Jennifer Aniston: I deal with tabloids by ignoring them
Actress Jennifer Aniston is a favorite of the paparazzi and a staple of the tabloid gossip pages, but the star of the new film, "Cake," tells "CBS Sunday Morning" that the best way to deal with the incessant coverage is to ignore it.
"Just don't pay attention," she tells correspondent Lee Cowan, in a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on CBS Sunday, January 4. "I think I used to. There was a period where I was hell-bent on saying, 'That's not true, that's not right, that's not fair.' And now I just think you have to let it roll off your back and you realize, I think everyone knows it's all BS and, like, soap opera on paper."
These days, Aniston is generating headlines for her work in "Cake," a film where she portrays a woman struggling with chronic pain, who is suicidal and addicted to painkillers. For Aniston, the role is a departure from the usual romantic comedies she's headlined in the past.
"I was really ready to, you know, just disappear and really go into the depths of a character," Aniston told Cowan.
Her performance has already earned Aniston nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe. There's already buzz her work in "Cake" could garner her an Academy Award nomination.
Aniston also talks with Cowan about being engaged to fellow actor Justin Theroux. The couple ignores the constant stories about them in the media, Aniston said: "The main thing is to try to just keep refocusing back on what you know is true and what makes you guys happy. We know what our truth is. [The rest] is all just static."
Cowan also asked Aniston about the pressure of living in a media bubble: "Even just on your personal life, about when and if you're gonna get married, and whether you're gonna have a child, I mean it's not stuff that men go through, necessarily."
"No. I mean there's a level of, you know, sexism in that way that, definitely, they don't get asked those questions at all," she replied.
"Do you think it is sexism?"
"Yeah, sure," Aniston said. "Why don't they? I mean, is it because women are supposed to be mothers and procreate? And if you are someone who has a career, that must mean that you are so focused on the career that you say, 'Screw everything else,' when that's obviously not the case? We just happen to be fortunate enough to work, and we know that it can coexist. So I don't know why that pressure is put on women more than men."
"All the attention on your personal life -- how hard has it made it for you just to have, like, a normal relationship with somebody?" asked Cowan. "I mean, I've even terrified to bring up the topic of relationships with you, because it's such a thing."
"Yeah. Well, it's also very normal," Aniston said. "I understand it. But my relationship is very normal. My relationships have been wonderful, normal relationships that exist within this circus of curiosity and what-not."
"CBS Sunday Morning" is broadcast Sundays at 9:00-10:30 a.m. ET on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.
"Sunday Morning" is also rebroadcast Sunday afternoons on the Smithsonian Channel, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Check smithsonianchannel.com for additional times.
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For more info:
- "Cake" - Official movie site (Cinelou Releasing)
- friends-tv.org ("Friends" fan site)
- "Friends" Wiki