Sarah Jones — The Bare Magazine

You can see Sarah Jones playing Tracy Stevens in season two of the Apple TV hit “For All Mankind.” But for a more personal look at the actress, we asked one of her costars and best friends, Shantel VanSanten, to fire up a little candid convo between the two beauties. Not only are both women superlative talents on screen, but they’re passionate about their community and about being each other’s anchors in life. Read on for a glimpse inside their mutual admiration society — and to see Sarah shine in the LA sun wearing her own incredible vintage pieces.

Shantel VanSanten: I’m interviewing the gorgeous star of “For All Mankind,” Sarah Jones. So, let’s talk about the first time we met on the show, which evolved into our friendship. Do you remember where we were?

Sarah Jones: We were right outside of the trailers weren’t we? Was it table read day?

SVS: Yeah.

SJ: We had the table read, and then we ate lunch in my trailer.

SVS: And you had your row of vitamins that you were talking about! But there’s also this picture of you I have in my mind. I was standing on your left side, and you were wearing a vintage t-shirt, jeans, one cool, long sculptural earring of a face, gold-rimmed glasses with orange-yellow lenses and your rad blonde hair, and I was like, ‘oh this girl is so cool, maybe she’ll be my friend.’

SJ: Meanwhile you looked like a straight-up movie star!

SVS: I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know why they hired me,’ and I remember you just being an anchor in that scene. I’m going to be honest here, since Sarah won’t be honest about this: Sarah was the first person they sought out for the show, and they fought for her because she’s incredibly talented.

SJ: I’m sure they had other contracts in play…

SVS: Nope!

SVS: We’re supposed to talk about what we admire and respect about each other. When I watch you on the show, I know you are fighting for what you believe in for your character. You always come in with amazing ideas. You take the reins and are resolute about the things you think and feel for the character.

SJ: That’s something I admired about you as well. When you come in, you come in fully prepared with your ideas as well. It’s interesting. For whatever reason, that works for us. I could see that being an issue for some people. But while we come in with a strong point of view, we also come in with balance. It’s a relationship that goes back in forth. It’s like figuring out a puzzle.

SVS: And when I say that you know your stuff, it was always like a lightbulb for me. It would be like ‘damn, why didn’t I think of that?’

SJ: Same!

SVS: We are also both over-thinkers.

SJ: That is correct! But I think that’s one of the reasons we got along so well and so quickly and comfortably. There is a collaborative spirit between the two of us. I feel like when someone comes in with a clear point of view, it’s really a treat to play off of, because then you have stuff to work off.

SVS: I think that there’s chemistry on so many different levels.

SJ: Somehow, we lucked out in that what we created absolutely translated on screen — our chemistry and the friendship that Karen and Tracy have.

SVS: I remember sitting in your trailer and telling you how scared I was about playing Karen and feeling unprepared, and you encouraged me…and that happened throughout the season. We were both each other’s anchors and a vault to confide in. To know that you have a comrade you’re in combat with is rare.

SJ: Yeah, I feel fortunate that that came about.

SVS: Can you think of any other interests or passions we have in common that connected us?

SJ: Yeah, but nothing I’m going to discuss publicly!

SVS: As I get older, I think having similar values is important, too. How do you feel like you coped the last year?

SJ: Hardly. I mean, we got through it. But this year’s such a trip. This year almost feels like it didn’t happen in some ways, and it absolutely did. I keep calling 2020 the year of reckoning. There were lots of aspects that came up that I reckoned with. And I think people did that on a global scale, too. Do you feel that way at all?

SVS: Yeah, I know we went and marched at the BLM march, and we were out in full force in a lot of ways. I think this last year put in the forefront the things that mattered most. It forced us to be more present. There was nowhere to run. I don’t know if we’ve really even realized everything we learned.

SJ: I hope we start having more open, meaningful and practical conversations about mental health. Mental health is still this sort of subjective term. I think we need to take a hard look at what it is, how to address it, help people with it, and make it a priority in health in general.

SVS: There were so many things that we didn’t want to talk about…racism, mental health…and now we’re ready to talk about them daily. I think it takes that for evolution and change to happen. I hope that last year allows progress to happen even though it felt like we were stuck.

SVS: I guess we can talk a bit about going back to set and working during COVID. Did it effect you a lot?

SJ: Definitely, most of the stories in the second season had already peaked. But mine had just ramped up.

SVS: And then we shut down from March until August!!

SJ: So, on top of getting back in the headspace and kind of working myself back up to where we left off, we also had to do everything under shorter days.

SVS: Did you have anxiety going back to work that first day?

SJ: Oh yeah, hell yeah. We didn’t know what was going to happen.

SVS: Thank God my best friends are the people I work with, because we saw each other through the pandemic. For a good chunk of us, we became family. Ok gorgeous Miss Jones. Any fun style or beauty bits you love about me? And then I’ll share the ones I love about you?

SJ: That bod is something to behold! I wish I had your discipline in your workout and fitness and routine.

SVS: That’s just part of my mental health!

SJ: And what I admire about you is how your beauty radiates through you. Yes, you are aesthetically stunning, but it’s this inner light that you have. Even on days when it might be dimmer, it’s still shining. Which I really admire. And yeah, that booty!

SVS: Listen, you have the attic and I have the basement. If you were to put this house together, we’d be a $10 million dollar package! You know, there was an instance yesterday where I didn’t come to you, and you knew it. That intuition comes from having an open heart. There are moments on the show that I wouldn’t have survived without you. You are my anchor in so many ways.

SJ: I feel the same way. You were a lifeline this year. I’m just immensely grateful to have you in my life. I think you and I both learned how to let go a little bit and lean on each other.

SVS: A hundred percent. So, we’re gonna wrap this up and just tell each other how much we love each other.