Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress, film director and producer. She gained worldwide recognition in the 1990s for portraying Rachel Green in the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career, having appeared in several Hollywood productions. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in the independent films She's the One (1996), Office Space (1999) and The Good Girl (2002). She has had her greatest commercial successes with the films Bruce Almighty (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), and He's Just Not That Into You (2009).
Early life
Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California to actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow. Aniston is of Greek descent on her father's side, and of Scottish and Italian descent on her mother's side. Aniston has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston (younger). Aniston's godfather was actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. As a child, Aniston lived in Greece for one year with her family. They later relocated to New York City. Aniston attended the Rudolf Steiner School in New York, and graduated from Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave, and supported herself with several part-time jobs, which included working as a telemarketer, waitress, and bike messenger. In 1989, Aniston moved to Los Angeles, California.
Career
Television
Aniston moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The series, however, was quickly canceled. Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy shows, The Edge and Muddling Through, and guest-starred on Quantum Leap, Herman's Head, and Burke's Law. After the string of canceled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1992 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston considered giving up acting.
Aniston's plans changed, however, after auditioning for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994–1995 fall line-up. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but Courteney Cox was considered to be better suited to the role. Thus, Aniston was cast as Rachel Green. She played the character of Rachel from 1994 until the show ended in 2004.
The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained a world-wide reputation among television viewers. Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress), including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.
In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt, playing Arquette's rival, Tina Harrod. Aniston appeared in the third episode of Season 3 of NBC's 30 Rock playing Liz Lemon's old college roommate who stalks Jack Donaghy. On July 16, 2009, Aniston received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on 30 Rock.
Aniston was a guest star on the Season 2 premiere of ABC's sitcom Cougar Town, playing a psychiatrist.
Film
While appearing on Friends, Aniston also started segueing into film roles. She made her film debut in 1992's Leprechaun which was negatively reviewed by critics, but was commercially successful and gained a cult following. Following a four year hiatus from cinema, Aniston returned to film work in 1996, when she played supporting roles in the independent films Dream for an Insomniac and She's the One alongside Edward Burns and Cameron Diaz. Aniston's first starring vehicle was the film Picture Perfect (1997), in which she starred opposite Kevin Bacon and Jay Mohr. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston's performance was more warmly received, with many critics suggesting that she had screen presence.
During the second half of the 1990s she starred in several films such as the ensemble romantic film 'Til There Was You (1997) with Dylan McDermott and Sarah Jessica Parker, The Thin Pink Line (1998), the animated feature The Iron Giant (1999), and the critically acclaimed comedy Office Space (1999). She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy-drama about a woman who falls for a gay man (played by Paul Rudd), and in the low-budget 2002 film The Good Girl, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters—under 700 in total—taking $14M in the U.S. box office.
Aniston's biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the live-in girlfriend of Jim Carrey's title character. Aniston then starred in the 2004 film Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller. In late 2005, Aniston appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It….
In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival and received a limited release. Aniston's next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews. In 2006, Aniston directed a hospital emergency room-set short film called Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson. Aniston noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also directed a short film in 2006.
On December 25, 2008, Marley & Me, in which Aniston starred alongside Owen Wilson, was released. It set a record for the largest Christmas Day box office ever with $14.75 million in ticket sales. It earned a total of $51.7 million over the four-day weekend and placed #1 at the box office, a position it maintained for two weeks. The total worldwide gross was $242,717,113. Her next film in wide release, He's Just Not That into You, where she starred opposite Ben Affleck, opened in February 2009. The movie made $27.5 million, ranking #1 at the box office in its opening weekend. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston, along with Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jennifer Connelly, are often praised by critics as being the stand-outs in the film.
In March 2010, Aniston released The Bounty Hunter, which costarred Gerard Butler. While the film received scathing reviews from critics, it was a modest box office success. A lukewarm box-office reception has greeted her most recent release The Switch in which she co-stars with Jason Bateman. The film's opening weekend drew what The Hollywood Reporter dubbed "a dispiriting $8.4million". The film has received generally mixed reviews, with review site Metacritic showing 13 out of 30 critics delivering a positive verdict.
As of June 20, 2010, Aniston's movies have grossed more than $1 billion in the United States and over $1,7 billion worldwide.
Aniston recently finished filming Just Go with It with Adam Sandler, which is set for release on Valentine's Day weekend in 2011. The story is about a plastic surgeon, played by Sandler, who asks his office manager, played by Aniston, to pose as his wife to prove his honesty to his much younger girlfriend, played by Brooklyn Decker, after having told her he's married to avoid committing to her. Nicole Kidman also appears as an old college rival of Aniston's character.
Aniston will also join a comedy movie with Colin Farrell, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jamie Foxx, titled Horrible Bosses, directed by Seth Gordon. The film focuses on a trio of employees who plot to murder their titular tyrannical supervisors. Aniston will play one of the bosses, a sexually aggressive dentist who harasses Charlie Day's character. Aniston has signed up to star in Wanderlust with Paul Rudd, who she co-starred with in 1998 movie The Object of My Affection. The script, which has been bought by Universal Pictures, was written by Rudd, Ken Marino, and David Wain with the latter also directing the film and will be produced by Judd Apatow. The movie tells the story of a married couple who join a commune after losing their money and deciding modern life is not for them.
Other work
Aniston has appeared in various commercials and music videos. In 1996, she was in Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers music video for "Walls". In 2001, Aniston was in Melissa Etheridge's music video for "I Want To Be In Love". She was cast in a Heineken commercial which was later banned due to branding issues. Aniston has also been in commercials for L'Oreal hair products. In 1994, Microsoft invited Aniston, along with Friends co-star Matthew Perry, to shoot a 30-minute promotional advertisement for their new operating system, Windows 95.
Along with Brad Pitt and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Aniston founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although she and Grey withdrew in 2005. In 2008, she and partner Kristin Hahn formed the production company Echo Films.
Since 2007 she has worked in a publicity campaign for the drink SmartWater. Aniston worked for over a year on a new perfume, which was released on July 21, 2010, at Harrods in London. Original plans called for the perfume to be named Lolavie by Jennifer Aniston, but to avoid confusion with a similarly named perfume, the name was changed to simply Jennifer Aniston. In an interview following the launch, Aniston said that she would also like to create a fragrance for men.
Philanthropy
Aniston supports many charity foundations. She is a supporter of Friends of El Faro, a grassroots non-profit organization that helps raise money for Casa Hogar Sion, an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. She has appeared in many TV commercials for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, which she supports. She made a guest appearance on "Oprah's Big Give" to support the cause. Aniston hosted September 2008's Stand Up to Cancer show. In the "It Can't Wait" campaign to free Burma, Aniston directed and starred in a video. On April 14, 2007, Aniston received GLAAD's Vanguard Award for her contributions to increased visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. On Earth day 2010, Aniston joined Courteney Cox, Woody Harrelson, Ben Stiller and other Hollywood stars in "The Cove PSA: My Friend is... " an effort to stop the slaughter of dolphins and protect the Japanese population from the toxic levels of mercury found in dolphin meat. Other charities that Aniston has supported include AmeriCares, Clothes of Our Back, Feeding America, EB Medical Research Foundation, Project A.L.S., OmniPeace, and Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
Aniston donated $500,000 to Doctors Without Borders, Haitian health care provider Partners in Health and AmeriCares, also participated Friday's megastar-studded Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
Personal life
Aniston dated her Ferris Bueller TV costar Charlie Schlatter in 1990, and briefly dated musician Adam Duritz in 1995. From 1995 to 1998, she was romantically involved with actor Tate Donovan and the couple were reportedly engaged.
In May 1998, she began dating actor Brad Pitt. They married on July 29, 2000, in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu. For a few years, their marriage was considered the rare Hollywood success. However, the couple announced their separation on January 6, 2005. Pitt and Aniston were seen together publicly after announcing their separation, even at a dinner party for Aniston's 36th birthday, and friends of the couple had declared they were reconciling. Aniston, however, filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. It was finalized on October 2, 2005. During this period there was intense speculation in the media that Pitt had been unfaithful to Aniston with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star, Angelina Jolie.
In the following months, the public's reaction towards the divorce was reported in the press. The story became the headline news of media shows such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, and made the front-pages of tabloid magazines for years, continuing till this day. 'Team Aniston' and 'Team Jolie' T-shirts appeared, with 'Team Aniston' shirts out-selling the 'Team Jolie' shirts 4:1.
Aniston revealed that her divorce prompted her to reach out to her mother, Nancy, from whom she was estranged for nearly a decade. They initially became estranged when Nancy spoke about her daughter on a television show and later wrote a book entitled, From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir (1999). Aniston has also stated she was devastated by the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped make her separation from Pitt easier. Aniston said her relationship with Pitt, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
After her divorce, Aniston began a relationship with actor Vince Vaughn, with whom she costarred in The Break Up, but relationship troubles were reported in September 2006, followed by a confirmed split in December of that year. She dated British model Paul Sculfor for a few months in 2007. In February 2008, she began dating singer John Mayer. The couple broke up in August, but they resumed the relationship in October before splitting again in March 2009.
Aniston has had two septoplasties to correct her deviated septum—one which was incorrectly done in 1994 and the second in January 2007.
She is the godmother of Coco Riley Arquette, the daughter of her good friends, actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette. In 2007, Forbes rated Aniston as one of the top 10 richest women in entertainment and estimated her net worth to be about $110 million.
In the media
Forbes listed Aniston as the 10th richest woman in the entertainment industry for the year 2007. Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes, in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry. She was also Hollywoods most profitable actress. Aniston has been on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, based on "earnings and fame", every year since 2001, topping the list in 2003. For the year of 2008, Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million. In 2005, Aniston became the first-ever GQ Woman of the Year. She has appeared on Peoples annual list of The Most Beautiful every year since 1995, and came in at #1 in 2004. In 2006, Aniston also topped Peoples Best Dressed List.