By Globe Staff

LOS ANGELES – For Rashida Jones, the role of the mysterious naval intelligence officer on the new TNT drama Wanted continues a career filled with success in film, television and music.
The talented performer joins a multiethnic ensemble cast that includes Jones, who is Black, and Hispanic actors Benjamin Benitez and Joaquim de Almeida in the stylistic thriller Wanted.
The show tells the stories of an elite law enforcement team who track down the city’s 100 most violent and dangerous criminals.
Produced by Spelling Television with Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent and series creator Jorge Zamacona (Oz, Homicide: Life On The Street), Wanted is a gritty departure from current police dramas.
Whether with fists, bullets or using the sophisticated technology at their disposal, the members of this underground strike force fight back to capture criminals and restore order on the streets of Los Angeles safe.
“I handle a gun quite a bit in Wanted,” said Jones, who participated in firearms training in preparation for her role as naval intelligence officer Carla Merced in the show. “Of course I am intimidated by guns, but I also have a lot of respect for them because I know what they can do. Guns are certainly over-owned in this country, but in my role, it’s good to be able to have control over something that is dangerous.”
Jones’ character joins a tightknit group of men who’ve bonded through their experiences on the streets. The fictional group has been assembled from the best crime fighters from L.A. Metro Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the FBI, LAPD, and the U.S. Marshal Service.
The unexpected addition of Carla Merced to the team – whose background and skills are classified – causes friction with the team’s leader, Lt. Conrad Rose, played by veteran actor Gary Cole (The West Wing). The resentment of Carla by some of the team members lets up only after they discover that her toughness comes from Naval prisoner of war training and when they see her in action in a tough criminal interrogation.
“It’s a Navy requirement that officers go through prisoner of war training, but you’re not going to find out all the reasons why Carla is so tough, not just yet,” said Jones, who knows the storylines for Wanted’s next 12 episodes. “She’s a woman who’s presented with a lot of challenges, but Carla’s got vulnerabilities, too. You’ll start to see that because of her military background, she’s used to being perfect. She’s built her career on not making mistakes, and she has no concept on how to deal with it. It’s a weakness that’s going to bring her to her knees.”
Wanted pays homage of sorts to the classic television show Dragnet in its extensive use of actual Los Angeles locations. But any other similarities between the shows ends with Wanted’s edgy and realistic look at what the interaction is really like between officers in the squad room and on the street. Wanted also reflects the ethnic diversity of the city it uses as its backdrop.
“I grew up in Los Angeles, but I’ve seen more of the city in the past four months than when I lived here,” said Jones, who currently makes her home on the East Coast. “The show is committed to reflecting the authenticity of Los Angeles. We film in the places that are written in the script, so there are a lot of shots that are defined by our locations in Koreatown, South Central Los Angeles and the canals of Venice.” Prior to her role in TNT’s Wanted, Jones has starred on television in the CBS mini-series
The Last Don with Danny Aiello, HBO’s If These Walls Could Talk II, NBC’s Freaks and Geeks and FOX’s Boston Public. Her film roles include Stephen Soderbergh’s Full Frontal and Little Black Book with Oscar winners Kathy Bates and Holly Hunter.
The Harvard-educated Jones, who earned her degree in religion and philosophy, is the daughter of legendary musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton (The Mod Squad). Jones said that her parents are very supportive of her career. Her mother often advises Jones on parts, and rehearses scripts with her. Jones marvels at the parallel between her role in Wanted and that of her mother’s role as Julie in the iconographic 70’s police series, The Mod Squad.
“I definitely see the irony between my role as Carla and my mom’s work on Mod Squad,” said Jones. “We are playing very different cops: Julie was a bad girl gone good, whereas Carla is a good girl learning that it’s OK to be bad, in a way.”