Despite starring in hit ’90s TV show Friends and dating the likes of Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston says she is still affected by the tabloids.
“All that stuff, it’s toxic,” says the actor, speaking from a fancy hotel suite in Los Angeles. “It never gets un-jarring, but you do have to not let it imprison you, which is possible too.”
Aniston finds the constant rumours about her and fiance Justin Theroux baffling, but she doesn’t let it detract from her relationship.
“It’s on a level that I don’t even understand. It’s weird. I think because we are so normal. We’re very non-fabulous in any way,” says the actor.
“They try to create all sorts of narratives to go with a very normal, wonderful life that’s just two people loving each other and living life and working and doing the best they can.”
Aniston says it’s important to keep in touch with close friends, which helps her stay grounded and ignore the gossip and the hype.
“There’s times when you see people climbing and getting success and you start to see, oh, they’re starting to really change. So I always just make the effort to be as humble and grateful as possible,” she says.
The former Friends star says she’s keen to try some more challenging projects, which includes taking on more producing roles. However she says it’s hard to take risks when you’re in the spotlight.
“You just have to work really hard to tune out the noise and the static. Because it gets louder, and people really have an opinion, and you don’t want to shy away from taking chances for fear of what people will say,” says Aniston, who is starring in, and producing, the drama Cake.
Aniston also hates being told she looks good for her age. Not that she had to worry about looking good in her latest role as a voice actor, which was for a short film for beauty company Aveeno.
Luckily the 45-year-old star is comfortable in her own skin, but she says society focuses way too much on age. Aniston says it’s annoying how much more frequently the age conversation comes up every year.
“Your age always has to be mentioned and men don’t really get that for some reason,” she told WWD. “It’s not like you see Joe Schmo, 37.”
However Aniston thinks people in their 40s today are much healthier than their counterparts from 30 years ago.
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“It was a different time. We know how to take care of ourselves,” she tells WWD. “We know what to put in our bodies to fuel us that’s healthy and organic and not processed, and the importance of drinking water and cutting out sugars and bad fats. Before, we just didn’t know that.”
Aniston’s focus on staying healthy and grounded could be the reason she seems to remain constantly in work, despite the youth-favouring nature of Hollywood.
As well as the independent film Cake and the Aveeno short film (she is a brand ambassador), she’s also working on a sequel to Horrible Bosses.
– FFX Aus
