Jennifer Aniston is giving the morning shows something to talk about.
On Wednesday, Dec. 8, The Hollywood Reporter shared an extensive interview with the Friends star, in which she celebrated the success of The Morning Show on AppleTV+ and looked back on her years playing Rachel Green on NBC's iconic hit.
Although Jennifer is filled with many happy memories working alongside real-life besties including Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox, the years of tabloid speculation about her personal life took a toll.
"I was the girl next door, the damsel in distress, the brokenhearted—your traditional rom-com themes," she shared with the publication. "And at a certain point, it was like, ‘Can't we do something else? Am I just on this part of the cereal aisle? Like, will I ever get to be a bountiful Kashi or some sort of oatmeal, or am I going to be Fruit Loops forever?'"
With a series of projects lined up including a Murder Mystery sequel with Adam Sandler, Jennifer, 52, believes she's just getting started.
The Hollywood Reporter's 2021 Women in Entertainment Issue is available now. Here are some of the biggest revelations from her candid interview.
Through Jennifer was thrilled to hang out with the Friends cast once again for the HBO Max special in May, she didn't realize just how much the project would affect her. "You get there and it's like, ‘Oh right, I hadn't thought about what was going on the last time I was actually here,'" she told The Hollywood Reporter. "And it just took me by surprise because it was like, ‘Hi, past, remember me? Remember how that sucked? You thought everything was in front of you and life was going to be just gorgeous and then you went through maybe the hardest time in your life?' It was all very jarring...I had to walk out at certain points. I don't know how they cut around it."
While tabloids may have changed since the peak of Friends, Jennifer argues that social media brings on a whole other level of obstacles and pain. "What the tabloids and the media did to people's personal lives back then, regular people are doing now," she shared. "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? 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."
Before Friends became a hit, Jennifer remembered walking into Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels' office where she expressed her hesitation at having a role on the show. "I went into Lorne's office and I was like, ‘I hear women are not respected on this show,'" she recalled. "I mean, it was such a boys' club back then, but who the f--k was I to be saying this to Lorne Michaels?! So yes, adorably that happened and I've hosted Saturday Night Live a couple of times, and I love it so much."
To this day, Jennifer can't forget all the media speculation about her personal life, including the rumors about whether she'd be having kids. "I used to take it all very personally—the pregnancy rumors and the whole ‘Oh, she chose career over kids' assumption," she told THR. "It's like, ‘You have no clue what's going with me personally, medically, why I can't…can I have kids?' They don't know anything, and it was really hurtful and just nasty."
Jennifer is the first to admit that she's not sure what the industry is anymore. In fact, she claims it's "not that glamorous" as it once was. "It's slowly becoming about TikTok and Instagram followers," she said. "It's like, we're hiring now based on followers, not talent? Oh, dear. And I'm losing touch. I'm not great at going, ‘I'm going to stay relevant and join TikTok.'"
After Matthew Perry announced an upcoming memoir, fans may be curious to know whether Jennifer is interested in a similar project. Spoiler alert: She's in no rush! "I don't have the memories done yet—they're still coming," she said. "But that doesn't appeal to me, really. I also feel like, ‘Who cares?'"