How Is life after Brad treating Jennifer Aniston (and her dog Norman)? She tells ELLE's Holly Millea exclusively 

  It was not the 'happily ever after' Jennifer Aniston was expecting when she married Brad Pitt five years ago. But after separating in January, enough tears and time had passed that by earlier this month, when their divorce was final, it was a happy ending nevertheless. "It's a clichéd thing to say, 'Everything happens for a reason'. It's one of those things when you want to punch somebody when you hear it,' Aniston says, twirling her thick, auburn locks into a know at the base of her neck. "If I had a dollar for everyone who told me that... But the true story is - yes, it does!"  

  In her Chicago hotel suite - looking like a tanned teenager in a pair of tight, low-cut bell-bottoms, a studded leather belt, teensy black tee and flip-flops - the actress pops a cork on a stubborn bottle of white wine, the force freeing her hair in a sexy mess around her shoulders. Aniston has a lot to celebrate. She only has one more day of shooting the last of four films she's made since wrapping a decade of Friends last year. In Rumor Has It, co-starring Kevin Costner and Mark Ruffalo, Aniston plays Sarah Huttinger, a journalist certain she's the granddaughter of the real-life Mrs Robinson. As Olivia in Friends with Money, she plays 'a pothead maid whose friends are all married'. In the soon-to-be-released thriller Derailed, co-starring Clive Owen, Aniston turns her sunny persona inside out to play Lucinda, an adulteress who winds up blackmailed. But that description is too tidy for what Aniston undergoes on-screen. When asked about one particularly harrowing plot twist, Owen had let out a deep breath and said, "That was not a frivolous day of shooting, I can tell you." His experience with the most famous of the former 'Friends' left Owen "hugely impressed" he says. "Regardless of all the heat that surrounds someone in her position, the media circus and all that, she's amazingly sorted out."  

  While Derailed reveals Aniston's surprising talent for playing against type, The Break Up brings her back to more comfortable territory as part of a couple who are forced to live together in their apartment after splitting up. "She was always the one we had in mind for Brooke,' says Aniston's co-star, Vince Vaughn, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay. "She's so genuine and funny. You can see why people are so enamoured by her," Vaughn adds. "She's a combination of so many wonderful things. She makes you strive to do better as an actor, as a person."  

  So over to you, Jennifer...  

ELLE: You've become a symbol of grace and reserve under pressure...

ANISTON: It's a very heavy mantle to be wearing. Look, it's so hard, it's almost the impossible - not talking about anything. I don't abide well to gag orders. I'm a talker. Not like a gossiper, but I'm a sharer of life. I love people who share. I think it's a beautiful trait when people are not micro-managing every corner of their life. But there is a boundary. I've learned my lessons throughout the years on when the line gets crossed and how that can be used against you and can backfire.

ELLE: You must have felt unburdened after your recent Vanity Fair interview.

ANISTON: It was liberating. Now it's forward focus. You have to do 'reshoots' every now and then and look back. But for the most part, it's all about forward movements.

ELLE: You shot four films this year. You were still married while making Rumor Has It and Derailed...

ANISTON: ... Friends with Money - while separated.

ELLE: And going through a divorce during The Break Up - ironic.

ANISTON: Yeah. They were all nervous to approach me for the role. But I thought, The Break Up, seize the moment! And it's been great. So much fun. Ann-Margret plays my mom. And there's Vince Vaughn, Cole Hauser, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jason Bateman - they're all sexy. I love men who are good at what they do.

ELLE: I'm boy crazy.

ANISTON: [Nodding] Men are pretty fantastic, I do have to say.

ELLE: Speaking of 'rumor has it'... ,there are rumors flying around about you and Vince Vaughn...

ANISTON: [Smiles] Vince is my friend. He's my friend.

ELLE: I wish he was my friend.

ANISTON: A lot of girls feel the same way. I get it. Trust me. He's dreamy.

ELLE: So, in Rumor Has It, you play the type of slightly neurotic, endearing character we've come to know and love.

ANISTON: Yeah, you don't have to think too far out of the box on that one.

ELLE: I have to admit I thought you had more chemistry with Kevin Costner than with Mark Ruffalo.

ANISTON: Well, Kevin Costner's charming. Let's not forget - he can ride a horse!

ELLE: I saw Derailed the same day. It was so great to see you do an about turn and play completely against type. The film is kind of like a cross between Fatal Attraction and The Grifters.

ANISTON: [Excited] Those are the two movies I watched beforehand! Did you expect the end? It's going to be tough for us to keep that a secret. It's not your traditional slick thriller. It gets under your skin in an uncomfortable way. When I read the script I was thinking, 'This is one of those movies that I may walk out of going, 'Come on now, did we really have to sit through that?' But it's such a great ride.

ELLE: I had to call my therapist after seeing it. I called him from the bar. I know you're a big therapy advocate. Are you still seeing one?

ANISTON: Not at the moment, but, personally, I love therapy.

ELLE: You and your mother Nancy were estranged for 10 years... but you recently reconnected.

ANISTON: Yeah, I'm thrilled. It's so wonderful. And who knew that this would be the thing to initiate it? It's amazing. It's like we get to introduce ourselves to each other. I'm just happy she's still here. Parent/child relationships are always so complicated and fraught with all sorts of Louis Vuitton baggage. Look, I can almost guarantee you I am probably a carbon copy of her at this point. It's the thing of, 'What you resist, persists.' I hear myself speak and I'm like, 'Oh, my God, I am Nancy. I'm Nancy!' I'm the evolved Nancy that had opportunities and awareness that we have today. And I'm not saying that there weren't issues that took place that led to this. But I really see now weather it was judging her on how she handled her separation [from Aniston's father when she was nine], or her situation... but they didn't have the advantages that we have with therapy, with self-help books.

ELLE: You read self-help books?

ANISTON: I've read many self-help books. I believe in being an 'everythingist'. There's always a little thread of some beauty to everything. I love that! But right now I couldn't look at a self-help book if I was dying in the middle of the street and it told me how I didn't have to die in the middle of the street. I couldn't do it. I'm not in that place right now.

ELLE: Tomorrow's your last day of shooting. What's next?

ANISTON: I'm going home! I can't wait to go back to my little house and sit on the beach. I have a backyard of blue water. There are dolphins that go by. You couldn't order it any better.

ELLE: Describe your new house.

ANISTON: Comfortable. Eclectic. Very sexy. I literally had two weeks to redo the place from tilting to ripping out cabinets. Then I know this amazing woman who's a set designer for movies. And I had her come in. Because they can make a set in a day - a set designer creates a home. You walk onto all these sets and go, 'God, this looks great!' So I called her and said, 'Will you help me dress a set? I need to dress a set, but I'm going to live in it.' It was the most fun I've ever had. We went shopping for two days, 'Take this out on memo, this out on memo, get a big truck, try this, nope that doesn't work, take that back...' It was done in two days. That was it! That was my house.

ELLE: Now all you need is a date for Friday night.

ANISTON: [Shakes her head] That hasn't happened yet - but it will. Right now, I'm just enjoying the time alone.

ELLE: And it's not like you haven't seen some romantic action this year, even if it was work.

ANISTON: [Laughs, counts off her fingers] I did kiss Clive. I do kiss Vince. I did kiss Kevin. I did kiss Mark... I've been very lucky. I've kissed some very sweet, sexy people. And I get to go home at the end of the night!



Derailed is out later this year. Rumor Has It is out on 27 January.