t
takes one to know one. Jennifer
Aniston is a naturally funny girl who yearns to be taken seriously. She's
starring in the movie Bruce
Almighty opposite Jim
Carrey, a naturally funny guy who... well, I think you know where I'm
going with this.Aniston thinks Carrey should have won an Oscar by now. "I've got to say Man On The Moon blew me away. I wonder if it just takes a while for people to become comfortable with you, as they are very used to seeing you a certain way," she told Entertainment Weekly on the set of Bruce Almighty. "And then you try and do the crossover. I speak from my own experience. They go, 'What are you trying to do? I'm not used to that.' "
Her own experience speaks volumes. Steering away from the romantic comedies (Picture Perfect,
To be fair, Courteney Cox-Arquette (a.k.a. Monica) could be said to have broken the ice for the Friends crew with the box office success of the Scream films. But money doesn't fill your trophy case, nor does it wipe out memories of Three To Tango, Kissing A Fool or Ed (the Matt LeBlanc monkey film).
Aniston's breakthrough was much more remarkable, a veritable stake through the
heart of her Friends character Rachel, the bouncy waitress now Ralph
Lauren employee whose 'do‚ launched a million trips to the hairdresser. In The
Good Girl, she played Justine, a bored Texas discount store clerk who
cheats on her lumpish husband (John
C. Reilly) and has a dead-end affair with a psychologically unstable
co-worker (indie movie "it" kid Jake
Gyllenhaal)."Who wouldn't want to see America's sweetheart get blackmailed for sex and try to institutionalize her boyfriend and cheat on her husband?" Aniston says of the
purging
of Rachel. "On our first day of rehearsing, my acting coach said 'Sit on
your hands!' You don't realize you do these things. No wonder everybody says,
'She's Rachel, she's Rachel, she's Rachel!'"The breakthrough was a frustrating experience, however. Most articles still zeroed in on her high profile marriage to Brad Pitt (Are they breaking up? Are they having a baby? Are they breaking up over having a baby?)
Still, the timing was right. Friends - for which Aniston is paid $1 million an episode - is likely to be finished after this ninth season. And versatility isn't a bad trait when you're back knocking on casting directors' doors.
Comedy, however, has always been a rich vein for the daughter of soap star John Aniston, even before she began dancing to the strains of the Friends theme
"I'll
Be There For You". After supporting roles in sitcoms like Herman's
Head and Ferris Bueller, she was one of the players in the Julie
Brown sketch series The Edge alongside Wayne Knight (later of Seinfeld).That show got good reviews but floundered. But it, and a weight loss ordered by her agent (reports say 30 pounds, she says 10) turned heads in Hollywood, leading the way to Friends. Beautiful and perennially flustered, her Rachel was like a beleaguered force of instinct and indecision run amok. Will she choose Ross or Joey? If we find out, what guarantee is there that she'll choose her heart's desire?
So a fantastical movie like Bruce Almighty - a comedy, albeit one with a message about life - is a no-brainer for Aniston. (As is her next film, an as-yet untitled Ben Stiller comedy about a psychiatrist who embarks on a dangerous affair).
In Bruce Almighty, which was partly shot in upstate New York in and
around Buffalo, Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a Buffalo TV news reporter who's
unappreciative of his lifestyle and loving girlfriend Grace (Aniston). On a
particularly disastrous day, he rages at God and attracts the attention of the
Big Guy himself, in the form of Morgan
Freeman. His message: "If you think you can do a better job, be my guest." Bruce is endowed with powers, which he at first abuses (wielding "instant orgasms" for example, a misuse of power that has Aniston going the extra mile beyond Meg Ryan's When Harry Met Sally orgasm scene). Later, Bruce discovers he hears prayers, and realizes the responsibility that comes with the job.
In the end, the movie is about love, says Aniston. "There's always going to be some group that's going to have a problem with something if you're dealing with God," she concedes. "But I think audiences will have fun with Bruce Almighty, and that's what's been achieved here is promoting nothing but love."
Friends castmate Cox-Arquette, who co-starred with Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, told Aniston that she would have "the best time you've ever had on a movie. You'll laugh every day."
knows
how to get there for you." Plus working with Morgan Freeman was
"pretty much one of those dreams come true," she says.