AMC’s Mad Men, a surprise small-screen hit, has thrust January Jones into the big time. By Allison Winn Scotch

The way Mad Men’sJanuary Jones sees it, you either haven’t watched (or, perhaps, evenheard of) her hit television show, in which she stars as the repressedand unhappily married Betty Draper, or you’re obsessed with it. In2007, critics -- and Mad Men’szealous fans -- fell unabashedly into the latter category, and theseries came out of nowhere to win big at last year’s Golden GlobeAwards and Peabody Awards. Now the show, set in 1960s New York, is backfor its second season on AMC. South Dakota–born Jones, 30, tells usabout the appeal of her character, how she fills her downtime, and thestory behind her unusual name.

Ashow about advertising in the ’60s on AMC doesn’t exactly seem like asurefire hit. Did you ever expect this kind of reaction?
Iknew that AMC had not done a series before, but that did not concernme. It was such an amazing pilot -- very smartly written, reallydifferent. And I love period pieces. I wanted to be a part of it in anycapacity.

Betty Draper isconsumed with creating a picture-perfect life, but all the while, she’sinternally unraveling. How much does that resonate with today’s modernwoman?
I think it was a differenttime when marriage was definitely an institution and you didn’t getdivorced. One of my favorite things about Betty is that she has beeneducated. She has traveled the world. You see her gradually come toterms with the fact that [being a housewife] is not going to make herhappy. And now, she’s finding that very difficult to remedy and isimploding, which isn’t too different than being in a relationship in2008. I relate to those things. I think everyone does. What I would notrelate to is not minding that this is going on.

Offscreen, you’ve created a jewelry line. How did that come about?
I’vealways really enjoyed doing beadwork. I mentioned it in an article acouple of years ago, and my business partner’s mother saw it [and toldhim about it], and he approached me. I was like, “Right. This guy wantsto give me money to design a line. Sure -- sure!” After he tried acouple of times to get hold of me, I was like, “What do I have tolose?” So I took a meeting with him, and he wanted me to design a line.We’re doing special orders now, and the jewelry will be in stores soon.

Tell us about your name; you are not named after the month, correct?
I was named after a character in the book Once Is Not Enoughby Jacqueline Susann. My mom and dad saw the TV version of it, and mydad especially liked how January went with Jones. My sisters are allJJs as well.

Has Mad Men opened up a lot of doors for you?
Yes,in certain ways. But I’m still the same in how I approach things. I’drather do small roles that I’ve never done before than a leading rolein a romantic comedy.