Women & Sex

I Love You, Man's Rashida Jones explains what it takes to turn her on

By: Adam Sachs; Photograph: Robert Ascroft
Published: March 2009   [ Updated: Mar 6, 2009 - 5:32:58 PM ]

"I've never been a slow burner," says actress Rashida Jones. In addition to acting on TV and in films—she recently starred in I Love You, Man with Paul Rudd—the 33-year-old beauty has been in music videos and studied Hinduism. When she dabbles, she dabbles with heart, and her enthusiasm extends to her romantic life. "I'm not a believer in dating around. Anytime I've ever dated someone, I just knew the first day and ended up dating him for years." Besides just knowing, there are a few things on her checklist: kindness, humor, openness to new experiences, and meeting her family (that would include her dad, the incomparable Quincy Jones, and mom, the beautiful Peggy Lipton). Here are six more things she's looking for in The One.

Respects (and Expects) the Crazy
"Women have emotional outbursts. We just do. It's hormonal. And the way a guy handles it is a true test of what kind of man he is. The quicker you understand it, the better off you're going to be in a relationship."

Is Enthusiastically Curious
"I like someone who gets up every day and is incredibly excited about whatever he's going to learn, whether it's politics, art, his own spirituality, or just meeting someone new. You have to be interested in the rest of the world. Everything is so much bigger than you are."

Is Inherently Generous
"You can't have hang-ups about money, regardless of how much you have. You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats the people around him, whether it's a friend or a waiter or a ticket taker at a parking lot. If you're a generous person, you're generous all the time."

Knows How to Merge
"I've been in the position where you lose yourself in a relationship and it's just the two of you, but I don't think that's a sacrifice you have to make. It's nice when you can merge with each other's friends. It has to be a merger, not a takeover."