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Parks & Rec's Rashida Jones' charmed life, shares memories in new interview

By April MacIntyre Oct 12, 2011, 20:46 GMT

08/16/2011 - Aubrey Plaza, Rashida Jones and Amy Poehler - "Our Idiot Brother" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals - ArcLight Cinemas - Hollywood, CA, USA © Andrew Evans / PR Photos

It's hard not to love Rashida Jones, the comedic actress is the bright spot of so many films and now NBC's "Parks & Recreation."

The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Rashida spoke recently to both Parade and Playboy about her life, and the fascinating people who have come in and out of it.

Rashida plays Ann Perkins on the NBC sitcom, which she told Parade, "It's honestly a joy to go to work because we just try to make each other laugh all day long," Jones told Parade about castmates Amy Poehler, Rob Lowe and Aziz Ansari.

"Every single person on the show is his or her own brand of hilarious. I'm constantly surprised at how talented and funny these people are."

Jones added, "In comedy, you really need each other. Comedy is like music, and the way to make the best music is to have skilled musicians in your band.

"It's hard to be funny on your own. I think that's kind of the thing I like the most about being in comedy - it's like a team sport. I love being part of an ensemble."

In her recent Playboy magazine interview, Rashida spoke of the famous people she met:

On meeting icons like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie and others:

JONES: Major musicians were definitely around, for sure. Nobody was cooler than Miles Davis. I remember his scratchy voice. Even the way he’d say “What’s up?” was cool. Frank Sinatra was another supercool cat. I went to see him in Vegas as a teenager, and my sister and I were having problems getting backstage. We finally did and told Frank about it. He was like, “Who did you have problems with? Who do I need to talk to? I’ll take care of it.” He was going to crack some skulls.

On her favorite Michael ­Jackson memory?

JONES: Michael basically grew up with us, so I have a million memories of him. We were at each other’s house all the time. He was definitely a little bit of an alien, for sure, and when I was young, it felt as if he was my age, not 18 years older,  but with just a little bit more pep.

Later, we’d go out on the town together. He always wore those surgical masks. Once, my sister, Michael, ­Emmanuel Lewis and I got in a car with Super Soakers and went by a movie theater and supersoaked the hell out of people waiting in line. They had no idea they’d just been supersoaked by the King of Pop.