HOW THERAPY SAVED JENNIFER ANISTON
Jennifer Aniston opens up about her troubled relationship with her mom, her split from Justin Theroux and how she turned things around
The actress reveals how she healed from heartbreak.
When Jennifer Aniston came across the script for her upcoming Netflix film,
DumplinÕ, she knew she needed to play the part of Rosie, a former Texas beauty queen navigating a very complicated relationship with her daughter. “It really resonated. It was about this little girl wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved,” Jen recently said, “and a mom who was too occupied with the things that didn’t quite matter because she didn’t know any better.”
It’s a mother-daughter dynamic Jen knows far too well. For much of her life, the 49-year-old had an extremely complex — and difficult — relationship with her own mom, former actress and model Nancy Dow. “She was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning. I wasn’t — I never was,” Jennifer’s said of Nancy, who died in 2016 at age 79 after a long illness and a series of strokes. “She was also very unforgiving. She would hold grudges that I just found so petty.” Jen struggled to heal, from the scars left by the tortured relationship and by her mother’s passing. But she was able to do it, she reveals, with the help of a therapist. “It takes a lot of therapy, but you do absolutely get over it,” the Friends alum said at a recent Hollywood Foreign Press Association event, adding that she realized her mom’s hypercritical behavior “was her projection. It had nothing to do with me.” These days, “Jen’s moved on from it all,” a source tells Us. “She’s really doing great.”
THE PRICE OF FAME
Not long after her mother’s death, Jen suffered more heartbreak. Her two-and-a-half-year marriage to actor Justin Theroux, 47, ended in February. That was followed by months of public speculation about the breakup — including by critics who scrutinized her romantic choices. “I don’t love being famous [because] I don’t love the negativity [and] judgment that comes along with it,” Jen explained, adding that the problem seems to be getting worse. “I don’t know if that’s the internet and faceless people being able to have a platform,” she mused at the HFPA event, “but I think it just makes it grow like a cancer.”
Jen insists she wasn’t crushed by the split and that she’s content with her life — despite constant speculation she’s desperate to be a mom. “There is a pressure on women to be mothers, and if they’re not, then they’re deemed damaged goods,” the
Just Go With It star has said. As for frequent rumors that she’s pregnant, “no one considers how sensitive that might be for my partner and me,” she notes. “They don’t know what I’ve been through medically or emotionally. Maybe my purpose on this planet isn’t to procreate. Maybe I have other things I’m supposed to do.”
Jen may not have children of her own, but actress Danielle Macdonald, 27, says she was overwhelmed by the A-lister’s maternal nature on the set of Dumplin’
(which premieres on Netflix Dec. 7). “She’s just really warm. I instantly felt comfortable with her,” Danielle tells Us, calling her onscreen mom “genuine” and “cool.” “[Jen and I] spoke about her past experiences and her experiences growing up. [The] connection between us was really effortless.”
While it hasn’t always been easy, Jen is happy with her life today. “It’s awesome,” she recently said. “As a young kid growing up, [I dreamed] of being an actress. It doesn’t happen often, finding true success. But I’m at this place in my life that I still get to do this, and that’s really awesome.” Those close to Jen say that’s not just talk. “She’s doing her thing exactly the way she wants to do it and really enjoying life,” explains the source. “Jen is very comfortable with where she is and believes that whatever her path is, it will present itself the way it should. She’s all about taking care of herself.”