January Jones, who is best known for her role as Betty Draper on Mad Men, is playing the mutant Emma Frost in Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class.  The film is a prequel and like Mad Men, the story is set in the 60s.  However, Jones tells Hero Complex that while the two characters may share a time period, they're very different in personality:

"When I heard that this installment of ‘X-Men’ was gonna take place in the ’60s I was like, ‘Oh my God, you must be kidding me!’ But I read the script and familiarized myself with the character of Emma Frost. She’s so, so far from Betty and from ‘Mad Men,’ and it takes place in that time but it doesn’t feel like a period movie.”

Jones went on to speak about her revealing costumes, her research into the character, and more, which you can read about after the jump.  X-Men: First Class is slated to open June 3, 2011.

For folks not familiar with the character, Emma Frost's special powers include telepathy and being able to morph her skin into a diamond form.  In the film (and in her first appearance in the comics), she a member of the villainous mutant group, the Hellfire Club.  The character is best known for her highly-revealing outfits.  Speaking to Hero Complex about the costumes, Jones said:

"The costumes are insane. It’s a lot of very body-conscious stuff. If you look at the comic book, she’s barely dressed. She’s got quite the bod, which is very intimidating."

However, Jones was told not to hit the gym in order keep her curves and a body style consistent with women in the 1960s:

"I’m thinking, ‘I’m supposed to be doing crunches on the plane.  How am I gonna get buff in one day? I’m a petite person, so I didn’t want to go into a strict workout and eating regime. I would have disappeared entirely, and she’s very busty, very voluptuous, so I didn’t want to get rid of any of my curves."

Jones has been reading up on the character's backstory in the comics, and while she wants to do right by the character and the fans.  However, she's smart enough to know that some fanboys will always be unhappy:

"Fans of the X-Men comics have a very set idea of these characters in their heads.  I wanted to know as much as I could about her so I wasn’t disappointing anyone. I’m sure I will still disappoint someone."

There's still a month left to film.  Jones says of the experience:

"I’m riding around in helicopters, I’m in a boat one day, I’m in all these fight sequences, we’re all over the English countryside.  I feel like I’m a kid playing mutant."

For those just tuning in, here's the official synopsis for X-Men: First Class:

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.