Wow, this is the best Jennifer Aniston has looked in months, right? Good timing too. These are photos of Aniston at the Cake photocall at TIFF on Tuesday. Her navy and black dress is Sportmax – much better than the LBD from the other day, but still… this Sportmax dress isn’t flat-out awesome or anything. But I’m still saying that this is the best she’s looked in a while. She’s tan not orange, she looks fit and toned, her face doesn’t look Botoxed or anything. Her hair isn’t even annoying me. Great appearance!
As for the reviews… Cake has been very well-reviewed this week. Some sites are saying that Aniston could have a place on the shortlist for a Best Actress Oscar, but I’m not seeing it. Maybe that’s my knee-jerk opinion of Aniston, or maybe it’s because after years of reading stuff from her press machine, I can see when something is being strangely overhyped. Take this People Magazine write up:
She’s been called America’s sweetheart, but Jennifer Aniston swept into the Toronto International Film Festival with a warts-and-all star turn that got her a standing ovation – and immediate awards buzz. In Cake, Aniston, 45, plays a woman suffering from addiction, rage issues and suicidal depression after a tragic accident leaves her scarred inside and out. It’s hardly the romantic comedy she’s known for.
With greasy hair, no makeup and a fire she’s never before displayed on screen, Aniston gives a riveting performance that brought the film festival audience to its feet at its Toronto premiere Monday.
“It’s awesome and liberating to let that all go,” Aniston said of her makeunder for the role. “And see yourself looking like that on a 50-foot screen.”
Aniston – who’s engaged to fellow actor Justin Theroux – talked of moving stiffly and with great discomfort, aided by a back brace, to play a woman suffering from chronic pain caused by a car accident. If it looked painful, it’s because she was in pain, she says, adding, “But I’m back now – it took a while.”
She also said she spent time with a close friend and stunt double, who became addicted to prescription drugs after a boating accident, to prepare for the part.
The film, directed by Daniel Barnz, costars Adriana Barraza, Sam Worthington and Anna Kendrick, and it was warmly received at Toronto’s historic Elgin theater.
“Oh my God, that’s so sweet,” said a visibly moved Aniston, looking radiant in a short black cocktail dress and nothing like her character, to an audience member who lauded her bravery for playing a character who is unattractive inside and out.
Barnz called her “the most courageous actress I know” for leaving her vanity behind.
“The most courageous actress I know”? Hyperbole, how does it work? Aniston is literally the most courageous actress EVER for wearing some prosthetic scars on her face and skipping the mascara. I tend to think it’s insulting – people act like “Aniston without makeup” = bridge troll. She’s a perfectly attractive woman and she doesn’t look that different without makeup.
Jen also spoke to E! about how “liberating” it was to do a less glamorous role and how she was able to wander around a Target one night with no one recognizing her because she was in her character’s clothes – go here to read that story. No disrespect in general, because seriously, Aniston’s fans have been begging her to do this kind of serious, unglamorous role for years now. So, I say let the fans have their moment. Let them believe that Aniston will make the Oscar shortlist. Bless them. As of Wednesday night, Cake still didn’t have an American distributor. Just FYI.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Does anyone know why it’s called ‘Cake’? That’s been bugging me for a while…
Cake is delicious.
That’s as far as I can get when reading anything about this movie.
i want cake now. carrot cake.
She looks good.
I love her style. It’s casual and simple. And I like that she never looks overdone.
I like that it is casual and simple–I wish she would just have more color. But that’s minor. I think she would look better in jewel tones, without the tan.
I agree. I’ve always loved her style. I wear a lot of black too so I get wearing what you feel good in, even if it’s the same color most of the time.
I think when you’ve walked a billion red carpets it all just gets old. It would be great if she could mix up her style a bit (hell anything but straight hair would do it!). This looks identical to every other picture I’ve seen of her
I agree. I think her hair is showing her age (most folks have thinner hair as they age), which is a good time to mix it up a bit. The dress is fine. She almost always is fine, but rarely interesting or stunning.
Her hair is thin from all the years she’s been relaxing the curl and bleaching, not age.
I think her skin is actually starting to show her age. It doesn’t look like she’s had any work done (except for the nose a long time ago), and I applaud her for aging naturally, but she needs to start taking better care of her skin. I know she loves to vacation at the beach and be in the sun. She needs to invest in a really good sunscreen.
She has had either fillers or her chin has been shortened. Her child used to be pointed but now it has a more rounded look to it. This from the same woman who said her fiancé would “point a gun at her” if she did something to her face. Well she did, and he didn’t because there is no way her chin became that rounded without work.
Anna Kendrick is so pale next to the other two ladies.
See, I was just thinking that Aniston looks so orange next to the other two women.
I noticed that! I love that young actresses today aren’t doing the heavy spray tan that was THE LOOK in the early/mid ’00s. As a fellow pale gal who scrupulously avoids the sun and wears sunscreen daily after seeing my grandmother have over 30 skin cancer lesions cut out, I love that people like Anna Kendrick, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and others are protecting their skin and showing that a spray tan is not necessary for the red carpet.
Bless her heart.
Southern girl shade haha
She looks like her typical self.
Agreed. I like Aniston, but she’s not someone to watch in terms of fashion. She’s essentially the Kate Middleton of celebrities. Classic, that can border on bland/boring, with the occasional surprise. She has her style that she sticks to and one should set their expectations accordingly. It can be disappointing and frustrating because celebrities have access to SO much fashion, but it’s their prerogative. Just look at pics of Rihanna to sooth the soul. The girl has the body and attitude to pull of anything and boy does she use it.
Based on simply what her long time hair dresser has said and her own admission of her daily (not red carpet) beauty regimen is she puts a load of work in to looking the same and low maintenance.
Why isn’t anybody saying this? SHE NEEDS TO LAY OFF THE FAKE TAN!!! It’s too much!
Added:
Let me restate this. No, she’s not orange, she’s the color of a nice tasty rotisserie chicken. Crispy on the outside and juicy within.
I say it’s a fake tan, because no woman at her age in her right mind would get a real tan that dark.
Agreed. He face is starting to look meaty – a little like jerky.
YES! When you get a certain age it’s time to hang up your tanning googles.
“I say it’s a fake tan, because no woman at her age in her right mind would get a real tan that dark.”
clearly, you’ve never been to the beach in NJ. 🙂
LMAO! You are right my friend.
No kidding – there are some people around here who by August look like scorched leather. I stare at them in amazement from under my umbrella.
lucy2, thanks for the mental imagery. I had to force my breakfast from coming back up. It’s pretty true around Chicago area beaches too. I try to keep my eyes averted.
She and Sean Penn need a tanning/self-tanning intervention.
Mmmmmm. Cake and rotisserie chicken.
She looks good. For all the people that always complain about how “boring” she is–this is her style: classic and simple.
I think it works for her and it’s what she’s comfortable with, no need to get mad about it.
Agreed. And anyway if she did take a fashion risk, people would be outraged at that too.
I agree.
Jep. She is not a fashion girl, not every actress needs to be. When she does try people always complain it is too young. I think her outfit here is very 45.
@Dingo, who wrote: “Jep. She is not a fashion girl, not every actress needs to be. When she does try people always complain it is too young. I think her outfit here is very 45.”
Yes, ‘this’ outfit ‘is’ very 45, but it’s the anomaly in her closet. Can you think of any ‘non-formal gown’ outfit she’s worn that actually hit her knees or just above? For the past 7-years or so Jennifer Aniston hasn’t worn a ‘non-formal gown’ dress or skirt that hasn’t been an inch or two shy of her ‘assets.’ One age appropriate outfit doesn’t erase all of those ‘Gidget Goes Hollywood’ outfits from memory.
If she marries her wee man soon and adds outfits like this one to at least half of her closet I’ll take her off of my shade list.
I agree, although I don’t think it is serving her as well as it used to, especially when it comes to her hair. Her style never evolved, which is fine, but her hair and face have, and I would love to see her look a little softer, a little more interesting.
I agree about the hair–softer, maybe some waves and a few layers would look a lot better on her.
Maybe she should go back to The Rachel? 😉
It’s like all of Chris McMillan’s best work is going to Kim Kardashian right now. He is the best and is the reason why Aniston’s always had such great hair.
@OKitt
I liked that bob that she had for a hot second while promoting ‘Just Go With It’….she should go back to that.
Yup, that’s how I see it too, Kitten. It’s just how she dresses, and it suits her perfectly. But I do disagree about the hair because in general I don’t think women with strong features look their best with fussy or layered coiffures. A simple, naturally straight (or just barelynn hair-do seems to soften the features. Longer would be nice, I think, for the same reason.
Why are you trying to express sane thoughts on Aniston thread?
Yup, she’s always dressed like that. I kind of like it myself, and it works for her. Leave the riskier fashions to Cate Blanchett or Zoe Saldana.
“She’s a perfectly attractive woman and she doesn’t look that different without makeup.”
I agree but you’d never know that from some of the comments people make about her looks.
I like this LBD much better than the other one.
She doesn’t wear a lot of makeup, you know?
Hell, I wear more makeup than she does.
harlot.
😉
I look like a drowsy hooker. as Kaiser would say.
This film sounds very intriguing.
I read that distributors are lining up and bidding wars are ongoing.
I wouldn’t be so quick to rule out an Oscar nomination.
Where did you read that? It’s been 3 days since screening and still no distributors. On deadline it says buyers are interested but nothing about a bidding war.Also the movie is getting panned by critics. It’s currently 3 rotten 1 fresh with more rotten reviews on the way from what I’ve seen. This Oscar buzz is all PR hype. She looks nice here.
Thank you Monica!
I came here to say basically the same thing! The movie is being seriously panned by critics I don’t know where the great reviews are coming in from! More like her PR. Remember the same thing happened last year at TIFF for life of a crime and we all know how that turned out. Her PR went into over drive that Jennifer was fending off rapist and it was her best role and look what happened to it! I hope fore the sake of her career the same thing doesn’t happen to cake as it will be diasatrous!
Even the guy from variety hadn’t seen he movie before reviewing and when he finally did he wasn’t impressed at all. Her PR has gone into over drive and its a joke at this point because people are seeing right through it. She needs to change strategy.
That’s what I was gonna say. It doesn’t have a trailer or a release date…….
There is no bidding war!
If a movie is in a bidding war usually the article mentions all interested distributors.
An article mentioned interested distributors, but no one seems in a hurry to get this film.
Chances are it goes the way of Life of Crime…..buried in very limited release + VOD next year.
It has four reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and three on them are rotten. I think her P.R people must be working very hard at the moment.
Ladies, remember what Kaiser said about letting the fans have their moment?
Top critics are not too fond of the movie to say the least, Jennifer Aniston is not coming anywhere near an oscar nod, she may have a chance with the GG at best.
this doesnt matter anymore. I think she’ll get a nod, as her name makes money. Since Berry won the oscar, the Oscar is not about acting ability, but more on marketability and popularity nowadays, for the most part.
It does so matter! You actually do have to act well to win.
She is not getting a nod without a distributor willing to campaign for her & not without a release date!
Her name makes money? Life of Crime has made $200,000 so far…..she cannot sell a movie on her name.
i can see your point, and that is the way it should be, but please explain how Berry won the Oscar. Both her performance and that movie plot was dreadful. The only thing you could say was, that she took a ‘risk’ by getting naked and doing a risque sex scene.
If it was all about name, then she could’ve been nominated for a GG YEARS before this. There is a comedy/musical section at the GGs, AND she was on a massively popular tv show for ten years–and she won a GG and an Emmy for it. The fact that she HASN’T been nominated for a GG for any of her film roles, even for nostalgia’s sake is rather telling (to me at least).
The GGs wanted Brad and Angelina there so badly that they nominated her in the comedy/musical section, when she was in a romantic thriller (and just using AJ as an example, as that was one of the best examples for HW just nominating people because they like them, not to compare her to Jennifer).
So I think that Jennifer is well liked in the industry–I think she’s a passive aggressive mean girl in her personal life–haven’t heard any bad stories about her (Except for that Jay Mohr one, and we all see how THAT turned out), yet the critics/awards show people do not love her all that much. Isn’t she a member of the Academy?
@VC-
Hey lady!
I would like to add that she is NOT well respected by the top executives and Hollywood makers. Have you seen or heard Harvey Weinstein, Martin Scorsese, Brad Grey, Quinton Tarantino, … ponying up any money or standing by her on her name alone…. for ANY project/short film/movie whatsoever? How about the major studios? No, no, no, no.
Aniston’s name does not get films financed or risky projects greenlit. She is not a shot caller.
FYI: On another website they mentioned a recent movie which seems to be an alleged parody of an actress’ life called Maps to the Stars, starring Julianne Moore. The story is about a vain, neurotic actress with limited range in acting skills, desperate and pressed for her “big break” in Hollywood like her parent… well after decades of attempts in the movie business. Julianne plays Havana, the vain actress, who head trips about her estranged relationship and unresolved issues with her mother. She unwittingly lives in the shadow of her mother yet feels cursed by her. Havana is a woman woefully stuck in her past and really does not have a family (because of her choice to remain angry).
THIS is not a blind item…. who does this movie remind you of??????? Aniston.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I’ll say she looks great when she wears something other than black.
And the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are…not good.
I just went to look at them and actually, they ARE pretty good. Not everyone’s too crazy about the movie, but there’s almost unanimous praise for Aniston.
They are not pretty good! Three Rotten so far. Her maid is the film is being called the MVP & another review says she steals scenes from Aniston. It has been compared to a TV movie & called out for its obvious Oscar baiting.
The bar is set so low for Aniston that anytime she does something a little different she gets way too much praise. If someone is saying this is her best performance ever is not saying much. She has never garnered any award recognition for her film work.
Besides Hammond,what other critic praised her performance? Just curious
I always find it funny how people pick and choose to reference Rotten Tomatoes.
if it’s a bad review for an actor/actress they don’t like, it’s gospel. ditto for positive reviews for someone they do like.
but people who love to use it for those purposes sure seem to ignore it if it goes the other way. this particular one doesn’t have a “rating” on there yet, but three out of four didn’t like it. it does have a good buzz though, with something like 90% wanting to see it.
doesn’t really sound like my cup of tea but bravo to her for getting out of her usual comfort zone.
That 90% wanting to see it is only made up of 43 users!! 43!!!! Other movies have hundreds, thousands….. so no that is not good buzz.
@Lea – true – 43 users is not much.
But then again, this discussion is also being based on 4 critics.
I will likely never see this movie either way, but seems to me it’s too early to be citing Rotten/Fresh.
@ Mia
I’m not just basing it off of the 3 rotten. I just looked up reviews and there are about 3 other upcoming rotten reviews from top trades like the Hollywood reporter and the London evening standard that have not been uploaded yet. This movie is not even going to come close to fresh territory. But good for aniston for branching out .
Looks like something you’d wear at work.
Office dress.
Christopher Guest’s “For Your Consideration”.
Haha I love that movie! yup this oscar buzzzz could be the work of someone’s late night world wide intraweb-ing
such a great, underrated movie.
Yes @doofus!
And don’t you think that aside from Spinal Tap, ALL of those Guest/Levy/O’hara/McKean/Willard/etc/etc movies are underrated?
mia girl, ABSOLUTELY!
Best in Show prob got the most buzz and it was funny, but A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, Waiting for Guffman…they’re all great. and I love that the cast is usually the same folks but doing different types of roles.
Gawd, Jane Lynch’s character’s “how she became part of the group” speech in A Mighty Wind was BRILLIANT.
Completely brilliant! The New Main Street Singers –
so effin funny…
“Humankind is simply materialized color operating on the 49th vibration.”
O’hara and Levy as “Mitch and Mickey” were fantastic too.
If I had to choose…A Mighty Wind would have to be my favorite.
though it’s kind of dark humor, the titles of Mitch’s albums after they split are GOLD.
Home for Purin
I have to go watch “For Your Consideration”, again. I can’t remember how the huge oscar buzz started for “Home for Purim”. Wasn’t it on some Entertainment Tonight type show with Jane Lynch reporting it?
Eh. This dress has better tailoring, and it is very simple and classic. I can’t say anything about her performance in this film-have not seen it, obviously. I dunno-I’m just not a fan of her I guess.
I think her face misses her old button nose.
I kinda think the tan is real, which is crazy to me.
This article from People is straight from her publicist. If your work is good, you do not have to plant these stories. And Pete Hammond loves everything! His opinion is bought.
Jullianne Moore is getting much more praise for Still Alice. She has the same publicist, but he is too busy trying to create Aniston’s Oscar buzz that he is not helping Moore at all.
Good thing Moore is actually great in the role & does not need the fluff on People.
This!
+1000000000000
I hope everything comes together for her. I don’t think she’s nearly as talentless as other people on this site seem to think.
Good for her for trying something different – I personally don’t think she can pull of dramatic acting skills. She is one of the best in comedy but drama is not in her acting skills.
Am I the only one who thinks the older Jennifer gets the more masculine/butch she is looking? Especially her face and shoulders are getting square like.
PS: and yes – her and her agent Huvane has overhyped this movie. No one is talking about this movie except Jennifer’s minions. The reviews are not that great and people who watched it also aren’t saying anything good about this movie.
PPS: since people are mentioning Oscar buzz – is that for 2015 or 2016 Oscars? I am asking because this movie doesn’t have any american distributor and is not likely going to get realised any time soon.
Maybe I’ve just been watching too much of The Office lately, but these photos remind me of Michael Scott. Especially the facial expressions. I don’t know why…
This isn’t orange? Yes, she is orange and yes her dress sucks. She’s still using botox and fillers but her hair looks ok.
“Aniston without makeup” = bridge troll.” lol
I give her credit for doing something out of her comfort zone. It would be very easy to just do a comedy or 2 a year and collect her big paydays, but she tried something new and different, and it sounds like she worked hard at it. Maybe it will lead to a different phase of her career.
i think that’s navy and not black. way to step out of your comfort zone, Jen. i find this woman’s “style” to be so incredibly, mind-numbingly B-O-R-I-N-G that I submit to you that her style is WORSE than Kim Kardashian’s. At least Kim K’s ridiculous outfits don’t immediately put me to sleep! i CANNOT with Aniston’s boringness. CAN. NOT.
I feel Jen wants a slice of the “ImActuallyTalentedYo” cake Matthew McCounaghey and Sandra Bullock are having. The difference between her and those 2 is I actually saw powerful performances from Matt and Sandra prior to their oscar noms. Jen? She was definitely good in The Good Girl, but I wasn’t blown away either.
Depending on her competition, I wouldn’t rule out the oscar nom either.
McConaghey and Bullock also have more charisma/screen presence than Aniston as well.
Well I’m going to go against the grain here and say she looks great and I love her dress. Very classy lady! I hope this movie does really well. I tend to like these smaller independant films because the story line is usually interesting and the acting really good. The big blockbusters dont do it for me anymore because they are all pretty much crap.
Underwhelmed on every level. The dress is so bland. Always looks the same–boring. Variety and Hollywood Reporter say her performance was good if self-conscious. But definitely not Oscar worthy. The character and movie too depressing.
Wow I think the extra few inches to that dress make her look ten times better than the usual minis. Less desperate, for a start.
Just came here re skin……she and Goop make my face wince in sympathy, they look so scorched and parched! They are both of course in great shape etc etc, but both also could do with reassessing their tanning. I think slightly paler would look more radiant and flattering, but mostly, a good deal less ‘ouch’! While I’m at it (myself being a flawless beauty, obvs) Jennifer and GP might ease up on the hair straightener thingy too, get a bit of free movement in the hair. I think it’s the look of having utter control over every eyelash, hair, and fingernail that makes them look so very exhausting/rigid to me, and makes me want to get both to loosen up a bit.
Please tell me why her hair is exalted? Paltrow has the same straight, thin, wispy look and I don’t understand. What is it?
No idea. I don’t get it either.
I like it. It’s a good fit and a good length and it looks nice on her. She’s finally discovering how to dress her age. The hair, though… she needs to lay off the bleaching and blow-drying for a year and get a good conditioner to get it back into shape. It looks dry and wispy to me. I think she should have worn the black Louboutins she wore with the other dress.
As for the buzz… I’m not seeing any. This time last year “12 Years A Slave” blew TIFF away and people were talking about it for weeks afterwards. It’s only a few days since this movie was shown and nobody seems to be all that interested in it. Her publicist shouting “Oscar buzz!” strikes me as rather desperate.
I agree. Her PR machine goes way overboard. “Most courageous actress ever” because she’s not wearing make-up? Seriously? I guess when the naturally beautiful Jennifer Aniston (cue Aveeno commercial here) takes off the layers of make-up and highlights she normally wears, it’s a true portrait of courage, y’all! Oscars must be handed over! 🙂 LOL.
Well, let’s face it. She did have a fairly horrendous week (Brad getting married, Life of Crime laid an egg) so they have to spin her image as hard as they can. That’s what she’s paying them for.
Life of Crime is actually a good movie if you took the the time to watch it and appreciated good acting versus slagging her because she married your idol. I’m sure Jennifer good give two farts about Brad Pitt’s wedding. Dont you think it’s time to move on? Jennifer has.
Holy shut, Brad Pitt married my idol, Maxine Hong Kingston!? Wow–I’m so behind the times. 🙂 Love it when people assume that anything other than fawning praise for Aniston equals Pitt-Joliet fanbot. Yep, that’s the only reason why someone can possibly dislike the over-exposed, vapid Aniston. I don’t think she’s a good actress either. She’s got great PR though, i’ll give her that.
@Maddelina-
What is stopping the many other fans such as yourself from having a discussion about the Life of Crime? THEMSELVES.
They are not filling in the seats to watch her movies. Why? Ask them.
I applaud Jennifer Aniston for trying a different type of role in a different type of film. I have complained for a while that she wasn’t stretching outside of her comfort zone, so good for her. I’m sure it’s scary and difficult to attempt a role that is so outside of what you normally do.
And she might be good in it; I haven’t seen the film, or read enough reviews to know one way or the other.
And to my final point here: she might be good in this film, and it still might not be “Oscar worthy.” Look, I love the Oscars. But between lead and supporting, the Academy nominated 10 performances out of the dozens of strong performances that are usually given. For someone like Aniston, who would certainly build an Oscar campaign on the McConaughey/Bullock model (very famous actor suddenly shows acting chops in a major role), it will take a really, really strong performance in a well received, well respected film for her to be considered, because I think she has to overcome the hurdle of being a “lightweight actor.” It’s not like she’s Amy Adams or Julianne Moore or Naomi Watts or Annette Benning- all of whom could campaign on the “It’s about bloody time!” platform.
Predictably, she missed the point and talk about what a relief it is not to have to be pretty. Zero insight into what the film and her role say about a character who suffers from depression, grief and anger. She so brave. She wore sweat pants in public.
I don’t think she looks good at all, it’s all that orange tan, she would look fresher if she ditched it once and for all.
The makeup is best look I’ve seen on her in years… by far. Usually it’s heavily rouge-laden and harsh at every point. Now it’s just enough and done really well to emphasize her natural good looks. Were I her stylist I’d want her to look at classic but less usual designs. This one looks like it came off the rack, and for a conservative luncheon. There’s better out there for her.
Does she have any other shoes btw – i think she wore the same shoes at tiff as well
wonder if she should change her hairdresser – the hair doesnt look that great. Dress is nice but bland
Well, TIFF is known for D-listed. A well deserved title for JA
What happened to live of crime, is it out at the movies ? it got good reviews. I am not hearing anything about Life of Crime anymore.
Top critics on rottentomatoes gave Life of Crime an overall score of 48%
It opened on 8/29/14 in 37 theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, as of 9/14/14 it is playing in 24 theaters.
The film cost between $10 — $12 million to make and as of 9/14/14 it has earned $242,600 at the box office.
The same day it was released in the theaters, it was simultaneously released on VOD.
14 days after the movie was released, it is safe to say that the film is a complete and utter bomb.
As for Cake, which Huvane has been loudly announcing to all and sundry that it is generating major Oscar buzz for his client, a week after it was shown at TIFF it appears to be moldering on the shelf. It still does not have a distributor and as far as I know, there appears to be scant interest from the studios. A few films shown at TIFF last week have already generated bidding wars, but so far Cake is not one of them.