Getting to Jennifer Aniston’s home is a journey up a winding road until you reach a white gate that grants access to a pebble-covered area with perfectly aligned trees. A series of stone slabs lead to a grand entrance with bronze doors and a white exterior. In her casual attire consisting of jeans and a black T-shirt, Aniston greets you warmly and even asks about the traffic. She invites you into her stunning family room and kitchen, featuring a pizza oven and wine room encased in glass. While making peppermint tea, she apologizes in advance for any texts she may receive from her showrunner as she is gearing up to shoot her upcoming project with Reese Witherspoon in a month’s time.
As she prepares the tea, I casually drop my bag onto the counter and we begin chatting like old friends. I mention how my daughter had drained the battery on my phone just before I left home, and we start discussing the topic of children and their phones. We talk about the right age for kids to have phones and whether or not it’s worth letting them feel left out by not having one. The dilemma of letting children grow up in a world surrounded by technology is a real internal conflict, she says as she walks over with the mugs and we settle down on the sofa.
The statement “So much is out there” is a reality that Jennifer Aniston knows very well. Although she has starred in more than 30 movies and spent a decade on Friends, her most memorable role is that of America’s Suffering Sweetheart. This character has kept tabloids sales going for a quarter of a century with her joys, heartbreaks, and numerous fictional pregnancies. Aniston believes that society sends women messages about when they should get married and have children, but these are fairy-tale ideals that women should break free from. Despite being a fictional character, Aniston represents an archetype for American culture. Kristin Hahn, her producing partner, thinks it is a mystery why the public obsession with Aniston has never abated. Aniston represents all the double standards about women, especially successful ones. An example of this is how women are measured by marriage and children as markers of happiness, which is not the case for successful men. This double standard is part of sexism, and the negative portrayal of women who haven’t married or had children comes mostly from women. Aniston’s power and influence are often underestimated due to her lovable image. She exerts a soft, persuasive power that gets people on her side. Anne Fletcher, who directed Aniston in Dumplin’, noted that Aniston could use small and almost imperceptible hand gestures to portray her characters’ traits. At 48 years old, Aniston shows no signs of slowing down, and in 2017, she ranked second on Forbes’s highest-paid actresses list. She also earns millions from product endorsements and is set to feature in several new productions.