TIME TO BOOK
Months after nabbing her first SAG Award in more than 20 years, Jennifer Aniston is stepping behind the camera
Multiple sources say Jennifer Aniston’s planning to add “writer and author” to her résumé.
Jennifer Aniston’s been working steadily on building her $300 million empire since her Hollywood debut in the early 1990s. She’s starred in more than 45 films, and did a 10-year run on Friends, one of the most successful TV shows of all time. In 2019, she returned to the small screen with Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, for which she won a SAG award for her powerful performance as a tough-as-nails talk show host. No one would forgive her for taking a break or retiring early, but instead, the celebrated actress is now ready to branch out, big time.
According to sources, quarantine has motivated the superstar, 51, to think about her future projects, and she’s realized she wants to put pen to paper, in multiple ways. An insider tells Us that Aniston “has been writing a ton,” with a focus on screenwriting and even a memoir. “Jen won’t hold anything back when she writes her book,” says one source. “It’ll cover everything she’s been through, from her rise to the top of the A-list to the lessons she’s learned along the way.”
After more than 20 years of being mostly in front of the camera, she’s more than ready for a new challenge. “Jen’s dabbled in personal writing in the past,” says a second source, “but now the timing’s right for her to do it her own way.”
TELLING ALL
Aniston’s always been successful at toeing the line between revealing too much and too little. She’s open and approachable, but isn’t one to air her dirty laundry publicly. (She didn’t even join Instagram until late last year — of course, when she did, she amassed so many followers so quickly, she practically broke it.) But she’s ready to dig deep in her forthcoming memoir, and her love life will likely take up lots of real estate: “There’s no way she could write candidly without recounting the highs and lows of her romances,”
says the first source, who says she’ll discuss famous exes including Vince Vaughn and Tate Donovan, along with her former husbands, Justin Theroux (they split in 2018, after two years of marriage) and Brad Pitt (they wed in 2000 and split in 2005).
The source adds that she’ll also address her recent reunion with Pitt — the two were rumored to have gotten back together after he was spotted at her 50th birthday party in 2019 — and how they eventually made peace over his shocking affair with Angelina Jolie. “Jen’s very clear that she harbors no ill will toward Brad for what happened,” says the source, “and they’ve well and truly moved past it. Jen’s proud of the mature dynamic they’ve managed to establish.”
Aniston will also lift the lid on her troubled childhood and delve into her complicated relationship with her mother, Nancy Dow, who passed away in 2016. The first source says Dow’s death “allows Jen to be a lot more unfiltered in exploring their dynamic.” (Aniston was 9 when her mom and dad, soap star John Aniston, divorced.)
“Ultimately, all the experiences she’s been through have helped shape Jen as a person, so she’s keen not to shirk any aspect of her life,” says the first source. She’ll even talk about motherhood — which became a touchy subject over the years after endless speculation about whether she would or wouldn’t have children. “Jen’s addressed it in the past, but she’ll write about it,” the first source says. “She’s made it very clear that no stone will be left unturned — the process of writing has proven so cathartic for her.”
SETTING A DATE
Aniston’s got a lot of material, and she’ll be taking her time with it. “Her team’s been putting pressure on her for ages to start the process, but Jen just hasn’t really shown anybody what she’s done,” the second source tells Us, adding that the Horrible
Bosses star has been inspired by fellow actress Demi Moore’s process with her 2019 memoir,
Inside Out. “Demi’s book took 10 years for her to write, and Jen’s is probably going to be just as long a process,” says the second source. “She’s been keeping journals throughout her adult life — it’s just a matter of her and her reps deciding when the time’s right.”
WORKING HARD
In the meantime, she has plenty to keep her busy. According to the second source, Aniston caught the script-writing bug back in 2014, while working on the indie film Cake, in which she played a woman struggling to cope in the aftermath of a horrific car accident. As a producer on the flick, along with close pal and partner Kristin Hahn (they founded their own production company, Echo Films, in 2008), Aniston “had a ton of influence on the script,” the second source says. “It’s really the closest she’s come
to getting a writing credit on a movie. The next step for Jen has always been to write something herself.”
Aniston’s also still hard at work on The Goree
Girls, a musical about one of the first all-female country groups to hit the big time in the 1940s, after initially getting together in prison. She’s been attached as a producer since 2007 — and may direct it as well — but the second source says the project’s been stalled because of Aniston’s nonstop filming schedule. “They have a good script, and Jen was meeting with young actresses, but she just kept getting movie offers she couldn’t refuse.
Goree Girls has been a victim of Jen’s own success.”
For now, her focus is on finishing season 2 of The
Morning Show, which is scheduled to resume filming July 15. (The highly anticipated Friends reunion on HBO Max is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic; see box.)
“Jen’s signed over as much as six months per year of her time to The
Morning Show for as long as it runs,” the second source says, adding that Aniston, along with costar and coproducer Reese Witherspoon, are happy with how the new season of the hit series is progressing. “Everything’s moved a lot faster and more smoothly than the first season.”
And as soon as that wraps, the sky’s the limit. “When it comes to writing,” says the second source, “Jen has an itch to scratch.” •