| Birth name | Jennifer Joanne Linn Anastasakis |
| Born | February 11, 1969 (age 37) Sherman Oaks, California, USA |
| Height | 5'4" |
| Notable roles | Rachel Green in Friends |
Jennifer Joanne Linn Anastasakis (born February 11, 1969), better known as Jennifer Aniston, is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning American film and television actress.
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California, and grew up in New York City, and began appearing in stage productions in the late 1980s. After several lesser-known film and television roles during the early 1990s, Aniston came to fame playing Rachel Green on the highly popular television sitcom Friends for which she won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award.
She has since focused heavily on her film career, having starred in several Hollywood films, including Bruce Almighty and Rumor Has It. Aniston has also become known for her marriage to, and eventual divorce from, actor Brad Pitt, and for her relationship with actor Vince Vaughn.
Biography
Aniston is the daughter of actor John Aniston (originally Ioannis Anastassakis) and his then-wife Nancy Dow, who was also an actress; she has two half-brothers, John Melick (older) and Alex Aniston, who is younger. Aniston's Greek father was born in Crete, while her maternal grandfather, Gordon McLean Dow, was of Scottish and English descent and her maternal grandmother, Louise Grieco, was of Italian ancestry. Aniston's godfather was the late Greek American actor Telly Savalas, who was her father's best friend, and Aniston spent some of her childhood in Greece, but most of it in New York City, where her father appeared in the soap operas Love of Life and Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Aniston's father starred on the soap opera Days of our Lives. Aniston graduated from Manhattan's School of Performing Arts. Among her high school friends was future human rights activist Chastity Bono. Aniston's desire to become an actress grew as she worked in Off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. During this time, she supported herself with several part-time jobs, including working as a telemarketer and bike messenger.
Career
Aniston appeared as a "Nutri-System" girl on The Howard Stern Radio Show in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television roles 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 teen movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the same year; the series was quickly cancelled. 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 cancelled shows, along with her appearance in the critically derided 1993 horror film, Leprechaun, Aniston seriously 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 she persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green. She was cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004. The program was very successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television watchers. Her hairstyle at the time, which became known as the "Rachel", was widely copied (see also Dido flip). Aniston received a salary of one million dollars per episode for the last three seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations, including a win for "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series".
Aniston has starred in several theatrical films, including the cult hit Office Space. She gained the most critical acclaim for her role in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, directed by Miguel Arteta, playing an unglamorous cashier in a small town. The film opened in just four theatres - under 700 in total - taking $14M in the U.S. box office. Jennifer's biggest box office success was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of title character (Jim Carrey); the film grossed $243M at the United States box office and almost twice that worldwide. Aniston's 2004 film, Along Came Polly (opposite Ben Stiller), also did well at the box office after opening at the #1 spot. In late 2005, Aniston headlined two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It, both of which performed fairly at the box office, grossing over $35 million each. Derailed earned her much praise for taking a different role and doing it well. In the same year, she appeared in a European Heineken television commercial frequently aired before UEFA Champions League matches.
In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama, Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival, received a limited release, and grossed over $13 million. 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. It has currently grossed over $118 million at the U.S. box office and over $200 million worldwide.
Aniston has been linked to the upcoming films The Senator's Wife, Wanted, and Diary, but none have yet begun filming. She will also co-direct a hospital emergency room-set short film named Room 10, starring Robin Wright Penn and Kris Kristofferson; Aniston has noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who directed a short film in 2006.
Personal life
Aniston has previously dated musician Adam Duritz and was engaged to actor Tate Donovan. Her high-profile relationship with personality Brad Pitt was frequently publicized in the press. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a lavish Malibu wedding. The two separated on January 7, 2005, and Aniston officially filed for divorce on March 25, 2005. The divorce was finalized on October 2, 2005.
Media reports have speculated that the split was due to an affair on Pitt's part (with actress Angelina Jolie) or due to Aniston's refusal to have children. Aniston vehemently denied the latter in an August 2005 Vanity Fair interview, stating, "I've never in my life said I didn't want to have children... I've always wanted to have children, and I would never give up that experience for a career. I want to have it all."
She has also stated that the death of her longtime therapist, whose work helped to make the separation from Pitt easier, more than a year ago was "devastating." Summing up her relationship with Pitt, Aniston has said that their relationship, which she does not regret, was "seven very intense years together" and that "it was a beautiful, complicated relationship."
Since the couple's divorce, Aniston has been romantically linked with well-known actor Vince Vaughn. In August of 2006, Aniston denied rumors that the two were engaged or that Vaughn had proposed. In October 2006, gossip magazine US Weekly quoted sources from Vaughn that the couple had split. "Jen lives in a crazy world with all the press. It's just not his world."
In October 2006, during a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Aniston denied rumours that she and Vaughn broke up. Aniston also shot down rumors of breast implants, chalking it up to having a "couple cheese plates too many" and putting on ten well-placed pounds.
She supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, along with then-husband Pitt.
She owns a house in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in the same town as Brad Pitt.
She is friends with Oprah Winfrey, and Ellen DeGeneres. She is also the godmother to Courtney Cox's and David Arquette's daughter CoCo (who she refers to as the prettiest thing on earth). Even though she had rough years with her mother, they are now on talking terms, and there is no hostility between them.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Wanted | Diane | announced |
| Diary | Kathryn Fayer | pre-production | |
| The Senator's Wife | Rosalind Mitchell | pre-production | |
| 2006 | The Break-Up | Brooke Meyers | |
| Friends with Money | Olivia | ||
| Room 10 | short film; co-director only | ||
| 2005 | Rumor Has It | Sarah Huttinger | |
| Derailed | Lucinda Harris | ||
| 2004 | Along Came Polly | Polly Prince | |
| 2003 | Bruce Almighty | Grace Connelly | |
| 2002 | The Good Girl | Justine Last | |
| 2001 | Rock Star | Emily Poule | |
| 1999 | The Iron Giant | Annie Hughes | voice only |
| Office Space | Joanna | ||
| 1998 | The Object of My Affection | Nina Borowski | |
| 1997 | Picture Perfect | Kate Mosely | |
| 'Til There was You | Debbie | ||
| 1996 | She's the One | Renee Fitzpatrick | |
| Dream for an Insomniac | Allison | ||
| 1993 | Leprechaun | Tory Reding |
Awards
- 1995: Screen Actors Guild Award: Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Series, Friends
- 2001: People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
- 2001: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
- 2002: Emmy Award: Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Friends
- 2002: People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
- 2002: Hollywood Film Festival: Actress of the Year
- 2002: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
- 2002: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
- 2003: Golden Globe Award: Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Friends
- 2003: People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
- 2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
- 2003: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Actress- Drama/Action Adventure, The Good Girl
- 2003: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
- 2004: Logie Awards: Most Popular Overseas Star, Friends
- 2004: People's Choice Award: Favorite Female Television Performer, Friends
- 2004: Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actress- Comedy, Friends
- 2004: Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden: Best Foreign TV Personality- Female, Friends
- 2006: Teen Choice Award: Choice Movie Chemistry (shared with Vince Vaughn), The Break-Up
