Rashida Jones is best known as an actress, screenwriter, producer, and director, but the “Angie Tribeca” star is set to receive an honor for her work outside of the business. Variety reports that the “Parks and Recreation” alumna will receive the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s actors inspiration award. The honor recognizes artists for their philanthropic work.
The Emmy nominee’s charity work “includes the International Rescue Committee, where she travels around the world as an advocate for the nonprofit that delivers lifesaving care to people fleeing conflict and national disaster,” Variety writes. “She also serves on the board and as a celebrity ambassador for Peace First, a youth organization encouraging the development of the next generation of peacemakers, and supports Oceana’s mission to protect and restore the world’s oceans.”
Jones also supports Amnesty International, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and LGBTQ non-profit The Trevor Project, as well as advocating for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s online children’s literacy program.
“We are excited to present Rashida Jones with our Actors Inspiration Award and honor her tireless dedication for tackling issues around global poverty, improving health outcomes for people battling AIDS and cancer, and for using her artistic platform to support several important charities, including our very own children’s literacy initiative Storyline Online,” SAG-AFTRA Foundation President JoBeth Williams said in a statement. “Rashida’s generosity and commitment to giving back to the global community is an inspiration, and we are proud and grateful she will accept this honor.”
“Scandal” star Kerry Washington and “Modern Family” actress Sofia Vergara are among the previous recipients of the award.
“Angie Tribeca” is currently in its third season on TBS. Jones plays a detective in the comedy. She earned an Emmy nomination in 2015 for producing
Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus’s Netflix doc “Hot Girls Wanted” and served as exec producer on a follow-up docuseries, 2017’s “Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On.” She’s directed episodes of “Turned On” and “Angie Tribeca,” and her writing credits include bittersweet rom-com “Celeste & Jesse Forever” and an episode of cult hit “Black Mirror.” She co-wrote the screenplay for “Toy Story 4,” expected to hit theaters June 21, 2019.
Jones is an executive producer on “Claws,” a nail salon dramedy toplined by Niecy Nash (“Scream Queens”). The TNT series will premiere June 11.
“One of the things that I am most proud in being a part of ‘Parks and Recreation’ is my relationship with Amy’s [Poehler] character. It’s how women are actually friends,” Jones told us in a 2012 interview. “We support each other. We get mad at each other and then we talk it out. Guys come between us. Work comes between us but ultimately we work it out. We are totally unconditionally supportive of each other which is how my friends are.”
When we asked what advice she’d give to other people in the industry, she said, “Be relentless. I don’t mean like haranguing people. Do it on your own. If someone says no find someone who will say yes. Get your own camera, ask for favors. If you believe in your material find other people who believe in it and keep moving forward. I know people who have been working on scripts for 10 years and that’s just how the business is. You just have to believe in yourself.”
