rarest birds in North America.

Frankel shoots in locations throughout Canada from a script adapted by Howard Franklin.

Jones, who stars in David Fincher's upcoming "The Social Network," plays the love interest of Black's character as an avid birder in the contest.

Also an avid birder, Huston's character captains ocean-going expeditions. Parsons, star of CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," plays the author of a popular avian blog.

Producers of "The Big Year" are Red Hour Films' Karen Rosenfelt, Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld, and Deuce Three Prods.' Curtis Hanson and Carol Fenelon.

--Pamela McClintock, Variety, May 3 2010
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It's based on the bestselling book The Big Year by Mark Obmascik

Link: author's official site with synopsis and reviews

Interview: New York magazine (April 2010)

Rashida and her Monogamy co-star Chris Messina talk to New York magazine

Vulture:
Monogamy’s Rashida Jones and Chris Messina on Why Geriatric Public Sex Is Really Hot

In Murderball director Dana Shapiro’s intimate new drama, Monogamy, Woody Allen alum Chris Messina and Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones play a comfy Brooklyn couple whose relationship starts to disintegrate when Messina’s character becomes fixated on a hot blonde exhibitionist. The real-life buddies are in New York for the movie’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and they checked in for a frank conference call about the film, their thoughts on monogamy, and the peculiar ins and outs of having sex in public.

So Rashida, did you really just escape the ash?
R: Can you believe it? I was stuck in Europe. I had to drive thirteen and a half hours from Paris to Madrid. It was pretty crazy. I just got out Monday night.
C: Of course, the whole time I was worried about you. And then I was even more worried that you wouldn’t make it to the screening.
R: You’re such a dick! [Laughs.]
C: Rashida and I are friends, but we really know each other through my girlfriend. We obviously don’t have any of the history that the couple in the movie does, so it was really kind of wild, weird, and cool to go down that road with her and get pretty dark.

Did that make playing a couple awkward?
C: Well, it’s always strange to kiss someone with 10, 20, 40 people around. And when you’re looking at someone who was, like, holding your baby in her arms in your house in California last week, you know, it’s odd. I was nervous about it, to be honest with you.
R: Were you really? I didn’t know that.
C: I think I’m always nervous about all of it, and then I was nervous because I wanted Rashida to have a good time. As you do with all these things, you’re taking a risk. I mean, Dana Shapiro, he’s terrific. He did this movie called Murderball and it was fantastic, but who knew if he could make a narrative? I’m super happy with the way it turned out, but it could have obviously gone another way.

So what are your respective thoughts on monogamy – the way of life, I mean, not the movie?
C: Well I have two boys and a girlfriend, so I obviously believe in it, but it’s still hard! I don’t know how natural it is, at least for me — for a lot of men I know. I would love to close my eyes and see myself with my girlfriend when we’re 99 years old and I have a pipe and she’s knitting a sweater, and I hope that’s the way it goes. I think it’s a challenge every day.
R: I agree – I don’t think it’s necessarily a natural state of being for animals such as human beings, but I do think the rewards of sticking with it are pretty fantastic. That being said, I really don’t think there’s a lot of that going on right now. There’s a lot of fear and running and bullshit irresponsible behavior. I think dudes are acting out right now in a huge way. Guys are freaking out. I think as a culture we’re going to have a really hard time with it.

What about having sex in public? There’s a lot of that in the movie, too.
R: I totally get how people get off on it. It makes perfect sense to me. If that’s the thing that works for you, do your thing. Whatever gets you to the mainland.
C: Yeah! I’m down with that answer. I mean, I’ve liked having sex in bathrooms when there were people knocking on the door … that was fun. But I don’t know – these characters take it to a place that I never have. I have a tough time showing public affection.
R: I think it’s weird, right? It’s one thing to make out in public, but to actually have sex in public? That’s tough to do. I was just in Naples and I saw two young people making out on a corner. It was pretty awesome. But they were young.
C: Young – that might be the answer right there. Or maybe it’s old people, too. Like maybe if you saw an 80-year-old couple making out you’d be like, "That’s incredible!"
R: That’d be kind of cool, actually.
C: If you saw two, like, 80-year-olds, fucking on the corner of Bleecker Street?

I really have no idea how I’d respond to that.
R: You would love it! Oh my God. You would love it.
C: Yeah, you’d totally take your iPhone and take a video of it. And it’d be on YouTube the next day. It’d be like, "Hey, how do I get to that site again?" "Google 80-year-olds fucking on Bleecker." "Oh, there it is."

--Sara Cardace, nymag.com, 4/27/10

Movies: Monogamy Premiere, Part II

More from the Monogamy premiere:

Justin sent a sweet note about meeting Rashida

I just wanted to write and say I was very lucky to meet Rashida at the premier of Monogamy. I'm in a wheelchair and she went out of her way to stop and take a picture with me, it was really cool and she couldn't have been nicer. I saw the film also, and I really felt she was the key to what made the movie work so well. I'm looking forward to seeing it again!

Justin

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Regular contributor Jen found this Q&A at the screening and a short interview in Metro New York

external link: youtube

Thanks guys!

Appearances: Monogamy Premiere, NY

10 HQs from the Monogamy premiere and after-party on Saturday, April 24.

Rashida wears a skirt from the Proenza Schouler Fall 2010 collection
Pictured with co-stars Chris Messina and Meital Dohan
Premiere at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, after-party at Beba in Soho

Style: Theory's Fashion Insider: Stylecause

Rashida is the first celebrity stylist for Theory's new Fashion Insider: Stylecause campaign. She's created three summer outfits using her favorite pieces, notably the Bindi TS Blazer which features in all three. Love the classic, preppy look! All the pieces are available online and in Theory stores, with 10% of sales going to her charities of choice: Peace First and Children Mending Hearts.

“I’m delighted to be working with Theory on such a wonderful project that benefits two organizations so clearly dedicated to young people - Peace First and Children Mending Hearts.”

Images via Just Jared