Mary-Charles Jones on being young, funny, and full of creative spirit

This piece was one of three published for a class on feature writing taught by Professor Miki Turner. Read the others here and here.

The CW’s newest show “Naomi,” a coming-of-age story with superpowers galore, is full of trendy young actors. Yet none of them might be as recognizable as Mary-Charles Jones, a name that has populated the lives of young audiences for 16 years. Described by showrunner Ava DuVernay as having the “best comedic timing of any young person [she’s] ever worked with,” Jones hopes to use “Naomi” to showcase her full potential as a creative, while also stopping and smelling the roses along the way.

Jones started her acting career when she was 4 years old, playing roles that remain dear to teens to this day, such as a young Miley in “Hannah Montana” and Isabella in “Dear Dumb Diaries.” It was because of these roles that she first hit it off with “Naomi”'s lead actress Kaci Walfall, who plays the titular character.

“In my audition process, after I did the [Zoom chemistry read] with Kaci and I booked the role, when I met her in real life she informed me that, after our Zoom call…she immediately called up her best friend and goes ‘you’re never gonna guess who I did a read with! I just did a read with the girl from Dear Dumb Diaries! I love that movie!’” Jones revealed.

That relationship carried over into the show, where Jones plays Naomi’s best friend Anabelle. Funny and to the point, some might argue that the character was made with Jones in mind. Her cousin Kelly Jones says the similarity has not gone unnoticed.

“Her personality is very similar. I’m not saying [she’s] not acting, but it’s just so upbeat and so ‘all right let’s do this’, and I love that,” she said.

Still, being so close to a character might give the actor some insight into themselves. That certainly was the case for Jones, whose experience with Anabelle taught her a valuable lesson on being a friend.

“Annabelle has taught me a lot about learning to be in touch with my emotions but also be strong for the people around me. And I think that, throughout the show, and a lot of the scenes between [Naomi] and Annabelle…between both of us, there’s been this idea of such a strong and loyal friendship and that’s something I learned a lot of. Listen, sometimes you might not agree with the problems your friends are having, but sometimes they just need to get it out, and sometimes you just need to say like you know what? You’re not crazy,” said Jones.

While “Naomi” has offered a great experience for Jones to furbish her comedic skills, the actress says she is ready to tackle the less humorous aspects of the role moving forward.

“One thing I really like about our superhero show is that it’s a full drama…And so I’m hoping that with that I can get to do a little bit more of the dramatic parts of our show,” Jones said.

Jones is also interested in working behind the scenes, using the show as a hands-on learning opportunity.

“I would love to get a chance at direct, and produce, and write. I’ve talked to some of the directors and the team behind [Naomi] and made that to them and gotten to sort of shadow them, in a sense, which is amazing. And I’m currently about to start pitching a pilot that I wrote,” said Jones.

However, more than seeking a different job, Jones sees this curiosity as a natural progression for artists like herself.

“I think when people ask why so many actors do music or do writing…We’re very creative people! And we have to have different ways of getting out this creativity. Because if you’re not working on a project, it’s like ‘well I can write another project, I may get two auditions this week, I gotta find somewhere else to put all this creative juice out,’” Jones concluded.