Rashida Jones

A freshman year play at Harvard put her in the same room as Michael Schur, who a decade later built Parks and Recreation partly around her. Before that, she spent years as a perpetual guest, most visibly as Jim Halpert's love interest on The Office, a storyline written to lose. She came into Parks and Rec from the ground up rather than the guest-star pipeline, and the difference showed. The show ran seven seasons; she left partway through season six.

The acting work is almost a side business now. Le Train Train, her production company, has credits spanning Claws (TNT, 4 seasons), a Quincy documentary that won a Grammy, and Kevin Can F**k Himself. She co-wrote a Black Mirror episode and an early version of Toy Story 4, earning a story credit on the final film. Her first Emmy acting nomination came in 2025 for Black Mirror Season 7, playing a woman whose survival depends on a subscription service. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people that same year. She's been building toward all this quietly.

Growing up with Quincy Jones as your father means Michael Jackson's chimp bit you as a child and Sidney Poitier was your godfather. She was in the room during the recording of 'We Are the World.' Her backup vocals are credited on Maroon 5's debut album. Her sister Kidada was engaged to Tupac when he was killed, and Rashida had publicly sparred with him years earlier over his comments about her parents' interracial marriage. None of this surfaces in her public persona. The wholesome NBC best friend was always the least interesting thing about her.