In 2002, something extraordinary happened to Jennifer Aniston: her acting received almost as much attention as her private life. Along with the gossip -- she favors a high-protein diet! she likes hubby Brad Pitt's Grizzly Adams beard! -- came a wave of professional praise. After eight seasons, Aniston, 33, scored Emmy gold as Rachel on NBC's ''Friends.''

  After eight seasons, Aniston, 33, scored Emmy gold as Rachel on NBC's ''Friends.'' She also won over film critics -- a feat few of her TV costars have managed -- with her portrayal of the forlorn Justine in ''The Good Girl.''

  Aniston's previous film characters were often just Rachel once removed, but Justine -- a morose, dead-eyed retail clerk -- required more. The actress delivered, imparting the desperation percolating beneath Justine's mundane life. ''Who knew?'' reviews and Oscar talk followed. ''Some actors can be dazzling, but you don't watch them and think, 'Wow, I'm just like that person,''' says ''Friends'' guest star Paul Rudd, who played opposite Aniston in 1998's ''The Object of My Affection.'' ''But [Jennifer] seems like somebody you'd know.'

  Aniston says she knew Justine, a woman ''feeling trapped in an image.... [There's] this feeling of 'I want to be challenged.''' Not that wandering into territory like adultery and depression didn't scare the cappuccino out of her. ''You don't have to deal with that much on 'Friends,''' Aniston deadpans. ''You just get to say a good joke and give a good reaction.'

  Actually, there's a lot more to it, and few pull it off with Aniston's grace and crack timing. At last, Emmy voters noticed -- as Rachel found her center through motherhood -- and awarded statuettes to not only Aniston but also, for the first time, the series itself.

  'It means a lot,'' she says. ''We did get to a point where we felt like the Susan Lucci of nighttime TV.''

  But the Emmys don't change one fact: ''In my mind, I'm done,'' she says, when asked if ''Friends'' should go on past May. ''I want to start my family.'' Aniston has growth on her mind: ''Getting married, and doing the therapy thing -- if I'm going to be closed off, not in touch with everything I feel, I'm not going to be able to bring anything to any character,'' she says. ''The best thing to come out of this year is, I took a tiny step forward in allowing myself to continue.''