Jennifer Aniston
From WhatRumors: The Celebrity Gossip Wiki
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Jennifer Aniston is an Emmy award winning actress known best for her role as Rachel Green on Friends and inspiring “the Rachel” - a haircut popularized by Jennifer during the first few seasons of the show.
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Career
Her Early Career
Jennifer Aniston grew up with acting in her blood, as her father John Aniston is a star of the long running soap opera Days of Our Lives and her mother Nancy Dow was an actress on many hit 60’s television shows. Even her godfather was the great lollipop enthusiast Telly Savalas. She became accustomed to the long separations that many acting families go through, as she lived with her mother while her father pursued acting full time. The stress of the separation between her parents led to their divorce when Jennifer was 9, and she stayed with her mother. The acting bug soon bit and she grew up attending school at very prestigious New York acting academies. While this doesn’t always lead to success as an actress, as her classmate Chasity Bono demonstrates, this did encourage Jennifer to continue on with her career.
Her first big role was on the television version of the hit movie Ferris Buellers’ Day Off. The series was quickly cancelled as the only thing the television series had in common with the movie was both actresses playing Jeannie Bueller (Aniston and Jennifer Grey) were both named Jennifer and both had nose jobs. It also was the first of many failed series for Jennifer throughout the early 90’s. Do you remember Molloy, The Edge, Burke’s Law, Herman’s Head, or Sunday Funnies? Neither does anyone else as most were cancelled within their first season. She tried her hand at the big screen but didn’t make much of impression in a movie about a demonic leprechaun aptly titled Leprechaun. With the failures overwhelming any hopes she had about making it as an actress, she decided to give up.
Friends and the 90's
Her luck would turn around, as she was cast in two series set to premiere in 1994. Jennifer originally was considered for the role of Monica but she was adamant that she would not play another obsessive compulsive bitch on TV. She convinced the producers to give her a chance at the role of Rachel and she was signed immediately. The initial outlook for the show wasn’t good, as the critics called it smut and gave it the least chance out of all the new series to premiere to survive. The American public realized that while they outwardly protested dirty talk on television, they loved to watch it in the privacy of their own homes. Friends was a breakaway hit and Aniston went from being known as the daughter of a soap star to one of the most fascinating new stars of 1994. Her haircut, one she chose herself and dubbed “The Rachel”, was one of the most copied hairstyles ever - beating out the Farrah from the 70’s.
But Jennifer wasn’t one to take her success lying down. Wanting to erase the horror that was Leprechaun from the memory of the 30 people that saw it, she set out to try to find success on the big screen. She made her first movie since her newfound success, Dream for an Insomniac, which was well reviewed by critics. Her next role in the independent film She’s The One was considered to be a success as it made 3 times the cost of the movie’s budget and marketing. She then made the romantic comedies Picture Perfect and The Object of My Affection. While the critics hated both, audiences kept coming in to see their favorite “Friend” at the theater. Her performance in 1999’s Office Space was a cult hit and only furthered her appeal to those outside the typical sitcom group of fans.
The End of Friends and The Future
Jennifer and her castmates continued on with Friends, as it was the gift that just kept giving. Jennifer won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2002 and a Golden Globe in 2003 as well as 4 People’s Choice Awards. The show replaced Seinfeld as the number one show on NBC and Aniston used this to her financial advantage. She and her costars held out for more money, threatening to walk from the show otherwise. This move made Jennifer one of the highest paid actresses in television history for her paycheck of US$1 million per episode, an honor shared only with her fellow costars Courtney Cox Arquette and Lisa Kudrow. When the show went off the air in 2004 it was still in the top ratings, and the series finale is in the top 10 of highest rated TV shows ever.
Jennifer was noticed again in 2002’s independent film The Good Girl. The director followed the tried and true formula of taking a pretty girl and making her ugly, which in Hollywood is denying her access to make-up and a blow dryer. It worked well, as critics loved the depressing movie about a supermarket clerk who cheats on her worthless husband with a much younger clerk from her store. The movie also went over well with women who somehow felt less threatened seeing Jennifer without makeup in a ponytail, as if that is enough to deter their husbands from wanting to cheat with her if they had the chance. She went back to comedy with her next two movies, Along Came Polly and Bruce Almighty, which were her biggest success on the big screen yet.
After Friends, she was in a few movies that were critical nightmares but had box office success. Aniston proved that her star power could bring in moviegoers despite bad reviews and little marketing by the movie’s productions company. The Break-Up, co-starring Aniston and her then boyfriend Vince Vaughn, was an even bigger hit than her previous films and opened at number one. Her next role, in the possibly incest filled movie Rumor Has It, drew fewer fans. She guest starred on former co-star Courtney Cox Arquette’s dramedy Dirt, a show about the tabloid industry. Rumors of a lesbian kiss between the two stars generated ratings but the kiss was nothing more than something you might give a grandmother. She is keeping herself busy with 5 different projects in 2008 and there is great hope that at least 3 of them won’t suck.
Personal Life
Her Love Life
Jennifer's love life is something of tabloid legend. When she first became a star after Friends took off, she hooked up with Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. Duritz, who is proof that even the ugliest musician can get a hot girl with the right amount of record sales, cast Aniston in one of his music videos. But soon after, the relationship ended and Jennifer met another actor to fill the void. She began dating Tate Donovan after he appeared as a guest star on Friends. They dated for over 2 years and even moved in together for some time. But they grew apart, rumored to be over his jealousy at her rising star power, and the couple split.
In the relationship that fascinated the world, Jennifer began dating movie star Brad Pitt. They became the number one hunted couple by the tabloids and their every move was followed. After dating for 2 1/2 years, the couple was married in 2000 in Mexico. He appeared on Friends as a guest star and the couple started a production company. Their marriage seemed to be perfect until rumors surfaced during the filming of Mr. and Mrs. Smith that Pitt was having an affair with his co-star Angelina Jolie. Aniston, Pitt, and Jolie denied the rumors even as photos of Pitt and Jolie going out to dinner were published worldwide. Pitt and Aniston reconnected after he finished filming, but by that point the marriage was on its last legs. The couple separated and Aniston filed for divorce in February 2005. While it was rumored Pitt had an affair, it was speculated that the reason Pitt finally divorced Jennifer was over her refusal to start a family. Tabloid and gossip sites began to produce t-shirts with either "Team Aniston" or "Team Jolie" printed across the front. Other shirts, including the one Eva Longoria was photographed in, simply said "I'll Have Your Baby, Brad!" While this further was evidence of what a bitch Longoria is, she publically apologized for wearing the shirt and sent her apologies directly to Aniston. Aniston never addressed the issue in public until August of 2005 in a Vanity Fair interview and the divorce was finalized in October of that year.
Jennifer began her next long term relationship on the set of The Break-Up. After spending time filming a realistic look at a breakup with co-star Vince Vaughn, the two decided to give dating a go. They denied having any kind of relationship even after photos of the two kissing on a balcony were published in the tabloids. The couple seemed to be getting very serious and was seen visiting real estate agents in Chicago prompting marriage rumors. Unfortunately, life imitated art and the couple ended their relationship in December of 2006. Many questioned if she one day realized she went from Brad Pitt to Vince Vaughn and dumped his ass on the spot but it's doubtful as the couple still remain close friends.
Jennifer's former and present love life is still a high priority for both mainstream and celebrity gossip magazines. Her interview in Vanity Fair where she dished on how her soon-to-be ex-husband was missing a sensitivity chip and denied rumors that the reason they split was over starting a family led the issue to be one of the highest selling to date. When her ex-husband Brad Pitt and his current wife Angelina Jolie announced they were pregnant, the media began to harass Aniston to find out how she felt about the situation. When she was still dating Vince Vaughn, she was bombarded with questions about the rumor of a wedding on the Today Show by Jill Rappaport. Rappaport pressed Aniston for information confirming or denying that Vaughn and Aniston would be getting married in a 8 million dollar US wedding ceremony to be held at Oprah Winfrey's home. When she declined to answer, Rappaport did what she does best which is annoy both those with a career in the entertainment filed and serious journalists by bringing the subject up again. Aniston's co-star and awesome friend Catherine Keener decided to reply to Rappaport and put the irritating journalist in her place.
Aniston has most recently been linked with musician John Mayer. The couple has been spotted kissing and vacationing together.
Family Situations
Jennifer has always maintained a close relationship with her father John Aniston as well as her siblings. But that was not the case with her mother, Nancy Dow. Shortly before Jennifer was to marry Pitt, her mother felt it was the right time to release a tell-all book about her famous daughter. Nancy then hit the media circuit to give interviews on what it was like to be the mother of such a famous daughter and her thoughts on Jennifer's relationships. Jennifer was devastated by this betrayal by the mother of the year candidate and cut all ties to her mother for years until after her divorce from Pitt.
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