Jennifer Aniston is promoting her film Marley and Me, which was just released in the UK. She has a new interview in this week’s Hello! Magazine. Although people are inevitably going to bash her for talking yet again about her long-over marriage to Brad Pitt, it’s worth noting that she was specifically asked about him and that she gave an honest, kind of low-key answer to the question. While doing press for this film in America a couple of months ago, Aniston pretty much dropped the vague Hallmark-kind of responses she used to give and decided to be honest and upfront with reporters. I think this strategy worked for her and I find her a lot more likable when she’s open. Most of us here don’t approve of her choice in a partner, but that’s up to her and I don’t see her as the desperate character she’s often portrayed as. Aniston is doing pretty well, but she’s had her bumps in the road and she’ll tell you about them. Here’s more from her Hello! Interview:

You were with Brad Pitt for seven years – and married for five. It must have been very intense, in the public eye? [sic]
“It was. But I don’t regret any of that time with Brad and I’m not here to beat myself up about it. They were seven very intense years together, and it was a beautiful and complicated relationship. I will love Brad for the rest of my life – you can’t take away good memories. I really do hope that we’ll be good friends again at some point. You can survive anything – human endurance is unbelievable. But yes, it’s sad coming to the end of something special. You try to avoid all the pain but that somehow causes even more. I’m a human being, have human experiences.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, March 17, 2009]

There is only one guy in my past I can say that I will “love for the rest of my life,” and that’s because we were separated by forces beyond our control (it sounds Shakespearean, I know) and we were young. I don’t yearn for him or think about him much at this point, though. Do memories make for a lifelong love, as Aniston mentions, or do we move on and remember the love but not experience it? I’m not judging her and I understand what she means. It’s just that it comes across like there’s an element of pining in her love for Brad and people are going to call her on it ad nauseum as they always do.

Aniston also gave her thoughts on relationships, the fact that she doesn’t have a “type,” and she shed some light on her media strategy, which has basically been “screw ’em, I’m speaking my mind.” I especially like that last part:

But [your relationships] are in front of the world…
“True. I wish they weren’t. So I try to rise above it. My joy in life would be to have a very deep and committed partnership, that’s what I’m interested in. But I know now that relationships are constantly evolving, and I truly don’t think that anyone can ever claim to be at a point where you go, ‘That’s it, I’ve got it!’ You are always discovering something new, or you ought to be, because it’s complacency that’s the killer.”

Do you still want to have children?
“I do. The women who inspire me are the ones with families and children and who keep on working. Why would I wish to limit myself? I want to have it all. At the moment, I’m doing pretty well. Were there times when I had a little ‘pity party’ for myself? Of course. Who hasn’t done that?”

What’s your type of man?
“Let’s just say that over the years, I’ve gone through an awful lot of ‘types’ and that’s only proved that I don’t have one in particular. There have been the nerdy, sweet lovable ones, the strong and silent, the slick guys… Men in general are a good thing – and all so different.

“What I look for is a man who can be a friend, someone who is an equal and one with whom I feel comfortable. I want to be happy and loved, and not settling for something second best and less than I deserve. But a relationship of and by itself is not what is going to make this gal survive – a relationship is the cherry on the top of the cake…”

What’s the best advice you can give from what life has taught you?
“Speak your mind and stick up for yourself. I came from a family who argued a lot and that scared me because I didn’t defend myself and answer back. Now I say what I feel. Don’t get me wrong, I would change my childhood, heartaches, successes. I really love who I am and who I’m continuing to become. Don’t be the wilting plant int he corner.”

[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, March 17, 2009]

Hello! always prints nearly full transcripts of interviews. Aniston’s quotes aren’t any longer than usual and there’s more with her in their latest issue if you’re interested and have access to it. She did bring up the “pity party” thing again, which kind of surprises me because I first thought that Hello! must have just been reprinting an older quote from her until I read this article. I think she wants to clarify that statement by saying that she’s been to dark places but she’s out on the other side now and has some perspective. As cheesy as it sounds, I like reading her interviews because she brings up a lot of important issues. We all have tough times that we endure them and move on from.

She’s giving the media more fuel for that triangle fire but she doesn’t care. Aniston can handle it and would rather speak her mind than be vague and afraid. Some well-placed words can also go much further in helping her promote her latest project.

Update: Many of you think this is a mash up of old Aniston interviews, but Hello! presents it as new, describing how she enters her hotel room and using the heading “exclusive interview.” It’s possibly a re-wording of her past interviews, as many of you have pointed out. I’m sorry for misrepresenting this interview if that’s the case, but Hello! totally had me fooled:

Vanity Fair, September 2005:

“Am I lonely? Yes. Am I upset? Yes. Am I confused? Yes. Do I have my days when I’ve thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. But I’m also doing really well,” she says. “I’ve got an unbelievable support team, and I’m a tough cookie.… I believe in therapy; I think it’s an incredible tool in educating the self on the self. I feel very strong. I’m really proud of how I’ve conducted myself.”

[From Vanity Fair]

Hello! 2009

Do you still want to have children?
“I do. The women who inspire me are the ones with families and children and who keep on working. Why would I wish to limit myself? I want to have it all. At the moment, I’m doing pretty well. Were there times when I had a little ‘pity party’ for myself? Of course. Who hasn’t done that?”

Has therapy been on the agenda?
“Yes, I believe its a great tool in educating the self on the self.”

So there are slight differences in the wording between these two interviews. Either Hello! reworded some of Aniston’s old interviews and is presenting them as a new “exclusive” interview or she’s repeating herself.

Jennifer Aniston is shown with Owen Wilson at the Marley and Me premiere in London on 3/2/09. Credit: PRPhotos