Who

Jones is a Broadway star known for her roles in plays like The Heiress and Doubt. She'll soon squander all of her hard-earned theater cred opposite Kiefer Sutherland on the upcoming season of 24.

Backstory

The daughter of a florist and an English teacher, Jones hails from the small town of Paris, Tennessee. After nearly a decade working with the American Repertory Theater in Boston, she made her Broadway debut in Tony Kushner's 1993 drama Angels in America, then won her first Tony for her role in 1995's The Heiress. She's since become one of New York's most successful stage actresses, with acclaimed roles in the 2000 revival of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten (the play that she says made her want to become an actress in the first place), Nora Ephron's 2002 play Imaginary Friends, and 2006's Faith Healer, in which she starred opposite Ralph Fiennes. Jones has also had supporting roles in Hollywood movies like Erin Brockovich, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Village and Ocean's Twelve.

Of note

In 2005, Jones earned a second Tony for her much-vaunted performance as Sister Aloysius in John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. Alas, like many a Broadway star before her, Jones is getting muscled out of the film version—Meryl Streep will star in the upcoming movie. Jones did, however, manage to land one of the most hazardous jobs on television—she will play the President of the United States on the next season of 24. Viewers of Season 7 will be able to watch one of Broadway's most acclaimed actresses dodge assassination attempts, bark orders at cabinet members, and give Jack Bauer the go-ahead to strap electrodes to some unlucky terrorist's testicles.

Personal

Jones was one of the first Broadway stars to come out of the closet, and she became a hero in the gay community during the 1995 Tony Awards when she thanked her then-partner, architect Mary O'Connor, in her acceptance speech. She is currently dating Sarah Paulson, an actress seen recently on the ill-fated TV dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Habitat

In 2005, Jones purchased a one-bedroom, one-bath co-op in a Greenwich Village townhouse for $625,000, and bequeathed an apartment she owned on Horatio Street to ex-partner Mary O'Connor. She also sold a studio apartment in the same building to choreographer Robert "Don't Call Me Bob Fosse" La Fosse.