With Girlfriends firmly in her past,
Jill Marie Jones chats with Essence.com about her current projects and
much talked about departure from the hit show that made her a household
name, or well at least her character Toni Childs was…Essence.com: Nothing wrong with spreading your wings, which brings me to your departure from Girlfriends.
Tracee Ellis Ross said in an interview that the reason you didn’t
return was because the cast did not receive the huge raise they were
expecting. Is that true?
J.M.J.: First of all, let me tell
you why I left. I left because I wanted to do movies. My contract was
up after my sixth season and people forget that just like the network
can choose whether or not to renew your contract, I can also choose and
evaluate whether or not I want to come back. My actor’s chair that has Girlfriends
and my name on it, you know the director’s chair? Well, on the very
last day of my sixth season, I told them to grab my chair and put it in
my car for me. So why would I take my chair if I thought I was coming
back? Believe you me, I would tell you. I’ve never made a decision
based on money. I was on the show for six years and I think that’s a
good run. There’s so much more I want to do in my career and so much
more I want to know and learn, but my departure definitely had nothing
to do with money.
Essence.com:
Well, the second part of Tracee’s quote expressed her sadness that
after six years of working together you didn’t share your decision to
leave with the cast. Is that true?
J.M.J: I’ll be completely
honest: I just didn’t really. I wish I had a better answer or could
tell you that I even thought about it. Maybe it was a lapse of
judgment, maybe I should have called—I didn’t really think about it.
When my call came in to say, ‘We’re going to pick up Girlfriends
for another season, does Jill want to come back?’ My management and I
were like, ‘Thank you, but no thank you.’ So maybe I should have made
phone calls, but I didn’t really think about it. When the cast first
came back for their seventh season, I sent them all—individually, every
single person of Girlfriends—a big bouquet of flowers. I didn’t leave Girlfriends
because I was upset or wanted more money. It really wasn’t that deep.
It’s so disappointing that because I wanted to dream bigger or
experience something new, it received all this hoopla and drama around
it. I really just wanted to do movies. It really was just that simple.
Read more about what's she up to now @ Essence.com SOURCE OF THIS STORY
