Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born
February 11,
1969) is an
American actress, film director, and producer. Aniston gained worldwide recognition in the
1990s for portraying
Rachel Green on the television sitcom
Friends (1994--2004), a role which earned her an
Emmy Award, a
Golden Globe Award, and a
Screen Actors Guild Award.
Aniston has also enjoyed a successful
Hollywood film career. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in the independent films
She's the One (
1996),
Office Space (
1999),
The Good Girl (
2002) and
Friends with Money (
2006). She has had her greatest commercial successes with the films
Bruce Almighty (
2003),
Along Came Polly (2004),
The Break-Up (2006),
Marley & Me (2008), He's Just Not That into You (2009),
The Bounty Hunter (
2010),
Just Go with It (
2011) and
Horrible Bosses (2011).
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 as part of
Glamour's
Reel Moments film series. Aniston noted that she was inspired to direct by actress
Gwyneth Paltrow, who also directed a short film in 2006.
In
2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of
Courteney Cox Arquette's series
Dirt, playing Arquette's rival,
Tina Harrod. She 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
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 $178,390,243 globally and ranked at #1 at the
United States box office for its opening weekend. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston, along with Affleck,
Ginnifer Goodwin, and
Jennifer Connelly, were often praised by critics as being the stand-outs in the film.
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.
In
March 2010, Aniston appeared in The Bounty Hunter, which costarred
Gerard Butler. While the film received scathing reviews from critics, it was a modest box office success, garnering over $130 million worldwide. A lukewarm box-office reception greeted her next film,
The Switch, in which she co-starred with
Jason Bateman. The film's opening weekend drew what
The Hollywood Reporter dubbed "a dispiriting $8.4 million". The film received generally mixed reviews, with review site Metacritic showing 13 out of 30 critics delivering a positive verdict.
By June 20, 2010, Aniston's movies had grossed more than $1 billion in the United States and over $1.7 billion worldwide. Aniston's Just Go with It, with
Adam Sandler, was released 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. Also in 2011, Aniston starred in the comedy movie Horrible Bosses, with
Colin Farrell, Jason Bateman,
Charlie Day, and
Jamie Foxx, directed by
Seth Gordon. The film focuses on a trio of employees who plot to murder their titular tyrannical supervisors. Aniston played one of the bosses, a sexually aggressive dentist who harasses Charlie Day's character.
In
2012, Aniston appeared in
Wanderlust with
Paul Rudd, with whom she co-starred in the
1998 movie The Object of My Affection and also Friends.
The script, bought by
Universal Pictures, was written by Rudd,
Ken Marino, and
David Wain, with the latter also directing the film, and was produced by
Judd Apatow. The movie was about a married couple who join a commune after losing their money and deciding modern life is not for them.
- published: 28 Jun 2013
- views: 214931