Jennifer Aniston Explains Why She Never Had A ‘Breakdown’ Like Britney Spears In The 90s
In a new interview, Jennifer Aniston revealed the factors that allowed her to avoid public crises after rising to fame as Rachel Green on ‘Friends.’
Jennifer Aniston, 52, was America’s sweetheart while playing Rachel Green on Friends. And during the show’s ten-season run, as well as in the 15 years since, Jennifer has remained centered and humble while avoiding any public crises or incidents that have plagued other A-list stars like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, and more. So, how did Jennifer do it? “A godsend of support — just so many evolved, positive people around me,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday, December 8.
The Morning Show actress also said that her late mother, actress Nancy Dow, whom she was estranged from for many years, had an impact on how she turned out. “I also grew up watching someone [Nancy] sit comfortably in victimhood, and I didn’t like how it looked,” she explained. “I knew that this person was giving me an example of what I’d never want to be, and I will never ever be that. I think it’s toxic, and it erodes your insides and your soul. And listen, is it a sliver of an annoyance to have to publicly go through dark shit in front of the world? Yes, it’s an inconvenience, but it’s all relative. So, I had a choice to make: Either I’m going to surrender into bonbons and living under my covers or I’m going to go out there and find a creative outlet and thrive, and that’s what I did.”
Jennifer has been subject to nonstop media attention for years now, partly due to her former high-profile marriages to Brad Pitt and then Justin Theroux. Looking back on all that media frenzy from a 2021 lens, Jennifer told THR that she doesn’t think things are that different today. “What the tabloids and the media did to people’s personal lives back then, regular people are doing now,” she said. “Although I haven’t seen a tabloid in so long. Am I still having twins? Am I going to be the miracle mother at 52?” she added with a laugh. “Now you’ve got social media. It’s almost like the media handed over the sword to any Joe Schmo sitting behind a computer screen to be a troll or whatever they call them and bully people in comment sections. So it’s just sort of changed hands in a way. And I don’t know why there’s such a cruel streak in society. I often wonder what they get off on.”
When asked about her post-Friends career (which has been a juggernaut, to say the least), Jennifer admitted that she “didn’t know what was coming” — which she now considers a blessing. “It’s a different caliber of work but I love it, no matter what, even if it’s a terribly reviewed, dumb comedy, it doesn’t matter if it brings me joy,” she told THR. “It was more personal stuff that I had expectations about that sort of shape-shifted, so to speak.”
“That was what was jarring, Jen added, “that we all had an idea of what the future was going to be and we were going to go hunker down and focus on this or that and then it all just changed overnight, and that was it. But again, everything’s a blessing if you’re able to look at life’s ups and downs in that way. And if it all hadn’t happened, I would not be sitting here the woman that I am.