Los Angeles Confidential 2004
(Special thanks to Mandy for typing this article for the JAC)

  In her final season as a Friend, Jennifer Aniston has Emmy prospects on the brain, for herself as well as her heartthrob husband, Brad Pitt. Could she set history with an Oscar nod as well for her stunning turn in The Good Girl? Given her magnetism, approachable beauty, and ever-surprising versatility, if anyone can, Aniston can. Nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy at this year's Emmy Awards, Jennifer Aniston might finish her final season of Friends with an award in her hand. And what better way to segue into a full-time film career? With nine successful prime-time seasons under her belt, a $1 million-per-episode paycheck in her pocket, Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt on her arm for keeps, and children on the horizon ("You can have a baby on one arm and a script in the other."), Aniston might just be the luckiest girl in the world - and it only gets better. Aniston, often confused with the ditzy character she plays on TV, is quite the opposite. Intelligent and versatile, Aniston's most recent foray onto the silver screen - her first dramatic role to date in Miguel Arteta's The Good Girl - has garnered her critical acclaim as a serious actress alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Jack Black, Catherine Keener, and John C. Reilly. Aniston's role as Justine, a depressed 30-year-old discount store clerk in Texas who is deeply unhappy in her marriage to a pot-puffing, infertile husband, is a radical departure from her ebullient Friends character. Currently at work on the final Friends season and just about to start her comedy Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey, Aniston gets serious about her career, family life, and the future.

  Los Angeles Confidential: How did you feel when you heard about your Emmy nomination?
Jennifer Aniston: It was a great honor. I was thrilled to be nominated. But, frankly, it was more exciting to be married. While the award ceremony was exciting, it doesn't compare with my wedding day.

  LAC: Where were you and Brad when you heard about your Emmy nomination and his for his episode of Friends?
JA: Sleeping. It was very exciting, giddy. It took him a day to figure it out. He was a little shocked by the whole thing. I don't think he ever thought that that was a possibility. I think he almost forgot. But it was great, as we both had so much fun doing it.

  LAC: Do you know what you are wearing to the Emmys? Any favorite designers?
JA: No. For big events, I hire a stylist. I'm not great at pulling clothes together in the "proper" way. I remember thinking "couture" was a designer. I thought, "Wow! This guy is everywhere, on every label." That's how much I know.

  LAC: Does being so famous come with drawbacks? Has life in LA changed for you?
JA: When someone follows you 20 blocks to the pharmacy where they watch you buy toilet paper, you know life has changed. Aside from the fact that you go out and you have these annoying pests that follow you every once in a while on a Sunday afternoon, you get in your car, you go to work, you stop at the Coffee Bean, you get coffee, you know...

  LAC: You and Brad visit each other a lot on each other's sets?
JA: Yeah. Absolutely.

  LAC: When you were filming Friends and the Good Girl back to back, how did you juggle the two diverse roles?
JA: Well, Rachel was thankfully such an old, comfy pair of shoes. That was almost a relief to go in, it was like having a weekend, going in and laughing, and I can sort of do her. She's easy. But I was almost utter exhaustion. I think that's why I cried a lot on the set.

  LAC: How was it playing this very straight character in The Good Girl?
JA: I loved it. It's like anything that you get to do that you're not always allowed to do and I remember Miguel [Arteta] saying, "Are you going to be OK, because just know that you're going to be at the center of this group of funny characters, but you're not going to be able to do that," and I said, "Fine with me." I wondered, "Do I have something written on me that says I must do comedy?"

  LAC: While reading the script, when did you connect with the character and know you wanted to do it?
JA: On page three, just her opening monologue, feeling stuck, even though I'm in a career. The first thing you think of is, well, we all have wants, we all have battles with sadness and depression. I grew up definitely squelching that and becoming a funny person, which has a wonderful source of survival and that I was lucky enough to be able to make a living at it.

  LAC: But there'd seem to be nothing in common between your life and Justine's. How could you relate to her?
JA: There is that part of ourselves that becomes very sad or depressed or dark and haunted. We all have our haunts, I think, this was just a different backdrop and different circumstances that they're living in, but I think everyone can relate to that.

  LAC: There are some very funny scenes too in the film, such as the one where you have to help your husband give a sperm sample in a cup?
JA: That was John's first day at work, having to do the sperm thing in a cup in a tiny bathroom with three cameramen, and it was pretty hard not to crack up.

  LAC: You also have a hot love scene with Jake. Did you guys look at each other each day on the set and think, one day we'll be rolling around in bed together, virtually naked?
JA: You mean just anticipating the day? Jake said that's the only reason he did the movie.

  LAC: Are those your first love scenes since marriage?
JA: They're my first love scenes ever.

  LAC: Did Brad give you any tips?
JA: Just "Be nice to the guy. He's just a kid!"

  LAC: Do you ever feel that if your own life had gone in a different direction, you could have ended up like Justine, living and working in a small town somewhere?
JA: At the Retail Rodeo? Yeah, I could have. I was never really sure that I'd ever make it as an actor. I never had great expectations, so there was a part of me that felt like, if I'm a waitress for the rest of my life, fine, I'll be a waitress.

  LAC: Do you want to work more in film now?
JA: Yes, I probably won't do TV for a while, if at all. Friends is a pretty amazing job, but it's rare. So I probably won't dive back into that world again.

  LAC: You're working on a comedy with Jim Carrey. This film is more Rachel than The Good Girl. You're not worried your fans will want something different?
JA: Hopefully if I do the job right they'll ride with the story.

  LAC: When did you decide to do this movie?
JA: It just happened really fast. It was a very speedy process, it came about and I said sure.

  LAC: Is there anything imperfect about you, perhaps strange?
JA: I sleep walk, yeah. I set our alarm off once, and I was outside. It was very weird. The alarm scared the shit out of me and I woke up, and I was out by the pool equipment in the back. I heard this yelling at me because Brad's terrified, he hears the alarm and I'm not there, and it's just awful.

  LAC: Is that the only time that happened?
JA: No, I've done that twice through that same door, but the alarm did not go off the first time. In fact, there were a couple of times that my mom said that I would do that as a kid. I'd walk into the living room and she'd have conversations with me, and I would have no memory.

  LAC: How is it being back on the set of Friends knowing it'll probably be the last year? What do you want to do afterwards?
JA: Sad. But anything could happen. I want to do a lot of things. I want to travel. There's a lot of the world I'd like to see, and I want to work more and have a family.

  LAC: Any future production projects on the rise?
JA: I have been developing a spec script for a TV pilot based on the play Parental Discretion. My dad, John Aniston, would star as this outspoken father who moves in with his gay adult son. And Brad and I want to do a movie together eventually.