This might be Jennifer Aniston’s best week in ten years. Easily. And as such, I have to give it to her. She hustled, she played the game, she shilled and shook hands and ignored all of the haters and she got more than she was expecting: within 26 hours, she got a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG nomination, both for Best Actress in film. She’s never gotten a major nomination for her work in film (all of her big awards were for Friends), so… good for her.
She also got to issue statements of thanks on both days. After her SAG nomination, this was her statement: “This is the best 6 a.m. wake up call ever. Words can’t describe how blessed I feel to be recognized like this by my peers for this film. What an enormous feeling of joy and gratitude.” Then she got the Golden Globe nomination yesterday and she made this statement: “I’m just humbled. It’s just all happening so fast and so beautifully. The Globes are a big fun party and it’s so fun to celebrate with your peers. My friend Emily [Blunt] is nominated so I’m excited for her. We’re just going to have a fun night.” Yes, a fun night… with no Brangelina showdown! Oh well. I’m sure Aniston has been celebrating for days. Anyway, Aniston also has some new interviews (done before the nominations) and my God, this woman can hustle. From the Hollywood Reporter:
She’s so happy to be talking about work: “I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to be in a conversation that has to do with something other than trite, silly, you know, ‘Are you pregnant?’ ‘When are you this?’ ‘What’s your hair doing?’ You know, or, ‘You’re just a rom-com person!’ Anything just to have a discussion about the work!”
Her future as a dramatic actress: “I want to make great films. I just want to be working with great directors, doing great stories, not just sitting in that one little category. I understand having to earn your way. I also understand earning people’s trust that you are able to do it. It’s a catch-22. It’s like, well, you have to let me do it to show you, but you won’t let me do it because I’m in that category.”
Her early days in LA, working on pilots that never went anywhere: “I was thrilled to work! I was working more than any of my friends, and I was working way more than I did in New York City. I was like, “Great, I’ve got a great job. Come to it, go.” So when you don’t have any kind of awareness of that, there’s no barometer. I was just happy to be working.
Being seen as only a comedic actress: “I mean, and it’s been a frustrating thing, because — look, I love what I do. I love every job I’ve had, whether they’ve bombed or been successes — and thankfully, we’ve had more successes than we’ve had failures. But it’s like I was saying: I feel like every actor, or at least the ones that are maybe stereotyped, maybe like myself, or put into a category of “They’re this or they’re not, we’ll keep it that” — you know, there’s always this actor wanting to get out. We’re all closeted actors like, wanting to do that other part, because we have access to that ability because that’s what we do. We’re actors. So you have to kind of bang your drum a little louder or go get it yourself or go make it yourself, because there is a little bit of a, “No, we don’t see you in that light, and I don’t trust you.” That’s why it’s so fabulous, these young filmmakers actually find it exciting to go, “Let me put this person, not the expected choice, in that.”
Making a film about chronic pain: “Well, what’s interesting is in the Q&A last night — I did a Q&A and this woman said something to the effect of, “I live with chronic pain, and a lot of people think we’re faking it, and we’re not. We are in severe pain. It took everything in my body, my power to get here tonight, because I wanted to see this movie.” I’ve been getting so much of that, of people saying, “Thank you for portraying it so beautifully,” which couldn’t be a higher compliment to me, because I didn’t want a false note in any of it. I was trying to do something I had no connection, — realistic connection — to, basing it on knowing people and feeling their pain. But also, chronic pain isn’t something that you can diagnose because it’s really a patient to patient sort of declaration of, “I have pain.” You can’t sort of, you know, give the test and say, “You, in fact, do have chronic pain.” There are people out there who are kind of just playing it up because they want the drugs.
Being called ‘brave’ for going without makeup: “That’s so funny, how that’s so “brave.” I understand it, though. It’s Hollywood.”
That interview is actually really, really long and she answers questions about her entire career. It’s worth a read if you like her. She also invited THR into her Bel Air home, and the whole thing took place in “Justin’s office.” Well played, girl.
Jennifer also has a decent interview with HitFix – go here to read. She talks at length about creating the character in Cake, her research for the film, how she “begged” for the role and all of that. She also shills for Justin Theroux’s show, The Leftovers! Because of course! She says she watches every episode on Sunday and she has her theories and Justin won’t ever spoil the story for her.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
This is a good interview. I like how she says she’s loved working on every project, hit or bomb. She’s working it!
Maybe this move to do other roles is also influenced by Theroux. I could see him encouraging her to get out of her box.
I thought it sounded like Theroux gave her talking points to try to change her image. She can’t play those rom com parts forever, so what else does she have to offer? Suddenly she is Deep! What prevented her from talking about “the work” before now? Why did she accept endorsements for silly products if she wants gravitas so much? Seems like the real story is simply that she is getting old and her usual schtick is not going to work much longer. Many of the older actresses still left on the playing field are actually talented. The fluff gets stripped away because there aren’t that many parts to go around. That must be scary for someone who needs attention as much as she needs air.
Well if she’s hustling then she needs to get serious. Cake isn’t trying to attract an audience looking for fluff and winning a serious award requires talking about the work. Talking about her hair will not benefit her hustle here. Logical no?
I have to agree with Artemis, here. All that this last round of campaigning and promoting is showing me is that Aniston is a professional. When she needs to push silly comedies and light tv shows, she can be light and silly. When she is involved with a more dramatic project, she can do serious talks. And she does play the “detail” game quite nicely; lots of little pieces of information, some decent storytelling… it shows that she listens to her team and has a good mind for business.
I am actually impressed. She may even have a new fan.
It strikes me as odd that you’re giving JT credit for what she’s said here. I think all the conversations about hair and her ex and whatever other fluff have been media-driven and now that this film is getting noticed the conversation is (thankfully) changing. Not sure how he fits in.
Blah blah blah she still can’t act. All the pole-dancing and earnest interview-giving and bids for respect won’t change this simple fact. Not that it matters much in Hollywood, but I’m surprised that, as a rapidly-aging actress with fewer and fewer options open to her, she’s getting this much attention for all the shilling and glad-handing. People must feel they owe her, but I don’t know why.
There’s no way Aniston could do a period piece, or a strenuous drama such as Wild (which relies totally on Witherspoon credibly playing at least 10 years younger than she is) or even a witty comedy light years away from Horrible Bosses (say something from Wes Anderson or Richard Curtis). Hell, she was awful on 30 Rock – it was way beyond her ability.
Still, I think she might just go the distance with this little movie role, because she’s manipulating awards voters into giving her some bones because 1) poor Jen, 2) everyone loves Rachel Green, and 3) she deserves awards for “all her hard work over the years.” Yeah.
I agree, Mia Girl.
I cannot hate on Jen for doing something different-good for her!
… and it’s nice to read an interview where she’s not talking about her hair.
Or denying preapproved rumors. This showed a bit of depth.
She’s a strong and savvy business woman. It’s about time she started to embrace that in a more public setting and stop with the pity Aniston whle she plays different version of Rachel in movies.
Hope this is a sign of things to come!
Yes, although I have always thought she should play up her comedic talent, develop it further-like madeleine kahn and those types. I know JA isn’t as talented, but she does have great comedic timing. That is a hard thing to ‘learn’ and she just has it. But it’s not just lighty and fluffy, you can develop it further and not just use it in rom coms. I’d love to see her in a sandra bullock/melissa mccarthy/marisa tomei type of comedy that isn’t centered around a love story like a rom com is. Why do actors think only drama shows serious actor image?
I think she has untapped comedic abilities but that’s just my .02. She’s not an amazing actress but she’s decent in most things [though HORRIBLE in marley and me, own wilson acted circles around her]. But there are certainly many actresses who are far worse than her and who get way more work, so I don’t quite get the trashing she gets.
Also, she is definitely a good business person. Savvy.
I’ve got to hand it to her – she’s made the most of what she has. One could certainly call her average-looking, but she’s worked hard and created a very long career for herself, and this year may be one of its high points. Good for her.
Here here. Jennifer Aniston on paper is a serious underdog in Hollywood. Shes heavily associated with TV thanks to the reruns. She lacks movie star looks. The Brad Pitt story has got to be humiliating especially coz it means being perpetually compared to a younger, much hotter, more in demand movie actress.
But she somehow made it all work for her. People slag her off f but this is a very savvy business woman. She understood that her brand had to be created in the hearts (rather than in the loins or in the minds) of her audience. Shes managed to remain in peoples consciousness even as people forgot the names of her more talented co-stars on friends. And she created a brand and a following to reckon with. A formidable enough brand that studios will trust her to deliver a profitable film. Dont forget she s managed all of this in her late 30s/40s, in an industry to happily discards anything that age. I think that part of it has been a smart media strategy but a bigger part is relationships.
Jen is very good at crafting loyal friendships. Thats why Huvane goes over and above the call of duty for her when he could focus on building his other stars. Its why she can always score a top talk show to sell a film, from Kimmel to Ellen. Its the reason she gets so much repeat work from a certain group of comedic actors (Rudd, Bateman and co). Its the reason you can count on her holidays /parties to be tabloid ready because they are always star studded. She is very well liked is my conclusion and shes able to make it work for her.
Call me a softie but this is someone I can root for. And dont worry, I’m perfectly capable of rooting for that other person closely associated with Jen too.
extremely well said. you’ve summed it all up perfectly.
@Brandii, who wrote: “But she somehow made it all work for her. People slag her off f but this is a very savvy business woman. She understood that her brand had to be created in the hearts (rather than in the loins or in the minds) of her audience. Shes managed to remain in peoples consciousness even as people forgot the names of her more talented co-stars on friends. And she created a brand and a following to reckon with. A formidable enough brand that studios will trust her to deliver a profitable film.”
I hear you, really I do, but with all due respect Steven Huvane–Jennifer Aniston’s Guru Publicist–deserves 99.9 percent of the credit for keeping her relevant. The man is nothing short of a genius.
She comes across lucid and cogent in this interview.
ha! that’s what I took from it, too. I was like “all of sudden she’s articulate?!”
They ran out of weed that day.
lmao
No way, dude. Weed makes you, like, smarter and stuff, man…
Kitten, weed makes YOU smarter. It’s clearly not the same for Aniston and Von Brow.
Von Brow eats pizza and complains about political correctness when he’s stoned.
Is what I heard.
Pizza is annoyingly politically correct. It never tells me how fat I look after eating it, it just says, “Go lie down on the couch, gorgeous”. IT LIES in order to be nice.
Pizza is a strange and delicious bedfellow. Last weekend, pizza joined me in the boudoir and we had relations.
And by “had relations” I mean that I ate pizza in bed until I passed out in a grease-filled haze of indigestion and happiness.
Also, please don’t call it pizza–that’s politically incorrect. The proper term is “tomato and cheese pie”.
I am not a fan of Jennifer (as you all know) but damn I have to admire her for creating the whole fake good girl image and make it work.
She is the biggest hustler and constantly contradicts herself and never gets called out on it. She doesn’t have any real friends only CAA showbusiness friends and yet people claim she has lots of friends in Hollywood.
She ruined 3 relationships and yet never gets the hatred other women get because she supposedly was cheated on.
She constantly sells her relationships for publicity and yet people call her private.
She always badmouthes her close friends and yet is called a wonderful friend.
Damn Jennifer and her PR agent Huvane are the biggest media manipulators in Hollywood. Although it is a known and proven fact that Huvane threatens the media if they write anything bad/truth about Jennifer.
PS: good for her for the nominations – she did literally get on her knees for this role and nominations and at least she is honest about that.
Everybody who’s A-list are big hustlers. To get at the top in that business, you have to hustle. If anything came out of that Sony hack, it’s how ruthless and crazy those people are. You really think lazy people or people who don’t care, can EVER reach the top? This is why so many people succumb to drugs, waste money and/or indulge in extramarital relationships. Something to take the pressure off. In that respect, Aniston is one of the sane ones but that doesn’t mean I’m dismissing her cunning ways.
Also her friends include Emily Blunt and her husband, Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sheryl Crow, some really big shots and private people. If she really was that horrible, she wouldn’t attract those type of people.
I don’t know what relationships she ruined but it seems to be the thing to say she and Theroux started when he was with Bivens which is odd because the status of their relationship was questionable. One because they were on-off and two he referred to himself as single in some interviews. He wasn’t that famous before Wanderlust so it’s hard to determine what the real state of their relationship was. Bivens didn’t say anything but then, does that mean there was overlap or not? Not sure if that was any proof of an overlap.
They all hustle. I don’t notice her doing it as much as others. She’s been promoting Cake for only a few weeks and mostly during the Horrible Bosses 2 PR. This woman has been misrepresented and portrayed incorrectly for years by certain quarters of the media with another agenda. People seem to have difficulty separating fact from fantasy. I think you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep, and Jennifer Aniston keeps great company.
Artemis, you are trying to reason with the unreasonable.
Do not engage!
Do not engage. That’s good advice and also hilarious.
@Artemis, who wrote: “I don’t know what relationships she ruined but it seems to be the thing to say she and Theroux started when he was with Bivens which is odd because the status of their relationship was questionable. One because they were on-off and two he referred to himself as single in some interviews.”
That ‘on again, off again’ crap came from an anonymous ‘source’ close to Justin after the made their relationship public and everyone found out Justin was in a 14-year relationship with Heidi Bivens. Everybody latched onto it like a lifeline because no body wanted to believe ‘Sweet, innocent girl next door’ Jennifer Aniston would ever do such a thing! Not after man-eating Villainess Angelina Jolie stole her man! Oy.
Here are two things for your consideration. The first is a photo at Broadway.com of Justin Theroux and Heidi Bivens attending the April 25, 2011 “House of Blue Leaves” Broadway premiere, looking very much like a couple. In fact, the ‘About this photo’ caption reads (obviously by someone who knows them) “Justin Theroux is accompanied by his longtime love, stylist Heidi Bivens.” The premiere was just 3-weeks before Jen’s big announcement that Justin was her new man. And by the way, the ‘they were on again, off again’ sourcing stopped once this “House of Blue Leaves” date night photo of Justin and Heidi surfaced (I didn’t originally ‘search’ for it, I saw it in a magazine article a week after the ‘source’ said Heidi and Justin had been on again, off again at best):
http://www.broadway.com/shows/house-blue-leaves/photos/rock-the-house-ben-stiller-edie-falco-and-the-blue-leaves-company-celebrate-opening-night/162129/house-of-blue-leaves-opening-night-heidi-bivens-justin-theroux
The second thing for your consideration is an interview with Heidi Bivens at the Great Escapes travel blog, published (ironically) on May 16, 2011 around the same time Jen and Justin were declaring themselves a ‘couple’ titled “Great Escapes: Stylist-We-Love Heidi Bivens Says Aloha from Kauai!” In the article Heidi talks about the Hawaii vacation she Justin enjoyed that winter (2011):
http://www.refinery29.com/great-escapes-stylist-we-love-heidi-bivens-says-aloha-from-kauai
@Ally: her real friends are vile racist Chelsea Handler, pervert pedo Terry Richardon and women beater Joe friends.
Yeah she is the company she keeps.
I don’t think she expects to win. I think she just wants nominations. That’s the win for her.
I think that Jenn might be satisfied with an Oscar nomination but would be happy with a win of some sort.
She’s already gotten over the first hurdle and the competition isn’t insurmountable.
Now is not the time to be satisfied.
Now is the time to ramp up her campaign to the next level.
I would say the competition IS unsurmountable – Julianna Moore
@Emma: don’t try to reason with the unreasonable.
They think we are crazy because we dare to write stuff and then back it up with evidence.
They – not so much. and yet they continue to critize us.
@Maya …
Agreed. I don’t know why I even bother. But … whatever. 🙂
That’s a good idea I think–just don’t bother.
@Kitten …
It’s not that I won’t bother because it’s only your ‘opinion’ and I can’t/shouldn’t attempt to change anyone’s opinion. I won’t bother because whenever I or others post a link to a source with data that absolutely shows ‘the opinion’ you’ve formed, and treat as fact, isn’t in fact based upon ‘fact,’ you hardcore Aniston fans deliberately ignore it or pretend you didn’t see it in order to justify holding on to your ‘opinion.’ And by ‘you’ I mean the universal ‘you.’
Your obsession with these women is pretty scary…..
Kitten, you’re so hardcore, dude.
Seriously, if you aren’t being paid by anyone to write such long “evidence backed” (LOL) diatribes against this woman, I suggest you chill. You do realize this is a gossip site? This can’t be healthy.
Ladies … Thanks for proving my point. 🙂
I think she wants the wins. She wouldn’t deserve any of them, but she wants them. Fortunately for her, “being deserving” isn’t high on awards voters’ lists of reasons to vote for one performance over another. It comes waaay after “how much do I owe this person?” or “how much do I like this person personally?” or even “is everyone else voting for this person?”
Funny because angelina jolie didn’t receive nominations.
That’s because Angelina doesn’t bribe nor go down on her knees for various reasons like Jennifer admitted she did.
Well…actors/actresses allow themselves to be stereotyped by picking movies in the same genre. They have the option of not signing on, yet, they still. Jen has done that since the end of Friends.
Not all actors get an opportinity to make films outside of what people think it is their range and for comedic actors and people from TV it is expecially difficicult to transition to dramatic film work. There are not that many TV stars and many comedic stars who have managed to do different things later in their career.
But it is kind of unfortunate most of the comedies are so horrible. If those films were better people acting in them would be a bit more respected (and we would not be subjected to watching such horrible things, romcoms are fortunally dying out actually).
Yeah, and I don’t get her comment about wanting to work with “great directors” and make great films. I always assumed she had that power in Hollywood, so what was the obstacle?
I don’t get this connection about going without makeup and chronic pain. I suffer chronic pain. Yesterday, it was so excruciating, I could hardly lift my arm. But I somehow managed to go out with mascara and lipstick.
The chronic pain isn’t what makes her character not wear make up. Her character has chronic pain but also a host of emotional issues — depression, addiction/dependency, PTSD, suicidal ideation. The character has either given up on or is not able to take care of herself, physically or emotionally.
I don’t think Lilac is saying that, there are things wrong in the clips/reviews/interviews so far that are wrong. I am not going to say what at this time what they are, someone should have already done their research …but to chronic pain sufferers (not those trolling for drugs)…should know.
I am no Jennifer Aniston fan and don’t think she’s all that talented but this is her best week ever professionally and one of Jolie’s worst. Jennifer Aniston has made her second act post friends on the back of the Jolie Pitt mess and she is finally reaping real professional rewards. A little bit of karma doesn’t hurt. Bravo Jen, Bravo.
That you think Aniston has to have success at the expense of another IS NOT the way any REAL blessing or success comes. Hopefully, Aniston’s recognition is coming because of talent.
If it based on revenge, … well then, revenge for what??? It is HER 20 year-film career and film roles that she chose. She just said that she chose film roles mindlessly because she was happy to be working. Lots of films, no film recognition until the past two weeks???
Revenge on whom???
“Revenge” has been the subtext of her fans for the past ten years. They see everything this woman achieves as some kind of payback for what the Jolie-Pitts supposedly did to her. All her monumental pain and suffering and the failure of multiple subsequent relationships has been their fault. Her fans have been coddling and swaddling this woman ever since her marriage disintegrated. They have been wanting her to have a “revenge baby” for the past ten years to spite Brad Pitt, who wouldn’t give a damn if she had septuplets.
On the other hand, is she some character from a Mike Myer’s movie whose sole motivation is revenge? Or might she be a mufti-faceted human who has goals which have nothing to do with either side of fan fanaticism talking points?
@Kiddo – Sheesh. Stop making sense.
Did you run out of weed too?
Kiddo, you’re being far too logical today. I must stop you right now.
Yes! Mike Meyers. Party on.
I also read Mike Myers and thought about Wayne’s World. Jen would definitely be Garth, though.
@Janet-
I agree that there exist silly JenHens who have waited long for “vindication”– but they are projecting their own insecurities into the mix.
I am talking about Jen’s understanding of HER stagnant film career development, or lack thereof, which showed very little growth. When have we ever heard of Jen turning down a great film role that someone else picked up or about a movie she headlined and played the lead actress?
She took on a lot of films that went nowhere. Earlier this year The Life of Crime received very little attention – there wasn’t much to her role as an unwanted kidnapped wife.
Again, not being recognized by your peers for over 20 years in film IS a statement. Hopefully she has looked inward and done some soul searching. It appears her popularity and Huvane have kept her employed rather than star talent. She has still yet to fill seats in a movie theater on just her name alone – even WITH the Rachel over-exposed popularity. And she CAN blame her fans for that.
I keep wondering about that. Why don’t these legions of adoring fans she’s supposed to have support her movies? Angie’s total box office is $5.7 billion. Aniston’s total box office is $1.4 billion. What’s up with that? If she had as many fans as her fans want everyone to think, her movies wouldn’t have to go into limited release. A studio would pick them up much earlier. For them it’s all about the bottom line — how many butts can she put in seats. She definitely comes up short.
I’m a self-proclaimed “JenHen” and I don’t give two sh!ts about Angelina Jolie’s week. I’m just excited that Jennifer is getting recognized and may now have an opportunity to accept better roles and shift the trajectory of her career a la McConnaughey and SaBu.
@Kiddo exactly. I am tired of stans on both sides. Who cares. I don’t think she’s that great an actress and I would say the same about AJ. I don’t see how people are like ha this is revenge on AJ for what she did with Brad (Jesus wept).
Either way Julianne Moore is going to win. If JA comes in and upsets her I think a lot of people in HW will equate this with how GP won the Oscar out of nowhere and how MT did too.
@starrywonder, With a name like yours, shouldn’t you be focusing on what’s really important? And by that, I mean bowing down to the COMET that is Sophie. 🙂
@Janet, who eloquently wrote: ““Revenge” has been the subtext of her fans for the past ten years. They see everything this woman achieves as some kind of payback for what the Jolie-Pitts supposedly did to her. All her monumental pain and suffering and the failure of multiple subsequent relationships has been their fault. Her fans have been coddling and swaddling this woman ever since her marriage disintegrated. They have been wanting her to have a “revenge baby” for the past ten years to spite Brad Pitt, who wouldn’t give a damn if she had septuplets.”
Wow … I’ve never seen it put so well and so succinct over the past 10-years. Well done! (clap, clap, clap) :0
I really don’t see this as revenge. I said about damn time because it has taken her nearly twenty years to get a nomination.
Well then – I am still waiting for karma to hit Jennifer and to see Sandra Bullock, Joanna Gartin & Heidi Biven’s revenges. You know the three women’s relationship sweet little Jennifer ruined….
How is this a bad week for Angelina? She’s gotten tons of press for the second film she directed. Reviews are mixed, but by no means bad. It will open in wide release, not just 7 days to qualify for an award. David Fincher is hot to work with her. Scott Rudin is frustrated that she’s powerful enough to get in his way and he and Amy Pascal are the ones that look like peevish dolts.
Jolie was just diagnosed with chicken pox !$&@! And will probably have to miss weeks of promoting her film because…well you know it’s a contagious disease and dangerous when you’re an adult. I got chicken pox when I was 25 and was sick for weeks. Feel very badly for her. Yeah….I’m gonna say not a great week for Jolie….hope Amy Pascal has already had chicken pox the way she was trying to manhandle Jolie the other day.
Oh to also have that frustration. While rolling around in my piles of Friends money.
Lol. She’s acting as though she’s an actress who’s had mainly supporting/bit roles for the last 20 years, in comedic films, and now all of a sudden she has the opportunity to branch out. She could’ve branched out years ago, if she wanted to. While doing all of those ‘big money’ comedic films, she could’ve done a small indie film with her own money-if she really wanted to.
I’m guessing that she was scared to move past the cute girl trope. She probably got jobs that typecast her as Rachel, over and over, and yes, she could have turned them down because she had money, but then she might have disappeared from public view, which I guess is terrifying for a big star. Maybe she matured enough to realize that she could and would take a chance on doing some serious acting now, since the ‘cute girl’ roles have an expiration date.
#benefitofthedoubt
Agree with this assessment. These egos need to be fed constantly, don’t they?
She could have chosen to do supporting parts in interesting films or she could have done the begging for different roles years ago… She may just finally be realizing she can’t keep on playing Rachel forever. What’s cute at 28 is not so adorable at 48 so she is finally branching out.
Have no liking for her whatsoever as an actress or person but from a professional stand point she did all the right things the last month, hence the nominations. Still won’t go see Cake, and I am still not buying her carefully cultivated image because at the end of the day she is still incoherent and a fake (hair, Mexico, eyeballs, babies, blah), but I am giving her props for the way she has played the game recently.
@Kiddo
I think she realized she was going to have to move on. That’s why she started doing the ‘raunchy’ comedic films, and then ‘Cake’ and ‘She’s Funny That Way’ (does anyone know if that one got a distributor yet?). Which, sure. Good for her. I don’t like any of her movies (except for Horrible Bosses–but Colin Farrell was freaking hilarious).
But she talks like the world was holding her back. Girlfriend, please. It’ll be interesting to see what she does next year. Maybe she and Justin’ll get married. You know we’re gonna see them on a lot more RC’s now. He’ll break out his special guyliner for these awards shows.
“While doing all of those ‘big money’ comedic films, she could’ve done a small indie film with her own money-if she really wanted to.”
I mean…. that’s basically what she did with Cake, right?
@Angela
I’m saying she should’ve done it ten years ago, or even while she was still doing Friends.
She’s saying that it was hard for her to break out of comedic films–that she was type cast. But she has tons of money, and could’ve done an indie film every year or two, during the years after Friends. If she really wanted to. But she didn’t. So she was somewhat complicit in being stereotyped as a comedian.
I mean, good for her that she broke out of her stereotype, but she had some part in it. That’s all I’m saying.
apparently, Angela, she didn’t do it SOON ENOUGH for some folks.
she’s not allowed to grow and/or evolve on her own timeline, she has to do it by other people’s idea of what the schedule will be.
Kiddo, that seems like a logical and reasonable explanation. As I read it it occurred to me that it also could apply to Matthew McC and his evolution from dude-bro to serious actor. JA is certainly not the first or only actor to face this situation.
Oh good Lord.
It’s not so much a criticism as a fact. She says she was type cast as a comedian. Because she chose to play comedic/romantic roles. Over and over again. All I’m saying is that when she really started her film career, she had an advantage that a lot of other actresses didn’t have, which is a built in audience, and a boat load of money. The least of which was $16.6 million a year, for five years. Just from FRIENDS.
Ergo, she could afford to take the risks that she’s said she wanted to take–for years.
She’s been saying for years how she’s wanted to do more than comedy–starting with that movie she said she was going to direct and star in–Goree Girls. She’s 45 years old. She can afford to reflect back on her career choices honestly–obviously she has done this, and decided to go in a different direction. She’s been saying this for years. She FINALLY did it. Good for her.
And if Mathew M. did the same/ said the same, then I’ll say the same thing to him. However I haven’t seen any of his films since A Time To Kill….
Except she has done roles other than rom coms, they are the ones that your crowd love to bash her for: good girl, office space, derailed etc. she has been trying to do other roles albeit with little success. The thing about aniston is that she just carries on with her life, not really complaining as she has said just happy to be working. When she is not promoting she is hardly seen, except for her lingering presence on tabloid covers! Which I know most of you say is her doing… But I think is just a made up narrative and another reason to bash this woman. Whenever there is a story in the tabloids about her good/bad it’s her publicist/pr but if its about another, it becomes oh they don’t need publicity the tabloids just love to make stuff up. Seriously no logic whatsoever. Now, can I say that publicists or PR persons don’t plant stories? No. That would be dumb! But to go around trying to convince the Internet that every story about some is PR driven is kinda nutso, jmo!
She is like any other celebrity, hustle, work, red carpets, sell movies. Some are just better than others at it….doesn’t make her less than anyone, it’s that way in every profession, some are simply better than others. The end!!
I Love Jennifer Aniston.
Lord-a-mighty– last night’s ABC evening news talked about the Cake performance as “groundbreaking”. Since Entertainment Weekly mag showed her as a worthy Oscar contender, the machine is working for her. But please let Julianne Moore get her much deserved love. Amen.
I’ll join your prayer circle, because as much as I might admire Aniston’s hustle, it would be a true and punishable crime if she wins any awards over Moore.
Congratulations to Jennifer Anniston. Good for her. Her hustle is working. Go Jenn. Kudos to her, can’t find fault with a woman who is working her butt off and getting results from her hustle.
I’m not a fan of her acting but I haven’t seen Cake yet. Well done to her, getting these nominations.
If she gets an Oscar nod, I think Celebitchy site will crash. LMAO 🙂
Exactly this. I am glad that her hard work and hustle paid off. I hate how some people pretend that trying to get recognition for hard work you are proud of is something laughable or shameful. I really like her in this interview.
An actress that talks about her BODY OF WORK instead of her body– WOW!! Well, Jen, that’s what you SHOULD have been talking about all along.
The comments about her hair– well, she is 100% to blame for the quality of ALL of her past interviews because she willingly participated in each and every one of those mindless statements and quotes.
I am thinking that she is traveling in better circles of company (Emily Blunt, Krasinsky) and her expressions of self and confidence are improving.
LMAO about how she is an “artist” now. She speaks as if she was caged in before. Truth is she was getting in her own way.
Of course she was going to be called brave for going without makeup. After focusing her whole adult life on her external appearance, she probably believed, along with everybody else, that her appearance is all she is. Have you ever heard her described in any way as smart, intelligent, talented, etc.? The only adjectives I’ve ever heard used to describe this 46 year old woman are “cute” and “adorable”, which she clung to like a life raft as long as she thought they worked for her. She finally realized she can’t skate through the rest of her life playing theme and variation of Rachel Greene.
Check the Guardian´s Peter Bradford’s 10 best lists today. He picks JA for Horrible Bosses 2 in his list of 10 best supporting actresses. Go, Jen!
Don’t look now, but Horrible Bosses 2 got some pretty horrible reviews.
Wait, seriously? The extent of her role was asking the three main characters to do a #1 and a #2 on her. Her character (which was funny in the first movie), was absolutely disgusting. Period.
And there’s a deleted scene where her character has sex with Dale while he’s unconscious in a coma. WTF?
? seriously? HB 2 was awful. That movie is getting panned all over. Best supporting actress? Are you for real? Heck I rather Anne (with an E) get it for Interstellar since I found her role to be a lot better than whatever the heck MM was doing.
All reviewes applaud her for going out of her rom-coms type of films but no one said she was that good to be nomination.. that shows you how Aniston played her PR.
SMH … Just because she played scared women dose not mean she was that good guys. reviews are there and they are not that glamorous as media and PR try to paint.
From HitFix:
“Yes, the makeup’s off, but so are almost all of Aniston’s familiar mannerisms we’ve seen in one studio comedy after another. Aniston makes you believe in Claire’s pain. She makes you believe this character is at her lowest point and only she can pull herself out of it. There is no Oscar scene. There is no massive crying fit. It’s a complete performance from beginning to end and she deserves the appropriate accolades for it.”
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/review-jennifer-anistons-impressively-raw-performance-tells-her-critics-to-eat-cake#8bDcPKYo32lIZig2.99
To be honest, comedy is her niche, just like action genre films are Jolie’s. It’s just what they do most naturally, but there’s no reason anyone shouldn’t reach outside his/her comfort zone to try something new.
While I thought the Cake trailer was interesting, and I’d rent or stream it, I still thought many of the scenes delivered a sort of dark comedy that wasn’t all that far from her usual comedic roles. If that’s so, then she’s really typecast herself over the last 20 years.
A parallel, as discussed on a couple days old AJ thread, I don’t think serious dramas are AJ’s forte, though many like them, just as I’m guessing serious dramas won’t be JA’s.
*shrugs*
Eh, I saw the trailer, and if it hadn’t been for Jennifer being in the film, I would’ve written it off as being one of those generic indie film trailers that populate youtube. Where they queue the feel-good, be happy, uplift-yourself-from-your-dark-place music right at the end, after the majority of the trailer is depressing. It looked like a Lifetime movie trailer to me.
I’m just so shocked that she got nominated for anything because no studio wanted to buy the movie. It only got distributed (for one week) because the production company had a five picture deal with Warner (I think it was Warner). And it’s not because the movie was so controversial either.
Jennifer won’t be the first to be nominated for a so-so performance, but with all of the drama and hustle that went into getting the film made, THAT’S what makes me side eye the nomination. If a studio had picked up the movie at TIFF, or if the reviews were like ‘this movie is amazing, but not commercial’ then I would’ve been fine with her nomination. I don’t think she can act, but plenty of people do–just like plenty of people hate Angelina’s acting, and I love her acting.
It’s just all so staged to me. I mean, even when Angelina got that nom for The Tourist–a film that was almost painful to watch because she and Johnny were SO awkward with each other–I don’t recall her going to screening after screening, going on talk shows with her friends repeating how “Oscar worthy” she was of the movie–like it was her first movie EVER. It just feels so fake. Maybe because she did it all so publicly–you have to kiss ass behind doors for it to be a win.
It may very well be a nomination of concession to her, I don’t argue that. I’m sure she & her agent are working every possible angle to successfully shift genres. I can’t care enough about her or any other actor/-tress to compare hustle styles- I don’t hold actors/actresses of any stratus in high regard; they, by virtue of their craft, are all pretenders/poseurs to me. Again…*shrugs*
I agree with all of this especially reading the reviews for Cake. I really don’t see what’s so good about her role. Most reviews were either bad or mixed from the five or six I read. Some liked her performance others said she didn’t bring anything to the table. The reviews were pretty mixed. I really didn’t see anyone say she gave an outstanding performance. I think this is more of her publicist and her hustle than her acting chops in Cake.
Oh, puh lease.
I’ve always thought she is not movie material, I think she is a solid tv actress , in any case good for her. And my best compliments to her publicist: the hardest worker in the biz.
And since Matthew McConaughey won the oscar the “I was trapped in role in Hollywood” has become a real thing.
if it makes her feel better, i never thought she was funny
That too.
Coffee snort at that, thanks, sheesh!!
Jen’s image as an actress and career retrospective are set. SHE made those choices. An award nom at this point changes none of that.
Poor Jen.
What’s so bad about being known as a comedy actress? Comedy is hard to do well.
I am also facepalming with all the Jolie references when talking about Aniston’s nominations. It’s not like any of the parties in question care anymore.
From a purely acting perspective, comedy is much more difficult than drama.
Since Aniston has shown her versatility to do both well, the “dark comedy” or “dramedy” might become her new niche.
What a lot of words to express so few thoughts. She has been actively campaigning for this, so quit acting surprised. All I want to know is will her path cross Angelina’s.? There was already a breakfast and A. was there; I would assume J. was there unless she is still playing her silly avoidance games.
I think that the Sony leaks have shown us that actors have no power at all in Hollywood. This is why people like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Queen Latifah, etc. have their own production companies. This enables them to do the work they want not the work that the Hollywood executives want them to do. Angelina is a great example of this. One of the most powerful women in Hollywood who desperately wanted to play Cleo and was shut down. Once you are type cast in Hollywood and they make money off you it is almost impossible to change that. Hollywood if brutal. Even if you hate Jen you have to admit that her getting this role and then releasing it without a big backer and then getting the nods is nothing short of amazing.
Great comment. Maybe–HOPEFULLY more and more actors will take more power over their films.
Another thing I didn’t know was that studios had a final say in the director’s cuts of movies. Which I think is total bull. I don’t think you can qualify a movie for Best Picture/Best Director, when it’s the studio heads (or whoever) that are changing things. I don’t think that’s right. If they do change something, then it should be noted (and who knows maybe it is).
I think that public overestimates what power stars have when they are the ones promoting films and the producers and directors are largely unknown. But movies stars who can open films are becoming rarer and rarer and they do not have much power anymore. Jen may have power to green light comedies but I doubt that much else and the I do not the serious directors are really interested in casting her. She could have gotten supporting roles in some films I am sure but there is nothing wrong with making comedies really. So she might have preferred to do comedies if she could not get good lead roles in dramatic films.
SHE has her own production company as well— Echo Films. It has been around since 2005/2006. And it sounds like you may not know how her films have faired :
Management
Love Happens
The Switch
The Goree Girls
Aniston has seemed reticent to pony up out of her own pocket to fund the projects she states she believes in. She may sell magazine covers but her film resume has not been strong enough to attract executives to buy her film product as a stand alone.
Like I said, maybe she is turning a corner. Maybe.
Well obviously even with the huge success Angelina has had neither was she able to convince anyone for Cleo. The truth is that major Hollywood men want Jen to be comedy and Angie to be action. Outside of that they really are not interested. Example – for her role in A Mighty Heart Brad produced that through his company to give Angie the role. If she steps out of her action then the big wigs don’t want to give the money. Cleo case in point. Jen same thing if she steps out of comedy they don’t want to give the money. It is awful how Hollywood type casts actors. To get out of that they have to fight pretty hard. Now Angie is wanting to direct and notice that the Hollywood executives are not interested. The shout out at the Globes is a glaring example. Also she received little recognition for her last movie where she directed. Even Angie with all her power and fame with Brad behind her appears helpless in the face of the middle aged white men who run Hollywood. Pretty sad. It must drive her crazy – I think it drives most of Hollywood crazy but they really can’t do much about it. The few that have the Hollywood execs in their power include Leo, George and maybe one or two more.
@bluejay: I am not going to waste time commenting about your comments but I will say this.
Stop with the lies about studio executives not liking nor wanting Angelina to direct movies. The fact is that Angelina got Unbroken fighting hard amongst fellow MALE directors.
Her two next movies – By the sea & Africa both are backed by the biggest studios in Hollywood.
Again despite how much you deny it – Angelina is powerful and executives are backing her projects.
I see recovery from the Brangepocalypse is going to take a while for the commenters.
YES, I am still reeling. It’ll take me until after the Oscars to get over this.
#BrangeloonieDisappointment
But I still can’t wait to see the movie–the story reminds me of my Mr. C.
The best piece of advice I got when starting my own business was from a very successful man. He said leave your ego at home. Well maybe that’s what Angelina should have done and Aniston has done all along. Jennifer has always come across as humble to me and has said in various interviews she’s grateful to be working at what she loves to do. I’m happy for her.
When has Angelina not come across as humble? I’ve read plenty of her interviews over the years and she seems pretty humble and down to earth. I really think that’s just an assumption on your part. Btw, all celebs have egos even Jennifer. Sometimes,the money and power can go to their heads but some just don’t let it get out of hand.
You’re correct. I am assuming that based on the sony hack. That was all about her huge ego. It wasn’t gossip or AJ promoting herself it was actual opinions/statements regarding her ego by people who know her personally.
@Maddelina: yeah let’s just base our arguments on one single email where a known rude, male chauvinist attacks Angelina.
Did you actually read the email?
He clearly knows Angelina’s power and he hates it. Infact no where does it indicate that Angelina had an ego or behaved unprofessionally. The only thing that was written was that Angelina wanted to meet and talk about it. If you call that being egoist that you need a thesaurus as a Christmas present.
Again – if you want to talk about ego – your jennifer is the one who has wants people to call her beautiful in her commercials. She is the one who every year goes to bikini holiday to shoe of her body so that people can admire what a great body she has.
PS: I see that you don’t attack other celebs Scott attacked in his email. That tells me everything I need to know about how biased you are.
@Maya, and YOU might want to pick up a Dictionary for your self…. Don’t wait until Christmas.
“Bikini holiday to shoe”??? The word is show…
so, an unnamed source is now “proof”?
and radar? FYI, Radar = Star…all of sudden that outlet is credible?
so, from now on, any story that comes from Star or Radar, about ANYBODY, using an unnamed source, is absolutely true and “proof” of something? good to know.
@Dallas: Awwww did I hit a nerve Dallas? Maddeline wrote about ego hence my comment – why are you crying over that?
Since you obviously aren’t mature enough to actually reply to my comment and instead act immature and attack my spelling mistake (thanks to autocorrect) – I will make it easy for you.
Maddeline will get her thesaurus during Christmas, I will get the dictionary before that and YOU will get a personality transplantation straight away to get rid of your hypocritical and immature thoughts.
See – the whole world wins.
This Frustration of hers is kind of outragious I think. Did she ever done any quality work in ten years? If she was really interested in being a serious actress, at least in being taken serious she could have gone more indie. Cameron Diaz did it with Being John Malkovich. She was getting paid for these easy going comedy movies rather than using her beloved actress status to promote aspiring new directors, the real art. She is no Cate Blanchette
Really embarrassing her nominations are. She was rewarded not because she was better then every other actress in year 2014. But simply because she is very famous, campaigned, shake hands and screamed “OMG I went ugly for a role. I’m so brave. Nominate me for it”.
Really embarrassing. This gives hope to Kristen Stewart like non-actors. Watch out. Next time Kristen will go overweight or will shave her head for some role and then they will awards her for it with nominations. Rewards are losing their importance.
All of a sudden she is famous and powerful? Has clout to get things her way? Hmmm I’ve always read here that she was insignificant and clist at best. I guess she became super woman overnight eh?
In Kristen’s acceptance speech, she will thank Jennifer for paving the way with her bravery in not wearing makeup.
Why the recognition of aniston’s work have any relation to Jolie’s “misery”? Omg…really everyone?!
As others pointed out, you may not like aniston, but she has huste and is a pro. I have not seen the movie, but I am glad she is getting some recognition because I was tired of seeing people laughing about Her and rooting for her to fail. I said before and I will say it again: if you root for someone to fail, it says way more about your character (or lack there of) than it says about the other person.
As for Jolie, it is not the end of the world she didn’t get nominations and it has no correlation with aniston’s either. Jolie has won awards, have the beautiful family she wanted to have, has her second ( and pretty big) movie as a director and I was pretty happy that a woman got to direct zamperini’s story.
I, for one, am happy when women get the recognition and respect they deserve for working hard and being good at what they do.
Quoting my mom ( a pretty incredible woman): “The Sun rises and shines for everyone. ” Enjoy the Sun, Aniston!
I totally agree with your comment.
I agree with all this. However, what I find strange is the people that are saying it’s karma or revenge or tying it to A.J. “misery” are J.A. fans. It’s doesn’t make any sense. Celebrate her nomination without thinking it’s “karma” for what happened ten years ago. The people of both sides of this everlasting triangle need to stop.
I don’t understand people saying she only does rom-coms. Office Space, The Good Girl, Bruce Almighty, Derailed, Friends With Money, Marley & Me, Horrible Bosses, Wanderlust, We’re The Millers, Life of Crime, Cake and She’s Funny That Way are not rom-coms. I’d argue The Break-Up doesn’t fit that category either. Love Happens is much more of a romantic drama. So that’s half the films she’s made. And she hasn’t actually made anything I’d call a real rom-com since The Object of Affection, most of the rom-coms she’s been in are straight comedies that happen to feature two people who are sleeping together, they aren’t romantic films.
It’s not the most varied resume an actor could have and a big chunk of the films she’s made have sucked, but she has tried to do different things many times. They just haven’t led to a change in the direction of her career before now. You see it all the time with actors. They try and break away from their image, but the films they do that in don’t catch on so they have to keep doing what they were doing before for a while until they’ve earned another shot at something different. That fails too and so on it goes.
She had some real box-office success in the last few years and so she’s gained a bit of freedom as to what she can do now. And she’s used the opportunity well.
I see her point entirely … it is common for actors to be boxed in and it is hard for them to break through. Although Jennifer has primarily done comedy, a little heart usually shines through giving her a special edge imo. I think she can do anything so I hope Cake pokes producers into investing differently in her talents. I have so often heard top actors beg for certain parts … with the exception perhaps of the one and only Meryl Streep who is trusted with every imaginable role.
Aniston is an average actress – good enough but certainly not award worthy. The person who deserves the SAG and Golden Globe nominations is Huvane.
Her noms only serve to prove that an aggressive PR team, money, and stellar connections can turn an okay performance into an awards contender.
She will be 46 in 2 Months, of course she plays hard now to stay relevant because nobody will give her romcoms anymore. Shes almost 50, which means for acresses like her, their career ends. Shs no Sandra Bullock. These Awardshows who gave her a nomination only shows that a nomination depends on money and friends. Shes not a good actress, period. And you know she needed to get 46 to get a nomination 10 years after friends.
And the interviews, actors answer the allowed questions, she allowed all the questions shes been asked in the past 20 years. now she acts like she didnt want to talk about that superficial stuff and acts now like shes super serious. And still, this nominations wont get her anywhere in her career. shes done. shes old. shes still forever a tabloidstar who was once married to mister pitt. shes not the first actress to get nominations and also wins and then you never hear again about them. She cant sell a movie. thats the point.
ugh. doesn’t she have enough money to just GO AWAY? She is not talented in the least, and I am so tired of seeing her.
She should be happy she’s thought of at all. She’s very forgettable except in the projects she produces and finances or the nominations she heavily pitches/sells/beats everyone over the head to get for herself. She’s has a PR department from hell working for her. It’s unheard of.