This year’s Halloween night brings an extra bit of spooky fun with the premiere of STARZ’s highly-anticipated “Ash vs Evil Dead.” The series commences post events of Sam Raimi’s beloved Evil Dead movie series, with hero Ash Williams working a go-nowhere retail job as evil baddies resurface. The middle-aged slacker main character reluctantly swings back into action. Jill Marie Jones is his new sidekick, State Trooper Amanda Fisher. Jones talked to rolling out about the role and diving into something so action packed.
“It’s definitely new territory. I’d never done action before. You would think that because of, say — “Sleepy Hollow” or “American Horror Story” being in the same genre, I would’ve done this before. But, I was a lawyer on “Sleepy Hollow.” This is the first time I’ve actually been inside the crazy, which was really fun. I was taken aback by how much I loved the action stuff. I’m fighting and shooting guns like I was born to it.”
Jones first appeared on the radar as the character Toni Childs on the beloved UPN sitcom “Girlfriends” in the early 2000s. Fans loved her on that show. But, Jones says that State Trooper Fisher is a chance for her to showcase another facet and she wants fans to enjoy this character, too.
“She is an all-around badass, knows her way around a gun and doesn’t like the word ‘no.’ But, she’s one of the good guys. She’s not very social, however. Work is everything to her. But, something happens on that last routine stop that re-writes her journey and Ash’s name is written all over it.”
Alongside Williams and Jones the series features Ray Santiago, Dana Delorenzo and Lucy Lawless. Jones says that her performance as Fisher is part homage to one of her greatest inspirations: her mother. Watching her mom work in law enforcement for decades allowed the star to tap into that side of her heritage to better understand what makes Fisher tick.
“There’s a lot of my mother in the character. My mother, a lot of people don’t know, was a federal investigator for 40 years. So there was a lot of things that I took from my own personal life experience and being raised by that amazing woman, my mom.”
“I think you learn as you evolve,” she says. “Yeah, I know more today than I did when I first started and I’m probably better at the show business side of it. But, in terms of my approach, I stay in class, which is very important to me. I always stay plugged in. My work ethic hasn’t really shifted. “Girlfriends” was a shock to me. I hadn’t studied comedic acting before, I’d only studied dramatic acting. I’m thrilled for people to see that other muscle.”
“Ash vs Evil Dead” premieres tonight at 9:00pm EST on STARZ
