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2000's CAREER

This page informs you about the ending of the actresses 'Friends' career; which lead to her transitioning into a film star: (2002) critically acclaimed breakout role in indie drama film 'The Good Girl', then continued success with (2003) comedy/fantasy film 'Bruce Almighty', her Hollywood marriage as well as her tabloid divorce from Brad Pitt, media feud with actress Angelina Jolie, her rebound romance with actor/comedian Vince Vaughn, her short-lived relationship with British model Paul Sculfor, and her on-again-off-again relationship with musician/singer John Mayer.

(2008) Jennifer at the Management premiere

Content
1 2000: The Friends Are Here to Stay!
   1.1 PEOPLE magazine - Friends
   1.2 72nd Annual Academy awards
   1.3 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt
   1.4 Friends - Season 7 (TV Series)
   1.5 PEOPLE magazine - Brad Pitt
2 2001 - Brad & Jennifer: The King and Queen of Hollywood
   2.1 Snatch - Brad Pitt
   2.2 The Mexican - Brad Pitt
   2.3 Entertainment Weekly magazine - Brad Pitt
   2.4 Vanity Fair magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   2.5 Rock Star
   2.6 PEOPLE magazine - Friends
   2.7 Friends - Season 8 (TV Series)
   2.8 Rolling Stone magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   2.9 Spy Game - Brad Pitt
   2.10 Ocean's Eleven - Brad Pitt
   2.11 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt
3 2002: Jennifer Is...The Good Girl
   3.1 The Good Girl
   3.2 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   3.3 Vogue magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   3.4 Friends - Season 9 (TV Series)
   3.5 Esquire magazine - Jennifer Aniston
4 2003 - Friends Till The End: The 10th and Final Season
   4.1 18th Annual Independent Spirit awards
   4.2 Bruce Almighty
   4.3 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Courteney Cox
   4.4 Friends - Season 10 (TV Series)
5 2004: From Television Star to Film Actress
   5.1 Along Came Polly
   5.2 61st Annual Golden Globe awards
   5.3 Vogue magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   5.4 19th Annual Independent Spirit awards
   5.5 PEOPLE magazine - Friends
   5.6 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   5.7 Troy - Brad Pitt
   5.8 Entertainment Weekly magazine - Brad Pitt
   5.9 Ocean's Twelve - Brad Pitt
6 2005 - Rumor Has It...:The Hollywood Couple Split
   6.1 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt
   6.2 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt
   6.3 Entertainment Weekly magazine - Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie
   6.4 Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Brad Pitt
   6.5 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   6.6 Vanity Fair magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   6.7 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   6.8 Derailed
   6.9 Rumor Has It...
7 2006 - The Break-Up: A Year After Brad
   7.1 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   7.2 78th Annual Academy awards
   7.3 Friends with Money
   7.4 Vogue magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   7.5 Entertainment Weekly magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn
   7.6 The Break-Up
   7.7 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn
   7.8 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn
8 2007: A Well Deserved Career Hiatus
   8.1 18th Annual GLAAD Media awards
   8.2 Dirt (TV Series)
   8.3 PEOPLE magazine - Jennifer Aniston & Paul Sculfor
9 2008: Back to Work with Marley & Me
   9.1 30 Rock (TV Series)
   9.2 Vogue magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   9.3 Entertainment Weekly magazine - Jennifer Aniston
   9.4 Marley & Me
10 2009: The Ending of a Tabloid Filled Decade
     10.1 GQ magazine - Jennifer Aniston
     10.2 He's Just Not That Into You
     10.3 81st Annual Academy awards
     10.4 "We Made You" Eminem music video
     10.5 Management
     10.6 Love Happens 


2000: The Friends Are Here to Stay!
PEOPLE magazine: How the Friends Stay Friends.
[January 24, 2000] - The cast of 'Friends' appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining How the Friends Stay Friends. In this exclusive interview Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer embrace parenthood, survive break-ups, and conquer demons, as their characters grow-up, but never apart.

article by: Paula Chin

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 53 - No. 3
"While taping Friends, life seems good with a giddy love fest for the show's party of six. After six seasons, true team spirit, not to mention chain-reaction laughter triggered this time by the wisecracking Perry, still rules. When the NBC comedy about a clan of charmingly neurotic Manhattan twenty something's first aired in '94, much was made of an ensemble crew so mutually supportive and tight-knit they seemed to be joined at the hip. So far on the show the cast has played poker, shopped together; they even took a field trip to a paint-your-own-pottery studio, and rolled the dice in Las Vegas. "I think it was the very first notes session," recalls actress Courteney Cox "everybody was kind of there for everybody. It's more the exception than the rule in this business when you see that. During breaks we all eat lunch together," she added, "and that doesn't happen on many sets. Director James Burrows, who has also served as the director for other legendary ensemble shows: Taxi and Cheers, and who molded early episodes of Friends, agrees: "They do more things together than most casts, and it's amazing that they do, as difficult as it is for them to keep away from the paparazzi," he added, "but, they still love one another." These days, the series is one of television's top ranked comedies, regularly placing in the Top 5 on the Nielson list. 

Last week it won the People's Choice award for Favorite Television Comedy Series of the Year. "The show's appeal," says executive producer Kevin Bright, "stems from the fact that it holds up a mirror to the life of gen Xers (more commonly known as 'generation X', a group of people born from 1966-1976)  who are still deciding about careers and what's important to them. No matter who you are, it's a reflection of where you're heading, where you are, or where you've been. That's a testimony to the writing." Much of the credit goes to the cast that just keeps clicking on camera as well as off. "It's not a conscious thing - we like each other tremendously, and get along very well," says Aniston. "We're having as much fun as we did the first year, if not more," says David Schwimmer. Granted, the gang no longer throws weekly wrap parties or gatherings on Thursday nights while they all watch the show together. Having seen each other through all manners of grown pains - everything from drug addictions; Matthew Perry overcame his addiction to painkillers after a ski accident, broken hearts, and do-or-die contract negotiations - the co-stars have ventured their separate ways in both their personal lives as well as their solo movie careers. They're nowhere near the point, as Cox once jokingly predicted in an earlier interview, "Eventually, we'll all go to our big trailers and never speak." "As we all get older, says LeBlanc "we spend more time with out significant others, so of course the dynamic changes," he said. "When we can, we eat lunch together at the commissary or in one of our dressing rooms and just catch-up. We've really grown to be brothers and sisters more than anything else," added Lisa Kudrow. The cast has mellowed into an extended - and ever extending - family, embracing new members as readily as they swap hugs on a sound stage at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California where they tape some twenty four shows a year. 

Jennifer and Courteney Cox-Aruqette use "The Buddy System".
In reference to relationships Aniston's cast mate's made sure to be by her side after she began dating film actor Brad Pitt in '98. Careful to make him feel welcome, the cast remained friendly, but unfazed when the superstar visited the set to celebrate the show's 100th episode (also known as "The One with the Triplets") that October. "They don't feel different from him because Brad and Jen have had the same relationship problems as anybody else," says Perry. Jennifer has experienced her own share of heartbreak, much like her character, Rachel Green. The actress, who broke-up with actor and live-in boyfriend Tate Donovan in '98, often turned to Matthew Perry when she needed a shoulder to cry on. "He really helped me when I was going through a relationship problem," she told PEOPLE in '95. "He's a great listener." These days, which she has described as "the happiest time of my life," Aniston hangs out with fellow lovebirds Matt LeBlanc and his fiancee model, Melissa McKnight. Excitement broke out on set once fellow female co-stars found out that Kudrow was expecting. "Courtney and I," says Aniston, "threw her a big blowout baby shower-cum-tea-party." "They're so affectionate," says Kudrow, "you could kind of see them (Courteney and Jennifer) thinking, 'It's going to be my turn one of these days,' " she added. "I guess we're all just getting a little more domestic," said Lisa in an earlier interview for In Style magazine, "I can't believe how much they listen to me talk about the baby - and I thank them for that." However, sharing is one thing - snitching is another - something none of the co-stars do to each other. Each is fiercely protective of the other especially when it comes to privacy; no one in the group ever goes against the family. They all know how to close rank when besieged by the press. 

"After facing my addiction," said Perry, "I don't think there's anything in the world that I can't face, having faced that. That was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me. You get a whole new respect for yourself and life when you go through something that difficult." "Reporters would constantly ask us questions regarding each other, like 'What do you really think of so-and-so?', and should someone come on and alienate one of us, the other five will just shut them out," says Aniston. From the start of the series, an unofficial equal-opportunity policy has helped keep the cast thick as thieves on the set. After moving to a new sound stage a few years ago, they actually drew straws to see which actors would get the two larger dressing rooms, and the prized costumes are rotated annually amongst them. The writers have promised them to keep the equal balance among story arcs so that each has a story line of their own for each episode. "The one thing that has evolved as each of us has matured is our ability to communicate with one another" says Aniston. "There's no one peacemaker. If anything happens to arise between one of us and another we go right to the person and say, 'Listen, this hurt me or this bothered me,' it's because of those skills we've developed over the last six years that we do get along so well." As the series has progressed each of the six Friends stars have all done their share of movie roles, but there is no breakout star just yet. No one is signed on for another season just yet, but one is in the works. The entire cast has agreed to come back should another season happen, but only if all of the others sign on as well. Earlier November of last year Kudrow was asked, "Are you bored with the sitcom?", who is the only cast member to earn an Emmy, she simply replied, "No, it's always entertaining, always fun. I can't image showing up for work and about to rehearse a scene at the coffee shop with one of the cast members gone," she said, "I just wouldn't want to be there."

Jennifer & Brad at the Vanity Fair Oscar party
[March 26, 2000] - Jennifer's fiance film actor Brad Pitt attends the 72nd Annual Academy awards as a presenter. The ceremony was held at the Shrine Auditorium on Los Angeles, California and hosted by actor/comedian Billy Crystal. Pitt attended the red carpet solo, but was later joined by his fiancee Aniston during the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. He presented the award for Best Cineatography of the Year awarded to Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall for his work in 'American Beauty'. Oscar award winning films include drama film 'American Beauty', sci-fi/fantasy film 'The Matrix', drama film 'The Cider House Rules', 'Tosy-Turvy', drama film 'Boys Don't Cry', drama film 'Girl, Interrupted', drama film 'The Red Violin', animated family film 'Tarzan', and horror film 'Sleepy Hallow'. 'American Beauty' received five of its eight Academy award nominations including Best Picture of the Year awarded to producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks, Best Directors of the Year awarded to Director Sam Mendes, Best Lead Actor of the Year awarded to actor Kevin Spacey for his performance as Lest Burnham, Best Original Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter AlanBall, and Best Cinematography of the Year awarded to Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall. 'The Matrix' received all of its Academy award nominations including Best Sound Effects Editing of the Year awarded to sound effects editor Dane A. Davis, Best Sound of the Year award to re-recording mixing artist John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell and David Lee, Best Film Editing of the Year awarded to film editor Zach Staenberg, and Best Visual Effects of the Year awarded to visual effects artists and supervisors John Gaeta, Janaek Sirrs, Jon Thum and Steve Courtney.

Brad presenting the Oscar for Best Cinematography
'The Cider House Rules' received two of its seven Academy award nominations including Best Supporting Actor of the Year awarded to actor Michael Caine for his performance as Dr. Wilbur Larch, and Best Adapted Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter/author John Irving. 'Topsy-Turvy' received two of its four Academy award nominations including Best Makeup of the Year awarded to makeup artist Christine Blundell and hairstylist Trefor Proud, and Best Costume Design of the Year awarded to costume designer Lindy Hemming. 'Boys Don't Cry' received on of its two Academy award nominations including Best Lead Actress of the Year awarded to actress Hilary Swank for her performance as Brandon Teena. 'Girl, Interrupted' won the Academy award for Best Supporting Actress of the Year awarded to actress Angelina Jolie for her performance as Lisa Rowe. 'The Red Violin' won the Academy award for Best Orignal Score awarded to composer John Corigliano. 'Tarzan' won the Academy award for Best Orginal Song of the Year awarded to singer/songwriter Phil Collins. Other Oscar winning films include drama film 'All About My Mother', documentary 'One Day in September', documentary short film 'King Gimp', live-action short film 'My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciiples in New York', and animated short film 'The Old Man in the Sea'. 'All About My Mother' received the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year awarded to director Pedro Almodovar. 'One Day in September' received the Academy award for Best Documentary Feature of the Year awarded to director Kevin Mcdonald and producer Arthur Cohn. 'King Gimp' received the Academy award for Best Documentary Short Subject awarded to director Susan Hannah Hadary and producer William A. Whiteford. 'My Mother Dreasm the Satan's Disciples in New York' received the Academy award for Best Live Action Short Film of the Year awarded to director Barbara Schock and producer Tammy Tiehel. 'The Old Man and the Sea' received the Academy award for Best Animated Short Film of the Year awarded to director Alexander Petrov. The Honorary Academy award was received by director Andrzej Wajda, and the Irving G. Thalberg award was recieved by director Warren Beatty.

PEOPLE magazine: Brad & Jennifer's Wedding!
[August 14, 2000] - The 31-year old 'Friends' star appears on the cover of People magazine with Brad Pitt headlining Brad & Jennifer's Wedding!. In this exclusive article the couple of Jennifer Joanna Aniston, and William Bradley "Brad" Pitt promise each other a lifetime of love and milkshakes among friends, fireworks and over fifty thousand flowers.

article by: Anne-Marie O'Neill

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 54 - No. 7
"On July 29, hand in hand on a Malibu bluff, Jennifer Joanna Aniston and William Bradley "Brad" Pitt exchanged marriage vows they had composed themselves. Some were lighthearted: Pitt, for example, pledged to "split to difference on the thermostat." Aniston, getting a little misty, promised, "to always make his favorite banana milk shake." When the time came to recite more traditional vows in unison the bride displayed comedic timing befitting her character Rachel Green, the sweet scatterbrain she plays on Friends. Pitt and the celebrant waited calmly for her to join in, but instead Jennifer missed her cue. "Oh," she exclaimed, after a beat, "I've never done this before!" "With this ring, I thee wed," the duo declared together, "so that all the world may know my love for you." As if the world hadn't caught on already. Jennifer, (then age 31), and Pitt (then age 36), came out as a couple two years ago - furtively at first, then with the paparazzi-be-damned assurance of two luminaries in love. The much-anticipated wedding, with some two hundred guests, fifty thousand flowers, four bands, a gospel choir, and fireworks, deftly mixed romance and exuberant celebration. "Jennifer looked beautiful," said her father, soap opera actor John Aniston of Days of Our Lives, "I escorted her down the aisle and it was a spectacular ceremony." The actress wore a glass-beaded, floor-length, silk-and-satin, low-backed gown designed by Lawrence Steele, down the aisle. "She wanted to look sexy, but pretty", said a source, "and the dress she wore was definitely designed to show off her toned arms." The guest list included: Aniston's Friends co-stars actress Courteney Cox-Arquette and her then husband; actor/producer David Arquette, David Schwimmer and his steady girlfriend; actress Milli Avaital, Matthew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow (Matt LeBlanc had a prior engagement filming All the Queen's Men), Pitt's Fight Club co-star actor Edward Norton and his then-girlfriend actress Salma Hayek; and Jennifer's gal pals actress Cameron Diaz, and actress Kathy Najimy, as well as actor/comedian David Spade.

One person who didn't attend was Aniston's mother, Nancy Dow, due to a falling out between the two women: years ago Nancy blabbed to a reporter during an interview regarding personal information about Jennifer. "Despite the high-watt turnout," says one guest, "the event had a most un-Hollywood like vibe. It was an emotional service. It wasn't like a business thing. Rather it was friends and family and celebration." By last fall Aniston was flashing a diamond-and-platinum engagement ring, which Brad helped design. To some friends they already seemed like an old married couple. "They finish each others sentences - they're two peas in pod," says Aniston's pal Courteney Cox. In April of this year Jennifer encouraged Brad to quit smoking. She advised him wear a patch, but he replied saying, "Don't smoke either, honey," and she replied, "well, you quit first!". They're perfect together. As the wedding day approached she got together with her hairstylist Chris Millan and make-up artist Angela Levin. "She said that she wanted to have a sort of soft and natural look", recalled Chris, "once we had a finished product you didn't look at her and see Rachel, you saw Jennifer, a beautiful bride." By 6:30 p.m., a six-piece band backed up by a forty member gospel choir began singing Al Bowlly's '30s classic "Love is the Greatest Thing". Then Jennifer, carrying a loose bouquet of roses, made her entrance proceeded by petal-throwing and bubble blowing flower girls, a ring bearer and two bridesmaids: actress Andrea Benewalk, and Aniston's high school classmate filmmaker Kristin Hahn, one of her the first friends she made after Jennifer moved to Los Angeles. Next to Pitt, stood his brother and best man Doug, and their father Bill, who acted as Brad's second groom's men. Meanwhile, Brad's sister Julie, and mother Jane watched from the front row. 

Brad & Jennifer's Malibu wedding...Isn't It Romantic?
Once the fifteen-minute ceremony was complete, the party spilled onto the lawn. As the newlyweds posed for photos, guests had refreshments during the reception. "Brad and Jennifer were laughing and smiling, holding hands," says one guest. "The sun went down over the ocean, and there was a red sky." By eight o'clock guests made their way into the reception tent, where one side opened onto a view of the Pacific. A slide show played of Aniston and Pitt growing up over the years flashed on an outdoor screen. Once the speeches were done the couple danced their first dance out on the dance floor to the song "The Way You Look Tonight" by Tony Bennett. Later they were joined by Edward and Salma and eventually everyone else joined in as well. The clock struck ten and it was time for fireworks. A thirteen-minute display shot overhead of the bluff while songs by Radiohead, Garbage, and Jeff Buckley played. The bouquet toss, which Jennifer's first attempt failed after is ricocheted off of a hanging lamp back into her hands; the garter throw, which Brad using only his teeth extracted from the giggling bride's leg; and the cutting and consumption of the six-tier, white frosted wedding cake. "They were looking into each others eyes while they fed each other," reported a guest, "and they were laughing with cake in their mouths." At one point, accompanied by actor Dermot Mulroney on mandolin, singer Melissa Ethridge performed an acoustic version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". Of course Aniston stuck to her Greek roots as the couple participated in a chair dance while thirty guests circle-danced. After a five-month summer hiatus, Jennifer is due to return to the Friends set in August whereas Brad's next movie isn't due until next year. He'll also begin filming Ocean's Eleven in January, and no one would be surprised if the couple became a family tout de suite. Jennifer, who has been known to cry tears of joy at the sight of babies, once declared in an earlier interview with Cosmopolitan in '97, "I want three children - pronto. I want to be a young mom too." However, now she says, "that's the future, right now there's a moment, a day, a memory to be savored."

(2000-2001) Friends Season 7 DVD Cover
[October 12, 2000 - May 17, 2001] - Jennifer is informed that the network has signed her along with the rest of her cast mate's on for a seventh season with a salary per episode of $125,000. Season seven focuses on Monica and Chandler preparing for their wedding, which concluded last season's finale where she proposed to him. Joey gets a job on a television series called 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.', which is later cancelled. Sometime later, he is offered his old job back on soap opera 'Days of Our Lives', however, there's a catch - he will be playing the role of a comatose patient with no lines. Rachel encourages Phoebe to keep the apartment despite it only having one large bedroom. Phoebe suggests she stay with Joey because he has a spare room now that Chandler is living with Monica. Rachel ends up hiring and dating her younger assistant Tag, but later the two break up due to their age difference. Phoebe discovers she is a year older than Ursula after her sister shows her their birth certificates. Monica and Chandler finally marry, but after Phoebe discovers a positive pregnancy test it causes questions to arise as to whether or not it's Monica's. The premiere episode "The One with Monica's Thunder" airs to 25.5 million viewers tuning in to see the gang preparing for Monica and Chandler's engagement party. The gang plans on celebrating their friends engagement at the Plaza. However, as Monica goes across the hall to check and see if everyone is getting ready to her horror she opens the door to the hallway at the sight of Rachel and Ross kissing. This causes her to think that they are getting back together as a couple therefore drawing attention to themselves and stealing her thunder. Monica points out to Rachel that it isn't the first time she's stolen her thunder: at Monica's sweet-16 Rachel made out with Monica's cousin Charlie and it was all any of her guests could talk about. In Rachel's defense she says she only did that because Monica's party was so boring. Monica tells Rachel off after Rachel's excessive need to know why Monica doesn't want to speak with her.

Friends season 7 episode "The one with Monica's Thunder"
Monica informs Rachel that maybe she did what she did because she's feeling resentful, maybe Rachel thought that she'd get married first, and maybe Rachel couldn't stand the thought of her formerly fat friend getting married before she did. Rachel feels hurt by what Monica says she thinks about her, and she and Ross stage having sex in order to get back at Monica. Later Rachel apologizes to Monica explaining that she wasn't trying take away from her special night. She goes on to explain that she felt sad, but is genuinely happy for Monica and Chandler, but them getting married just reminds her of the fact that she isn't married. Rachel says that she isn't even close, and she doesn't know for sure but maybe she did what she did to make herself feel better. She admits that her actions were dumb, but points out that Monica was so depressed when Ross got married that she slept with Chandler. Rachel apologizes for ruining Monica's night and the two reconcile. Meanwhile, Chandler has bedroom-related problems and seeks Joey's help. Joey lies to the casting director of a commercial about his age and attempts to pass himself off for a 19-year old. With the help of Rachel and Phoebe, Joey gets some style tips from Rachel as to how to dress younger, and Phoebe suggests that he put some teabags under his eyes to take out some of the wisdom. Phoebe desperately asks Monica if she can play guitar at her wedding. At first she agrees, but later Monica changes her mind once she hears how offensive the songs are that Phoebe plans on playing. Phoebe is crushed, and writes a song out of anger: "Whenever I get married guess who won't be asked to sing, somebody named "GELLER" and somebody else named "BING!". The season finale is broken into two parts "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1)" airs to 30.0 million viewers who tune in to see Ross speaking with Chandler that should he hurt Monica or cause her any sort of pain he will hunt Chandler down and kick his a**.

Friends season 7 episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1)"
However, Chandler takes Ross's threat as a joke, as do Rachel and Phoebe once they learn what Ross told Chandler, but Ross's parents, Jack and Judy, assure him he can kick anyone's butt be pleases. Joey gets a part in a major film, but later he regrets it because he learns that his famous acting co-star, Richard Crosby; played by Gary Oldman, spits while teaching Joey the art of enunciation. He also learns that he won't be able to make it to Monica and Chandler's wedding due to his co-star delaying the production of the film causing scheduling conflicts. Amongst this Ross attempts to keep an anxious Chandler calm, and fails. Chandler's fear of commitment gets the better of him resulting in him fleeing his own wedding. Phoebe discovers someone's positive pregnancy test in the wastebasket in Monica's bathroom. She shares her gossip with Rachel who is leery of the news. Monica tries to keep the order so her wedding day will go accordingly, but obstacles occur preventing her from doing so: Rachel doesn't allow Monica to know Chandler has gone missing, the guys find a note that Chandler wrote explaining to Monica that he's sorry he can't marry her, and Ross runs all over town trying to find a missing Chandler. "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 2)" airs to 30.0 million viewers tuning in to Phoebe and Rachel deciding to keep the fact that they know Monica is pregnant  a secret. Ross still hasn't managed to find Chandler despite spending the entire night out looking for him. Joey comes up with outrageous excuse of telling the director of the movie that he's having surgery in order to get out of having to shoot the same day as Monica and Chandler's wedding, but his plan backfires. His co-star Richard Crosby shows up on set drunk proving difficult to work with so Joey lies to him telling him that they're done shooting for the day.

Friends season 7 episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 2)"
With Phoebe's help Ross and her continue the search for Chandler, and Rachel proceeds stalling Monica from learning he's gone missing. Phoebe and Ross manage to find Chandler hiding out of his office. His friends convince him to come back and get married by Ross talking Chandler into taking getting ready for the wedding one step at a time. Chandler goes missing again after overhearing Phoebe tell Rachel that she suspects the positive pregnancy test she found in the trash can is Monica's. Luckily, Chandler is found again, and now use to the idea of becoming a husband as well as a father all in the same day, goes through with the wedding. The episode ends with Joey managing to make it on time to officiate the wedding, but in costume as a World War I soldier. Monica and Chandler get married and after their nuptials he confronts her about being pregnant, but she denies his claims causing us to wonder who is pregnant, and we learn the truth that Rachel is the one who is really pregnant, but allows Phoebe to think otherwise. Season seven celebrity guest stars include actor Eddie Cahill as Tag Jones; Rachel's assistant episodes "The One with Rachel's Assistant", episode 'The One with the Engagement Picture", episode "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs", episode "The One with All the Candy", episode "The One Where They're Up All Night", and episode "The One Where They All Turn Thirty". Actor/Comedian Hank Azaria guest stars as David; Phoebe's scientist boyfriend episode "The One with the Cheesecakes". Actress Susan Sarandon guest stars as Jessica Lockhart; Joey's 'Days of Our Lives' co-star episode "The One with Joey's New Brain". Model/actress Denise Richards guest stars as Cassie Geller; Monica and Ross's cousin episode "The One Ross and Monica's Cousin". Actress Winona Ryder guest stars as Melissa Warburton; Rachel's former sorority sister episode "The One with Rachel's Big Kiss".

People's Choice award - Favorite Television Comedy Series
Actress Gabrielle Union guest stars as Kristen Long; Joey and Ross's love interest episode "The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress". Actor Gary Oldman guest stars as Richard Crosby; Joey's acting mentor/film co-star episodes "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1 & 2)". Actress Kristin Davis guest stars as Erin; Joey's love interest episode "The One with Ross's Library Book". Actress Allison Sweeney guest stars as Jessica Ashley; a fellow Soapie award nominee episode "The One with Joey's Award". Actor/comedian Jason Alexander guest stars as Earl; a man who Phoebe helps prevent committing suicide episode 'The One Where Rosita Dies". Actor Elliot Gould guest stars as Jack Geller; Monica and Ross's father episode "The One with Rachel's Book", episode "The One with Phoebe's Cookies", episode "The One Where Rosita Dies", episode "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", episodes "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1 & 2)". Actress Christina Pickles guest stars as Judy Geller; Monica and Ross's mother episode "The One with Rachel's Book", episode "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", and episodes "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1 & 2)". Actress Kathleen Turner guest stars as Charles Bing; Chandler's father episode "The One with Chandler's Dad", and episodes " The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1 & 2)". Actress Morgan Fairchild guest stars as Nora Bing; Chandler's mother episodes "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding (Part 1 & 2)". In efforts of the show the cast of 'Friends' attended several awards shows including the 17th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards, 24th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards, the 5th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards, the 27th Annual People's Choice awards, the 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy awards, the 12th Annual Producers Guild awards, the 6th Annual Satellite awards, the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards, the 3rd Annual Teen Choice awards, and the 17th Annual TV Guide awards.

People's Choice award - Favorite Female Television Performer
At the 17th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards their series won for Best Foreign Television Program of the Year and Best Female Foreign Television Personality awarded to Jennifer Aniston for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 24th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards their series was nominated for Favorite Television Show of the Year. At the 5th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards their series was nominated for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for their performances as Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribianni, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow for their performances as Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay, Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominees Susan Sarandon and Kathleen Turner for their performances as Jessica Lockhart and Charles Bing. At the 27th Annual People's Choice awards their series won Favorite Television Comedy Series of the Year, and Favorite Female Television Performer awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 12th Annual Producers Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Producing for a Television Comedy Series nominees David Crane, Marta Kauffman and Kevin Bright. At the 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow for their performances as Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Gary Oldman for his performance as Richard Crosby, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Susan Sarandon for her performance as Jessica Lockhart. At the 6th Annual Satellite awards their series was nominated for Best Television Series Comedy or Musical of the Year, and Best Actress in a Series Comedy or Musical nominee Lisa Kudrow for her performance as Phoebe Buffay. At the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for their performances as Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribianni, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller. At the 3rd Annual Teen Choice awards their series won for Best Comedy Series of the Year. At the 17th Annual TV Guide awards their series was nominated for Comedy Series of the Year.

PEOPLE magazine Brad Pitt: The Sexiest Man Alive
[November 13, 2000] - Jennifer's husband Brad Pitt appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining as The Sexiest Man Alive of the year 2000. In this exclusive interview this poster boy for manhood is in the new millennium now older, wiser, and still seducing with manners and magnetism. Those eyes, those abs, that ring! Who knew settling down could be this exciting. So nice we crowned him twice.

article by: Karen S. Schneider

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 54 - No. 20
"There are some things a guy just won't do - even a nice Midwestern guy like Brad Pitt, who is so polite that he is loath to refuse anyone a simple request. Especially anyone named Jennifer Aniston. On a visit with his family in his hometown to Springfield, Missouri, last Christmas Pitt, (then age 36) and his father Bill returned from running errands to find the ladies Jennifer and Pitt's mother Jane, as well as his sister Julie hunkered down at his parent's home for holiday pedicures. "He kept offering to get Jennifer something to drink and checking to make sure she was okay," says a source. "Jennifer kept trying to talk him into getting his toenails painted," said Brad's brother Doug, "but he wouldn't let her." Brad said, "I want to keep my, quote 'manly feet' ". Like he needs to worry. The fact is the five years since we first ordained Brad as the Sexiest Man Alive despite a string of recent box office disappointments such as The Devil's Own and last years Fight Club, for which he tried to dim his beauty by shaving his head and chipping a tooth. The actor's appeal has only grown stronger. Witness the rush of fans in August at the London premiere of his latest film Snatch, a jewel-heist caper due to hit the States early next year. It was a walk down the aisle that truly riveted admirers this year. On July 29, surrounded by some two hundred guests, fifty thousand flowers, four bands, a gospel choir and fireworks, Pitt made the ultimate romantic move: He took himself off of the market. According to friends and fans alike, in his role as Adoring Husband, this Sexiest Man Alive has never been hotter. "Marrying Jennifer is the pinnacle for him," says Pitt's Meet Joe Black co-star actress Marcia Gay-Harden. "Sexiness isn't just about the single bachelor and good looks. There's something gorgeous about his commitment as well." No argument from the committed couple. Though careful to guard their romance from the public, Brad and Jennifer were every bit the cuddly newlyweds among friends during a fundraiser event in Los Angeles in August; shivering in shawl while awaiting for a midnight alfresco dinner; Aniston warmed herself in Pitt's bear hug. 

Brad Pitt is The Sexiest Man Alive of the year 2000.
He was equally adoring at the Academy awards in March as well as September during the Emmy awards, which the Oscar nominee for '95's 12 Monkey's proudly attended on the arm of his television star wife. The setting in England, where Brad filmed Snatch last fall, was considerably grittier. To play the role of a bare-knuckled Gypsy boxer, he spent several afternoons' punching bags in a dingy gym. As one crew member recalls, "Brad sometimes didn't shower for days." This didn't bother Jennifer, who flew in from Los Angeles, California between Friends tapings, "She turned up looking, as always, like the most beautiful thing on the planet," said Pitt. " The contrast between her beauty and Brad's, who was at the time four feet deep in mud with his nose made up to look broken and his fingernails torn, couldn't have been greater. As soon as they saw each other their faces lit up. They kissed each other really tenderly, and it was obvious they were madly in love," said another crew member. Brad's wife agrees saying, "He's just a kind, and easy, and chivalrous gentleman. These are the qualities that make him really attractive. Also his humor and caring and curiosity," said Aniston. Folks in Springfield, Missouri agree too, "She couldn't have landed a nicer guy," according to a general consensus formed by comments of the people of Springfield. Since meeting Jennifer on a date brokered by their representatives in early '98. As Pitt said in an earlier interview with Rolling Stone magazine, "She's [Jennifer] complicated but in a good way, she's wise, she's fair, and she's has a great empathy for others...and she's just so cool." As far as friends can tell, there is only one real problem for the couple that, as an associate put it, "Already finishes each others sentences". Between her $750,000 per episode salary and his $20 million per film salary movie career, they have to speak too often only by cell phone. This past summer, after five weeks of filming The Mexican he showed up late to dinner with the films producer Lawrence Bender and Pitt's co-star actress Julia Roberts due to the fact he didn't want to cut his video chat short with Jennifer because they hadn't seen each other face-to-face for so long. In an earlier interview in Elle magazine Aniston spoke about motherhood saying, "Brad has said to me, 'Listen, I'm ready now, but I'll wait."... if everything falls into place as it has done in the past, when the time's right it will just present itself."

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2001 - Brad & Jennifer: The King and Queen of Hollywood
(2001) Snatch
[January 19, 2001] - Jennifer's husband Brad Pitt stars as Mickey O'Neil in the ensemble cast comedy/crime film 'Snatch'. The film focuses on boxing promoter Turkish; actor Jason Statham's character, and his naive business partner Tommy; actor Stephen Graham's character, who sits nervously before an unseen man, in London. Turkish gives a brief narration regarding the circumstances, before the camera panoramas to view Antwerp where gangster and compulsive gambler Frankie "Four-Fingers"; actor Benicio del Toro's character and his buddies, dressed like rabbits, pull off a daring robbery nabbing an 86-karat diamond. Frankie's brother, Boris the Blade, is also a gangster aka Boris "the Bullet-Dodger", named due to his unique ability to defy death. He lures Frankie into purchasing a gun in order to steal the diamond with the intentions of keeping it for himself. Meanwhile, Frankie is contacted by jeweler retailer Dough the Head' actor Mike Reid's character, in regards to the diamond. Doug then contacts his "cousin Avi" Abraham Denovitz; actor Dennis Farina's character, who resides in New York regarding the diamond as well. Avi sounds very interested, and tells Doug to keep Frankie close as well as interested in selling. Amongst this Turkish and Tommy prepare for a big bout, using their premiere boxer Gorgeous George; actor Adam Fogerty's character. Turkish urges Tommy to purchase a new caravan from a traveling gypsy Mickey O'Neil; Pitt's character, and a tough indecipherable part-time pugilist. Accompanied by Gorgeous George, just as they depart with his new vehicle the wheels of it fall off.  Mickey refuses to give him a refund so the two make a negotiation: Mickey proposes to fight Gorgeous George. The two men engage in a bare-knuckle fistfight and while Mickey is caught off guard Gorgeous George begins to throw punches at him. He precedes hitting Mickey until he is knocked out cold, and moments later Tommy reports the bad news back to Turkish. Brick Top; actor Alan Ford's character, is pissed that George won't be participating in tonight's fight, due to all of the bets that were placed on him. Turkish desperately turns to Mickey, who says "I'll do the fight, but only if Turkish buys my mother a new caravan." Brick Top, unimpressed with the change in boxers allows Mickey to take George's place, granted that he take the dive in the fourth round.

Brad on set of 'Snatch'
Boris hires two inept pawnbrokers: Vinny and Sol; actors Robbie Gee's and Lennie James' characters, to rob the bookie who currently possesses the diamond and steal the briefcase that contains the diamond from Frankie. The two pawnbrokers then enlist a getaway driver Tyrone; actor Ade's character, a man so large he has difficulty getting out of the vehicle, as well as the mans dog. The pawnbrokers intervene by crashing into the van knocking Frankie out cold. Turkish is nervous about the upcoming fight urging Mickey continuously to go down in the fourth round. During the fight Mickey goes against Turkish's wishes and knocks his opponent out cold with the first punch in the first round. Now, Turkish along with Tommy is in deep trouble with Brick Top who isn't too pleased either. During a struggle Vinny is shot in the leg. Their heist doesn't go according to plan ending with both men taking off their ski masks revealing their faces to the security cameras. The men head back to their vehicle where they spot a conscious Frankie. Ade knocks him out cold ultimately deciding to take him with them. Back in New York, Avi is hounding Doug the Head about Frankie's whereabouts. Doug lies to his cousin about looking for Frankie so Avi heads out to London for himself in search of Frankie as well as the diamond. Vinny, Sol, Tyrone and Boris the Blade interrogate Frankie in reference towards the money along with the diamond, but he tells them he is neither oblivious nor no longer interested in the diamond. The men grow impatient and open the briefcase for themselves revealing the diamond in tact requesting half of whatever it's worth. Vinny is released from their custody and walks away free. Boris is angered and as Vinny walks away he is shot point blank in the back of the head by Boris. Tyrone meets up with Brick Top filling him in on what transpired during the robbery. Avi grows tired and upset with his cousin, who decides to hire a troubleshooter Bullet-Tooth Tony; actor Vinnie Jones' character, who as legend has it took six bullets in one sitting, and survived.

Jennifer at the Snatch premiere
Tony pursues a con man named Mullet,;actor Ewen Bremner's character, off of the street who informs him about the pawnbrokers. Brick Top walks in on Vinny and Sol attempting to dispose of Frankie's body. With the intentions of setting the two men up for their demise Sol, renegotiates with Brick Top for their lives and the two are given forty-eight hours to retrieve the diamond for him. To make a point Brick Top gets back at Mickey for not throwing the fights by burning down Mickey's caravan while his mother is inside. Vinny and Sol now have possession of the diamond handing it over to Brick Top just as they promised. Vinny informs Sol to tell Tony as well as Avi that it's back at the pawnshop. Back at the pawnshop commotion breaks out concluding that the dog has swallowed the diamond. Mickey prepares for another fight, however, he is very drunk. Brick Top advises him to throw the fight or he'll have all of the other gypsies subdued. Mickey is knocked out cold during the fourth round after taking a good beating from his opponent. He attempts to get up then exchanges one final punch with the other boxer knocking his opponent out cold. Mickey, Turkish, and Tommy flee the scene in their car with Brick Top shooting after them. Mickey turns the tables on Brick Top who thinks he has the upper hand: some of Mickey's gypsy friends take out Brick Top's men leaving Turkish and Tommy in a state of confusion. The film ends with Turkish and Tommy taking the dog to the vet in order to have the diamond extracted. They discover that the diamond isn't the only thing it swallowed; the dog also ingested a squeaky toy. The pair consults Doug about selling the diamond, and he calls Avi who returns to London. The film is directed by Guy Richie grossing $83,557,872 in box office making it a box office bomb generating positive reviews from film critics scoring a 73% liking from audiences. A general film critics consensus states: "Though perhaps a case of style over substance, Guy Ritchie's second crime caper 'Snatch' is full of snappy dialogue, dark comedy, and interesting characters." In efforts of his performance Brad earned recognition from the Award Circuit Community awards, the Bravo Otto awards, and the Satellite awards. At the Award Circuit Community awards Pitt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor of the Year. At the Bravo Otto awards Pitt was nominated for Best Foreign Actor of the Year. At the Satellite awards Pitt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor of the Year in a Comedy or Musical.

(2001) The Mexican
[March 2, 2001] - Jennifer's husband stars as Jerry Welbach in the comedy-romance/crime film 'The Mexican'. The film focuses on Jerry Welbach; Pitt's character, who works for mobster Arnold Margolese; actor Gene Hackman's character, whom was imprisoned years earlier after Welbach accidentally ran a red light resulting in him hitting the mobsters car. The authorities showed up on sight discovering a body in the trunk of Margolese's vehicle. It was obvious the gentleman was going to be murdered and Arnold was arrested on sight as well as sentenced to five years in jail. Since then Jerry has been forced to pay off his debt having been the reason for Arnold's imprisonment. Meanwhile Jerry's girlfriend Samantha; actress Julia Robert's character, wants to got to Las Vegas with Jerry, but the two part their separate ways because he has to make one last trip of his own for Margolese or he will be killed. Samantha is angered feeling Jerry has no time for her so she sets out for Vegas with out Welbach as he heads out to Mexico on his last mission. He's been given orders by Margolese's second in command Bernie Nayman; actor Bob Balaban's character, to pick up a gun by the name of "The Mexican" and bring it back. Jerry arrives in Mexico managing to find the weapon, but unfortunately the man he gets it from is accidentally killed by a stray bullet which was fired during a Mexican celebration. Jerry contacts Nayman reporting what transpired and while on the phone, Jerry's car is stolen, gun and all. He sets out after his vehicle as well as "The Mexican". Meanwhile, on her way to Vegas, Samantha is pursued by a stranger who is later revealed as a gunman and grabs her while she's in a bathroom stall of the ladies room. Another man intervenes by shooting the gunman therefore saving Samantha. Thinking she is still in harms way she attempts to flee, but the man prevents her from escaping. He informs her he isn't going to hurt her telling her his name is Leroy; actor James Gandolfini's character, and he was sent to protect her.

Julia Roberts & Brad Pitt on set of 'The Mexican'
The two continue their pursuit by car where Leroy is informed by Nayman to head to Mexico and meet up with Jerry because things have gone awry. In Mexico, Welbach has managed to recover the gun, but he loses it a second time. Later a man from the mob is sent to help Jerry obtain the weapon as well as help him complete the mission. Jerry is aware that the gentleman sent by the mob has the intentions of killing him after "The Mexican" is recovered. To stay ahead of the game Welbach tricks the guy, gets the gun, and drives to the nearest airport prepared to flee Mexico. Unfortunately, he has the wrong passport so he can't board the flight. Jerry goes back to the small town where he first arrived in, but to his dismay the gentlemen who was sent from the mob and left handcuffed has escaped. Sometime later, Bernie and Samantha arrive in Mexico meeting up with Jerry. For some reason he doesn't tell them he has the gun, but agrees to take them to where it's hidden. Jerry and Samantha have an argument resulting in her nearly wrecking the car, which causes a blowout. While changing the tire Welbach has a gun pulled on him by Nayman. Samantha, furious with Jerry, walks away from the vehicle. Jerry spots his girlfriend walking away as does Nayman so he yields his weapon realizing Samantha loves Jerry, having a change of heart he doesn't go through with killing Jerry. The two men change the tire then Welbach pulls a gun on Bernie who turns to fire his weapon, but Jerry is quicker resulting in Jerry killing Nayman. Turns out the two gentlemen have cross paths before: Welbach knew Leroy was not whom he claimed to be and realized he too was sent to kill him. Samantha returns to find Leroy's dead body now extremely upset with Jerry, but the two reconcile and attempt to decide what their next move should be. In their hotel room, Welbach keeps watch from the window where he spots someone trying to break into his car, the same person that stole it earlier.

Jennifer & Brad at The Mexican premiere
He leaves the room to stop the guy, but is punched twice in the face leaving Jerry knocked out cold. Jerry is driven to a ranch house; there he meets the mob boss who has been let out of prison. During his sentence, Arnold befriended the ranch owner's grandson, whose son was killed saving Margolese's life. As it turns out the ranch owner is the grandson of the man who made "The Mexican". Legend has it, the weapon was crafted by a gunsmith as a gift to a rich noble so that the nobleman's son would marry his daughter. Unfortunately, the daughter was in love with the gunsmith's assistant. On the eve of their wedding the nobleman's son was presented with the gun, but it failed to work. He noticed his future bride with the assistant exchanging glances. Realizing the pair was in love he shot and killed his assistant. The girl was heartbroken, took the gun, and then shot herself. The weapon contains only two bullets, one of which has now been used. Margolese has been trying to obtain "The Mexican" in order to return it to its rightful owner: the great grandson. However, Nayman had been trying to sell it for profit. Back at the hotel room Samantha has the gun tied to her leg taking cover between two mattresses when Bernie appears on the hotel room balcony. Jerry and some Hispanic employees of the ranch owner drive into town. Bernie is standing beside his vehicle and asks Jerry about the guns whereabouts. Welbach replies only his girlfriend knows causing Nayman to reveal he has Samantha in the trunk of his car. Unfortunately for Bernie, once he opens the trunk, Samantha has the gun pointed at him. She fires the weapons last bullet hitting Bernie in the throat. The ranch hands take back the gun to its rightful owner. Jerry notices something shiny revealed to be a brass ring off of the weapon. He picks it up placing it on Samantha's finger where it acts as an engagement ring. The film ends with the two driving off in her car arguing. The film is directed by Gore Verbinski grossing $147,845,033 in box office generating favorable reviews from film critics scoring a 56% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states: "Though 'The Mexican' makes a good attempt at originality, its ponderous length makes it wear out its welcome. Also those looking forward to seeing Roberts and Pitt paired up may end up disappointed, as they are kept apart for most of the movie." In efforts of his performance Brad was nominated for a Teen Choice award for Best Chemistry shared with Julia Roberts.

Entertainment Weekly: The Stars of The Mexican
[March 6, 2001] - Brad appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine with his 'The Mexican' co-stars actress Julia Roberts and actor James Gandolfini headlining The Stars of The Mexican. In this exclusive interview Pitt and his cast mate's spill the jumping beans on their hot careers.

article by: Chris Nashawaty

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Vol. 586 - No. 2
"In a way the setting couldn't be more appropriate. Julia asks the first question, "How do you pronounce your name?" the actress asked James. "Why?" he replies. "Because I've heard it over pronounced in a funny way: Gan-doll-fini. They're punching the doll." Pitt chimes in, "Officially, you [Julia] were the first on board with this film." That's what she found out today, but she thinks it was just a chicken race. "Brad was intrigued by it first," the actress said, "then I heard he was intrigued, so I became intrigued." They called her up to see if she'd be intrigued. "From the call alone," said Pitt, "she was intrigued, and from there on out we all called James 'Gan-doll'fini' ". The Soprano actor first saw Roberts at an awards show. "At that point in my life," recalled Gandolfini, "I hadn't even thought that she would bother waving to me. So I was sitting there, freaking out completely." According to Roberts she recalls it differently, "He ignored me!" she exclaimed, "I did the fan wave across the room and he ignored me." Brad and Julia, considering that you're almost smooching on the movie poster, we were surprised you weren't together more in the movie. It's a little Sleepless in Seattle, no? "Well, it's not quite that extreme," said Roberts. "We're so together that we don't even need to be in the same room." "In spirit, we're together. That's marketing, that's not our department," said Pitt. James, your character - the tough guy who's a softie on the inside - kind of goofs on the whole Tony Soprano image. "It's based on complete laziness, though" said Gandolfini. Out of the three of you who's most likely to... "Me!" said Pitt. Well, we were going to ask, "Who's the most likely to screw up on the first take?" Roberts replied laughing, "Brad!" "Told you it was me," said Pitt. Who's most likely to ad-lib? "Me," replied Pitt. "You?" said Roberts, "Maybe me. I'm going to go 'Me' for 500, Alex," said the actress jokingly in reference towards the game show Jeopardy. What's the strongest lure to do a movie? The script? "For me," said Brad, "it starts the there, then it's the company you keep." James and Brad, you've acted together before, in True Romance. Brad was smoking weed out of a honey-bear bong, and James was the hit man who came looking for Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. 

"Yeah," recalled Pitt, "we have one brief moment through a screen door. (performing his line from the film): "Don't you con-de-scend to me, man." You have one of my all time favorite scenes James," says Pitt Gandolfini. "Really, which one?" asks Gandolfini. "Nah, I won't embarrass you. No, actually I will. When you're talking about your first skill with Patricia, oh man, that's a great scene," said Pitt. Well, we were going to ask you all about each other's movies anyway. What are your favorites? "My favorite of Brad's would have to be Kalifornia," replied Gandolfini. "Ahh, now we get into that.." replied Pitt. "How did you go that long without washing your hair?" asked Roberts, "I don't even like those kinds of movies and you were great in that," she added. What kind of movies? Julia explains, "Travel the world and kill every one that breathes," she replied. We also wanted to ask what movies you wish you could wipe off your resume. If you won't answer, we'll ask the others to weigh in for you. "Oh my God!" said Pitt jokingly. "If we don't answer that question, then you're going to ask them? Wow!" said Julia. Come on it's not that hard. For example, Tom Hanks says his is The Man with One Red Shoe. "Well," said Pitt, "he's got a lot of distance on that one, so that's pretty safe." "Wouldn't it be funny if he said Forrest Gump?" said Roberts. Okay, easier question: What's your favorite? "Of Julia's? I loved her in Erin Brockovich," said Gandolfini. "Yeah," said Pitt, "hands down." "Of Brad's? Legend of the Falls," said Roberts. "Really?" asked Pitt. "Yeah, the scene when you're crying at your brother's grave in the tall grass.." said Roberts. Pitt blushes as he replies, "Ahhh, yes, very emotional." So what's the movie that you don't want to own up to? "I did a teen horror movie. I'll give you one. It's called Cutting Class. Actually, I've never seen it myself." said Brad. What about you Julia, what's a film you don't own up to? Laughing, "Well, with all the solid choice I've made, golly. You know what, the last time I was really honest about a movie and wasn't complimentary, people's feelings were so hurt. The point is, nobody walks onto a set and says, 'Yeah, let's really make some crap.' " she said. "I will say this...I made this movie Dying Young and what we shot was far more complicated - it turned into more of a love triangle between Campbell Scott and Vincent D'Onofrio and myself - and in the final cut, it was a little cleaner and my character didn't make as many desperate choices," said the actress. 

Brad, have you done a Joel Schumacher movie? "No, not yet, but I'm willing to try," said Pitt. James, the new season of The Sopranos is about to start, How difficult is it to juggle movies and television? "The television schedule is so long and so intense. Every once in a while you've got to come up and breathe, otherwise you become this guy," replied Gandolfini. Both Roberts and Pitt laugh nervously before Brad replies, "I'd hate being married to you," the actor said jokingly. Let's talk about the idea of small movies versus big movies. How much thought do you give to mixing big mainstream stuff with smaller, more personal films? "Mixing it up, I think, is more for your own experience. If you do a couple of movies in a row that takes six or seven months to shoot, you want to cover some other areas," said Pitt. "A good script is a good script," said Roberts, "What are termed, 'the big ones' - they actually don't show up on bigger paper," she added. Julia, do you feel any added pressure on The Mexican because of your Oscar nomination or because it's your follow-up to Erin Brockovich? "Not at all. My impulse is to say, 'Why should I?' but I don't even want to know. What I love about the nomination is I will forever be on that list with all those gals. Till the end of time. I. Will. Always. Be. On. That. List." said Roberts. Do you read reviews of your movies? Laughing, "Only when they're good!" said Pitt. "I don't pursue reviews. If I'm looking at the paper and I see a review of The Mexican, you kind of have to go there, but I don't have them gathered together, bound, and shipped over to my apartment," said Roberts. "I'll go through them, said Gandolfini, "I mean if twenty five people say the same thing, then you've got to think about it." Has there ever been a character you just can't shake after the movie ends? "There are elements. I remember there were ten days of hysteria during the end of The Mexican and every day I was facing some form of fear and terror," said Roberts, "and day after day I had to walk onto the set and start crying for fourteen hours. After that, I sort of became the remains of Julia," she said. Is it tough on the people you go home to? "It requires a special individual to understand the odd ways of actor life," said Pitt. Julia applauds Brad while replying, "Good answer, good answer."

Vanity Fair magazine: It's Almost Impossible Not to Like Jennifer Aniston
[May 28, 2001] - The 32-year old actress appears on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine headlining It's Almost Impossible Not to Like Jennifer Aniston. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about earning $750,000 per episode on NBC's hit sitcom Friends, still having the coolest hairstyle on television, and being married to film actor Brad Pitt. It's almost impossible not to like her!

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: This is not the the full article. "Click" on the link listed for more information.

Link: http://www.vanityfair.com/

article by: Leslie Bennetts

VANITY FAIR magazine
"Due to lack of information and resources we were unable to recover the full article. We apologize for the inconvenience. For more information refer to the link listed above. Please don't let this discourage you from viewing the rest of our blog!"

(2001) Rock Star
[September 7, 2001] - The 'Friends' star lands the supporting role of Emily Poule in the musical/comedy film 'Rock Star'. Set in '80s taking place in Pittsburgh photocopier technician Chris Cole; actor Mark Walhberg's character, is a fanatical admirer of heavy metal band called "Steel Dragon". He dreams of one day being the lead singer of Steel Dragon. Chris has formed his own band, a tribute band by the name of Blood Pollution taken from a Steel Dragon song. Meanwhile, internal struggles amongst the actual Steel Dragon band members culminate after the firing of their lead singer Bobby Beers; actor Jason Flemyng's character, whom was fired due to his sexuality. The band begins recruiting sessions to find a new lead vocalist. Chris experiences his own strife with his Blood Pollution band mates, particularly lead guitarist Rob Malcolm; actor Timothy Olyphant's character. During a live performance, Rob's guitar skills fail to live up to Chris's demanding expectations in regards to note-for-note accuracy to the original Steel Dragon recordings. The two duke it out resulting in Chris attempting to out sing Rob's guitar playing as well as Rob attempting to out strum Chris's vocals ending in Chris pulling the chord on Rob's guitar therefore sabotaging Rob's amplifier mid set. The two men break out into a fight and Emily; Aniston's character, announces to  the fans through a loud speaker that the concert is over and they may all go home. The next day, Chris arrives to rehearsals to find that he's been fired as well as replaced with his arch rival, the former lead singer of another Steel Dragon tribute band. Rob also cities Chris's inability to create his own musical styling, preferring to remain the singer in a tribute band. As he heads out the door to leave Rob asks Emily if she will stay and manage them. She replies: "To manage a band you need talent, and the talent just walked out of the door," clarifying her choice of staying by Chris's side. One day, Chris receives what appears to be an anonymous phone call from none other than Steel Dragon's founder and rhythm guitarist Kirk Cuddy; actor Dominic West's character. He calls offering Chris an audition for the band, but Chris thinks its a prank therefore hanging up on Kirk. Kirk calls for a second time saying: "I saw a videotape of one of your tribute band's performances," after a moment of silence Kirk checks to see if the line went dead with Chris ecstatically agreeing to the opportunity.

Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer on set of 'Rock Star'
Accompanied by Emily, Chris heads out to do the audition. Once they arrive at the studio they run into Bobby Beers, whom they learn was fired due to being a closeted gay. Chris gives an outstanding performance of Steel Dragon's song "We All Die Young", and is hired on the spot. Overnight Chris rockets to the dizzying heights of sudden stardom, adopting the stage name "Izzy" he rises from devotee to icon, from rock fan to rock God, and from the wanna-be to got to be. Following the success of their debut concert with Steel Dragon, Izzy must come to terms with the newfound pressures of fame. As the band embarks on a lengthy tour he experiences the excesses of a rock star lifestyle, with the group's manager Mats; actor Timothy Spall's character, who serves as a sympathetic mentor to Izzy provides him with comfort. His new lifestyle impacts Izzy's life for both better and worse, particularly his relationship with Emily, who up until now was his supportive girlfriend as well as manager. The two part their separate was after she discusses with him that she no longer wishes to continue with him throughout the remainder of the tour. Nor does she like the idea of being referred or labeled as "a rock star girlfriend" because Emily knows she is more than that. After the tour reaches the Seattle area the two arrange to meet at Izzy's hotel room. Inebriated while on tour Izzy forgot about the arrangement to meet up as well as what city he's in after Emily shows up at his hotel room. Although she is mortified by her boyfriend's new behavior and attitude she attempts to make it work.

Brad & Jennifer at the Rock Star premiere
She is heartbroken with his inconsiderate behavior, intoxication, and the fact that he is sleeping with so many of his female groupies thus resulting in her leaving. After the tour ends, Izzy proposes song concepts for Steel Dragon's next studio album during recording sessions, but quickly learns of their real intentions. After they reject his ideas Kirk explains to him, "the band has to stay true to the Steel Dragon thing in order to fulfill the fan's expectations." Angered Izzy realizes he was only recruited due to his vocal abilities, and after a heartfelt conversation with Mats, he reconsiders his lifestyle as a rocker. During the bands next tour Izzy hears a fan singing along with him towards the end of a live concert. Impressed, Izzy pulls the fan on stage, hands him the microphone, and tells him to finish the concert as he walks off stage. Backstage, Izzy has an epiphany that what he wanted for so long turned out not to be what he thought. As he says his final goodbye Mats, Izzy departs from the band as well as ditching his stage name "Izzy". Chris heads out to Seattle where he recruits a band of his own including his old friend and former band mate, Rob. During this time Steel Dragon fails to evolve due to changing times eventually fizzling out as a popular trend. Chris finds Emily who now works at a coffee shop, but is too ashamed to approach her. While walking one evening Emily spots some flyers of Chris's band and the films finale scene shows her attending his bands performance at a bar and reconciling with him sharing a kiss. The film is directed by Stephen Herek grossing $19,334,145 in box office making it a box office bomb generating mixed reviews from film critics scoring a 52% liking with audiences. A general film critic's consensus states, "Like its title, 'Rock Star' is rather generic, being not so much about the heavy metal scene than about rock cliches and formula." Film critic Angie Errigo of Empire magazine states, "The first half of the movie is hilarious, but the second half gives itself more to cautionary moralising and life lessons." Film critic Desson Thomson of the Washington Post states, "Even though it's weak in the final stages, 'Rock Star' has more than enough sparkle to last you." Film critic Mick LaSelle of the San Francisco Chronicle says, " 'Rock Star' is an irresistible movie about a guy (Mark Wahlberg) who goes on a journey, the kind an audience can't wait to take with him."

PEOPLE magazine: Married Friends
[September 10, 2001] -  Jennifer appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine with her female Friends co-stars actresses Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow headlining Married Friends. In this exclusive interview Jennifer, Courteney, and Lisa have all scored in a single sitcom finding real-life happiness in marriage that work.

article by: Jim Smolowe

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 56 - No. 11
"As Friends prepares for it's eighth - and perhaps final - season, what could be hotter than the real-life romantic antics of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow? The marriages of Aniston to Brad Pitt, Cox to David Arquette, and Kudrow to Michel Stern seem only to have deepened the bonds between the three actresses who first met at auditions for the show in '94. Not surprisingly, now that Friends might be ending is not going down easily, "It's heartbreaking," said Aniston, "if I think about it, it chokes me up to realize this will be over. It's been a pretty intense eight years for this group of people. Major crossroads in our lives we were at together, so it's very, sad." Meanwhile, the NBC network hopes that the six actors will sign on for a ninth season. "We would like the show to continue for as long as the cast so desires," says NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker. To their credit, as their salaries have inflated to $750,000 per episode, the female Friends stars as well as the male stars actors Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer have all kept their egos in tact and their loyalties in line. "No one seems jealous of any of the others," says a source on set. "The girls are all still friends." They just have less time for each other off screen, given their respective film and family obligations. "People do grow up," says Cox, "and by doing so our lives and priorities shift." "We are just as close as ever," said Kudrow, "but now it's slowed down and it's my weekend and I'm going home to see my significant other." Which doesn't mean they don't gather together when they can. Courteney says, "During taping sessions we hang out all of the time and eating lunch together daily as has been our habit for the last seven years." "We're trying to stay in touch during hiatus periods and get together," said Kudrow, "but it gets tougher and tougher." "For my 32nd birthday party at Hollywood Star Lanes, all of my co-stars showed up. It was fantastic! Brad secured ten roped-off lanes for all forty of the guests," said Jennifer. If growing up means growing apart, the Friends six-pack have worked hard to accommodate each other's complicated thirty something's-style lives. 

Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer cover Family and Friends.
All have provided a net of support for Couteney who suffered a miscarriage this spring. "We all stood by her, as well as Matthew Perry who suffered a drug addiction earlier this February," said Aniston, "but there was a strain stemming from whether or not he would resurface in time for the final season shoot." On another note in February, Pitt told a Tonight Show audience that he and Aniston use computer web cameras to see one another when they're apart. During a Friends taping he snuck into her dressing room filling it full of rose petals last Valentine's Day with the words, "I Love My Wife" written in petals on the wall. For the couple simply being 'Brad and Jennifer' has required some "adjustments" since their marriage in July of 2000. "It was dealing with doing something very intimate and trying to balance that publicity, which you don't necessarily want to do, but have no real choice," said Jennifer. "Family stuff as well," she added. The latter, at least, she was used to: back in '99 the whole Pitt clan gathered at Brad's family's home in Springfield, Missouri to give her the once over. "She did great," said Pitt's sister Julie. "She was just so real," she added. And Brad? "There was definitely a HUGE difference from the way he had behaved toward his previous girlfriends," said his brother Doug. Aniston has since become a favorite at Pitt's family gatherings. "She's like the missing link to complete the family," said Pitt's mother Jane. On the upcoming season of Friends, Aniston's character Rachel will be dealing with her surprise pregnancy. In real life, Aniston who - her spokesperson says, "Is not pregnant" - has spoken of wanting two, perhaps three, kids to help fill their mansion. As for Brad, he's stated his desire for an even bigger family, "It doesn't matter," says Jennifer, "unless he gets a mall-order bride to give him the rest." For Courteney and David, having kids would seem a given. Despite Cox's miscarriage this spring, "The doctors have cleared me," she said, "and I can try again." The couple met while filming Scream in '96. "I kept my distance, fearing David's wild streak, which once included heroin abuse. However, when we shot the sequel in '97, I provided comfort while his mother was dying of breast cancer. Then again in February after his father died of congestive heart failure." Lisa and Michel have known each other long before they even got romantically involved with one another. "I had a French roommate years ago who was dating Michel," said Lisa. "Years later we ran into each other at a Los Angeles barbecue and realized then that we had feelings for each other," she added. The pair married in '95 and in '98 Lisa gave birth to a son, Julian. With the show now entering its twilight, the three girl-Friends seem to stand a good chance of maintaining their bonds once their day jobs end. Each new relationship after all, has only served to expand the golden circle."

(2001-2002) Friends Season 8 DVD Cover
[September 27, 2001 - May 16, 2002] - Jennifer along with the rest of her cast mate's is informed that the network has signed them all on for an eighth season. The overriding theme of season eight is Rachel's pregnancy, which causes speculation as well as accusation on actress Jennifer of whether or not she was pregnant in real life. She stated in an earlier interview, "I am not pregnant, but I would like to be a mother, one day." The series also revolves around the identity of Rachel's baby's father, who is eventually revealed to be Ross. Chandler and Monica decide to start a family of their own, but their attempts are foiled due to constant interruptions much like when they couldn't get any alone time in London. Meanwhile, Joey impersonates a doctor; his character from 'Days of Our Lives', Dr. Drake Ramoray in order to help Phoebe questionnaire a patient whom she finds attractive. Ross's mother encourages him to propose to Rachel, but during a misunderstanding Rachel says, "Yes!" to the wrong person. The season premiere episode "The One After I Do" airs to 31.7 million viewers tuning in to Monica and Chandler's friends congratulating them on being married and pregnant. However, after Monica denies all accusations the focus quickly shifts to Phoebe who takes the heat off of Rachel whom is actually the one who is pregnant. While taking wedding photos Ross congratulates Monica on being pregnant, and she reminds him that she isn't with hopes that Ross didn't share the information with anyone else. We learn that Ross told his parents Jack and Judy who are thrilled that they gained a son-in-law and a soon-to-be grandchild, but Monica says that she's not pregnant. Jack and Judy's excitement dies down upon learning otherwise, and they go from being greatly excited to deeply disappointed. Meanwhile, Chandler's shoes are slippery while on the dance floor, rendering his six weeks worth of dance lessons useless. He is disappointed, but Monica's determination to dance her first dance with her new husband persuades Chandler otherwise.

Friends season 8 episode "The One After I Do"
She assures him that he could never embarrass her, but quickly recants her statement as he can easily embarrass her though she still wants to dance with him. Chandler even goes to the extreme lengths of scuffing up the bottoms of his shoes with a fork as well as putting scotch tape on the bottom of his shoes. Monica and Chandler dance their first dance as a newly wed couple, and later she dances with her father and Chandler with his new mother-in-law Judy. Just as Judy warms up to Chandler allowing him to call her mom, his slippery dance shoes cause him to have to hold onto Judy resulting in Chandler losing his balance causing him to tear Judy's dress. During the wedding toasts Joey tries to impress Dennis, a Broadway director who attended the reception accompanied by Chandler's mother Nora, by Joey incorporating his so-called "wide range" of acting styles and methods into his wedding toast to Chandler and Monica. Joey said, "I'd uh, I'd like to propose a toast to Monica and Chandler the greatest couple in the world, and my best friends. Now, when I first found out they were getting married I was - I was a little angry. I was like, 'Why God? Why? How could you take them away from me!' Then I thought back on all our memories together. Some happy memories (Joey then laughs to himself), and there were some sad memories (he then cries a little and apologizes), and - and some scared memories (he appears scared). And then - then I realized I'll always be their friend. Their friend who can speak in many dialects, and has training in stage combat and is willing to do partial nudity. To the happy couple!" Afterwards, he approaches the director asking him what he thought of his obscene toast. The director corrects Joey saying, "Unless you can be Chinese. There's no chance of you being cast for a part in this play."

Friends season 8 episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1)"
Meanwhile, Ross meets Mona, a woman who works with Monica at the restaurant. In order to impress Mona, Ross dances with children at the reception. His plans are foiled after a well rounded-ill mannered little girl named Gert dances with him on his feet. As a result Ross is exhausted missing his opportunity to dance with Mona. The episode ends with Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica in the ladies bathroom awaiting the results of Rachel's second pregnancy test. Earlier Phoebe said the first test Rachel took could have read as being a false positive. Rachel says that taking a second test is her wedding gift to Chandler and Monica. Once time is up Phoebe announces the results of the test as negative. Rachel puts up a false front of relief exclaiming, "How can I be so upset over something that I never had?" However, we learn Phoebe lied and the results of the test are actually positive. Rachel is in disbelief telling Phoebe, "That was a risky little game!" Phoebe informs Rachel that at least she knows how she really feels about being pregnant. As the three friends embrace in a hug Rachel still refuses to reveal who the father is. The season finale is broken into two parts "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1) airs to 34.9 million viewers tuning in to see Ross and Rachel arriving at the hospital, but to their disappointment the gang arrived earlier than they did. Upon arrival as Ross and Rachel are checking into the hospital they aren't admitted into a private room as they previously requested. Rachel urges Ross to bribe the nurse, but the nurse isn't having it even after Rachel asks to speak with the manager. The nurse informs her that there is no manager, just nurses, doctors and sem-private rooms. They are admitted into a semi-private room where other women going into labor quicker than Rachel begin to agitate her. Ross attempts to keep her calm having gone through this process before with his ex-wife Carol.

Friends Season 8 episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 2)"
After the fifth woman is about the enter Rachel's room she threatens a nurse exclaiming: "Okay, okay wait! You listen to me - you listen to me! Since I have been waiting there have been four women, four. One more than the number of centimeters I am dilated (after 17-hours of labor Rachel is only dialated 3-centimeters) and they have come and gone with their babies. I'M NEXT! IT'S MY TURN! IT'S ONLY FAIR! And if you bring one more woman and she has her baby before me...I'm going to sue you! NOT this hospital - I'm going to sue you, and my husband (she says pointing at Ross) is a lawyer." The others grow restless as well as tired of waiting in the waiting room so they venture the other parts of the hospital. In order to entertain themselves Monica attempts to freak out Chandler by telling her she wants to have a baby with him. To her surprise Chandler agrees, and her plan backfires resulting in her freaking out. She then tells Chandler that she wants Joey to be the father causing Joey to freak out, and Monica says, "There! That's all I wanted!" in regards to Joey's reaction. Later Monica and Chandler view the nursery and she suggests jokingly, that they kidnap one of the babies whereas Chandler suggests they have one of their own. They discuss the idea of having a baby, and Chandler assures Monica that they won't start trying to get pregnant until she's ready. Monica admits to Chandler that she feels that they're ready. Meanwhile, their attempts at having sex are foiled: their first attempt ends with Monica and Chandler being caught by a nurse in a vacant private hospital room, and the second attempt ends with them being interupted by the shocking sounds of what Monica and Chandler conclude as Janice's laugh. Monica asks him if the laugh is in fact Janice's, and he exclaims "Either that or there's two of them, and if that's the case then it's the end of the world!"

Jennifer & Brad at the Primetime Emmy awards
Amongst this with the help of Joey, Phoebe becomes attracted to a patient named Cliff who broke his leg in a car accident, and has Joey impersonate Dr. Drake Romoray in order to find out more about him. However, once the guy Phoebe likes learns that he's been tricked by Joey learning his real identity as well as the fact that Joey isn't a real doctor at all, the guy expresses his uninterest in Phoebe. "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 2)" airs to 34.9 million viewers tuning in to see after forty-seven hours of labor, Rachel gives birth to a baby girl, Emma. Ross's mother urges him to propose giving him his grandmother's wedding ring should he do so. Ross is opposed to the idea that his mom wants him to marry Rachel just because they're having a baby together. Phoebe agrees with Judy wondering why Ross and Rachel aren't a couple, but Ross insists that he and Rachel just aren't in "that place." Phoebe later persuades him that sure he and Rachel have been on-again-off-again, but if they got together all they would be doing is fulfilling Ross's dreams of being with Rachel since he was fifteen. Amongst this during a misunderstanding Rachel says, "YES!" to Joey's proposal: An emotional Rachel ran out of kleenex so Joey went to get the second box, which happened to be under Ross's coat that had the engagement ring in it. Joey knocked over Ross's belongings in the process the ring fell out of Ross's coat pocket, Joey picked it up, and when he turned around Rachel assumed Joey was proposing. Earlier Rachel had a conversation with Janice who informed Rachel that all guys say that they're going to stick around and be there, but in the end they don't. This resulted in Rachel fearing she will always be single as well as ending up raising Emma alone. However, Joey assured Rachel that she will never be alone as long as he's around. Season eight celebrity guest stars include Actor Brad Pitt as Will Colbert; Monica's old high school class mate episode "The One with the Rumor." Actor Alec Baldwin guest stars as Parker; Phoebe's love interest episode "The One with the in Massapequa". Actor Sean Penn guest stars as Eric; Phoebe's love interest episode "The One with the Halloween Party". Actress Bonnie Somerville guest stars as Mona; Ross's love interest episode "The One After I Do", episode "The One with Rachel's Date", episode "The One with the Halloween Party", episode "The One with the Stripper", episode "The One with Ross's Step Forward", episode "The One with the Birthing Video", and episode "The one with the Tea Leaves".

Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Actor Elliot Gould guest stars as Jack Geller; Monica and Ross's father episode "The One After I Do", episode "The One in Massapequa", and episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1)". Actress Christina Pickles guest stars as Judy Geller; Monica and Ross's mother episode "The One After I Do", episode "The One in Massapequa" and episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1)". Actor Eddie Cahill guest stars as Tag Jone's; Rachel's love interest episode "The One with the Red Sweater". Actress Marlo Thomas guest stars as Sandra Green; Rachel's mother episode "The One with the Baby Shower". Actor Ron Leibman guest stars as Leonard Green; Rachel's father episode "The One with the Stripper". Actress Maggie Wheeler guest stars as Janice Hosenstein; Chandler's ex-girlfriend episodes "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1 & 2)". In efforts of the series the cast of 'Friends' attends several award shows including the 18th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards, the 59th Annual Golden Globe awards, the 8th Annual National Television awards, the 25th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards, the 6th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards, the 28th Annual People's Choice awards, the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy awards, the 13th Annual Producers Guild awards, the 7th Annual Satellite awards, the 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards, the 4th Annual Teen Choice awards, and the 18th Annual Television Critics Association awards. At the 18th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards their series won Best Foreign Television Program of the Year, and Best Female Foreign Television Personality awarded Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 59th Annual Golden Globe awards their series was nominated for Best Television Series Comedy or Musical of the Year, and Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 8th Annual National Television awards their series was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Program of the Year. At the 25th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards their series was nominated for Favorite Television Show, Favorite Television Actress nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green, and Favorite Television Actor nominees Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry for their performances as Joey Tribianni and Chandler Bing. At the 6th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards their series was nominated for Best Direction in a Comedy Series nominee director Kevin Bright episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1 & 2)", Best Writing in a Comedy Series writers Marta Kauffman and David Crane episode "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1 & 2)", and Best Guest Actor nominee Brad Pitt for his performance as Will Colbert.

Primetime Emmy award - Outstanding Comedy Series
They won for Best Comedy Series, and Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 28th Annual People's Choice awards their series won Favorite Television Comedy Series of the Year, and Favorite Female Television Performer awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry for their performances as Joey Tribianni and Chandler Bing, and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Brad Pitt for his performance as Will Colbert. They won the Emmy's for Outstanding Comedy Series of the Year, and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel. At the 13th Annual Producers Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Producing for a Television Comedy Series nominee producers Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright. At the 7th Annual Satellite awards their series was nominated for Best Television Series Comedy or Musical of the Year, and Best Actress in a Television Series Comedy or Musical nominee Lisa Kudrow for her performance as Phoebe Buffay. At the 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for their performances as Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribianni, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller, and Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 4th Annual Teen Choice awards their series was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series nominees Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow for their performances as Monica Geller and Phoebe Buffay, and Best Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. They won the Teen Choice for Best Comedy Series of the Year, and Best Actress in a Comedy Series awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 18th Annual Television Critics Association awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni.

Rolling Stone magazine Jennifer Aniston: Rolling Stone Friend
[September 27, 2001] - The actress appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine headlining Jennifer Aniston: Rolling Stone Friend. In this exclusive interview the 'Friends' star talks about how she went from being a class clown to becoming one of Hollywood's hottest chicks.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: This is not the full article. "Click" on the link listed for more information.

Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/jennifer-aniston-20010927?page=4

article by: Mark Binelli

ROLLING STONE magazine Vol. 19 - No. 878
"How a class clown became Hollywood's hottest chick! Aniston confesses that music plays a major role in her life with Brad Pitt: "We do have similar tastes - very eclectic in that we'll listen to pretty much anything. We also go through phases together, like that band Bran Van 3,000, their first album. When we started dating, we were listening to a lot of Radiohead. They just sounded so good at that point in our relationship." A decade ago, she was not famous - so not famous, it would be a two more years before she uttered the words, "I Leprechaun - f*ckin' A!" - after being cast in the mercifully forgotten 1993 horror film that marked her screen debut. No, Aniston is referring to freak outs of the street-lunatic variety. Never mind Aniston and Pitt have just celebrated their first anniversary and reportedly are about to move into a $15 million Beverly Hills mansion. With Friends earning each friend $750,000 an episode, Aniston is among the highest-paid actresses on the tube. She will also be attending the Emmys on September 16th, having been nominated for her role as Rachel. For Aniston, whose film works has been spotty (Remember Picture Perfect? No. That's the point), the television nomination is a validation. Her character Rachel began the show as a spoiled rich girl trying to cope with the working world, but by this late date, the Friends have all sort of morphed into a UniFriend, and so now Rachel's most distinguished trait is also Aniston's: They're funny. Aniston isn't always 'on' in an annoying, actorly way. But she is a deft physical comedian, in that she uses her body to wrap, stamp and deliver jokes. On the show and in life, Aniston does this by flashing you a big-eye, or theatrically steeling her jaw or furrowing her brow. When she sits, she hunches forward, elbows on knees, letting you know she's about to tell a tale. Her tales involve swooping hand jesters. Aniston's comedic talents become all the more interesting when you consider she's also pulling double duty as a sex symbol. 

Quite a switch for someone who insists she was once an ugly duckling. As a chubby, not particularly popular kid growing up on New York's Upper West Side in the '70s, she got through school hazing by developing a thick skin and a sense of humor. "It's a bit of a cliche, you know," Aniston says with a sigh, "comedians are always tortured souls trying to make people like them, and all that silly stuff. Whereas, I was a big old fat wuss who liked Aerosmith," she confesses, "What are you gonna do?" So, yes, even though she famously shed 30-lbs and transformed herself into the 'Hot Chick', she continues to carry herself as the 'Class Clown', which is a pretty endearing combination. She is, in her funny and affable way, the opposite of untouchable. After all, she is now starring in Rock Star as the girlfriend-slash-manager of a Judas Priest-like metal god played by actor Mark Wahlberg. "I'm totally musically ignorant," Aniston notes," I'm going to humiliate myself." When she asked her husband, Brad, how she might play the role, he offered two words of Zen advice: 'Be Sting'. "You know, the way Sting's so sexy, so cool, and he's just there, he's just it, he doesn't have to try," Aniston says, "I remember thinking, 'Be Sting, huh? All right. Yeah. I'll try it.' " When asked if she ever went through a rebellious period in her life she answers, "My version of a rebellious period, yeah." When asked if she ever had a Bablyon moment when she first came to Hollywood similar to the drug-and-sex orgy in her upcoming flick Rock Star, she replies, "I have to say, I never had anything exciting or fun like that happen to me. I never woke-up in someone's bedroom, wearing someone's boxer shorts, having no idea how I got there. I think the craziest I got in those days was at my friend's bachelorette party, when they tried to drag be into a gay bar." Aniston does not enjoy interviews. She has learned to be guarded without immediately coming off as guarded. Sensitive areas include: her childhood after the divorce of her parents. Much of her current change into the person she's become today is tribute to her husband. On meeting Brad, Aniston said, "He was just this sweet guy from Missouri, you know? A normal guy." 

On getting married she said, "I had those typical jitters the day before my wedding," she recalled, "but the day of, I was just excited in a good way. The nice thing about weddings now is it's not just a chick thing. It's a team effort. The stereotype used to be men grumbling, like, 'Why are you making me do this?' There's nothing more moving than seeing a man cry at his own wedding." Of her friend's thoughts about her and Brad tying the knot she said, "My friends were all supporting. Especially when they found out what a loving human being Brad is. At first they're like, 'I hope he's not an a**hole, some conceited f*ck or whatever.' But you get past that in five minutes. Which is a real tribute to who he is. He just disarms you immediately. But, I mean, nobody went, 'Dude. Brad Pitt!' and gave me a thumbs up and a wink. They were just happy for me." As a bride of one year, Aniston exudes contentment: "You know if there's ever an argument, it's not like you can go, 'Screw you, I'm outta here!' You're there for the long haul. It's a beautiful think to actually realize that for the first time, to have that knowing. It takes the heat and the weight out of things. He get's it tough, probably, more than anyone, in terms of people having a preconceived notion of who he is," she continues. "That idea of, well, you look that way, then you must be a certain way." Aniston's reticence is understandable. Since marrying Pitt, she's been high-profile enough to be part of the target of tabloid rumors, many of which are so uncreative they simply seem to derive from plot lines of her work. For instance, her character on Friends, Rachel, gets pregnant - so Aniston must be pregnant! On another episode of the show Aniston's character Rachel kisses actress Winona Ryder's guest star character during sweeps month - so Aniston must be gay! Jennifer will soon get a chance to stretch on screen in The Good Girl, from director Miguel Arteta. She plays a down-and-out Texas housewife who has an affair with a teenage bag boy. There's a scene where she's blackmailed into sex by one of her husband's friends. After her success, Aniston remains humble in a way that seems unaffected. "When I got offered The Good Girl, I remember thinking, 'Are they sure? Did they make a mistake?' I mean, I don't expect anyone, just because I have name value, to give me a part in their movie. People who refuse to audition, that's arrogant to me. Let me show you I can do it," she smiles adding, "unfortunately, I'm not a good auditioner, so most of the time I will f*ck it up, and then, you know I'm Rachel on Friends."

(2001) Spy Game
[November 21, 2001] - Jennifer's husband lands the supporting role of Tom Bishop in the spy action/adventure film 'Spy Game'. Set in the '90s the plot line depicts the governments of the United States as well as China on the verge of a major trade agreement: to seal the deal the President of the United States is due in China. The Central Intelligence Agency - also known as the CIA - discovers that one of their own agents Tom Bishop; Pitt's character, has been captured after his failed attempt at freeing Elizabeth Hadely; actress Catherine McCormacks's character, an Englishwoman from a People's Liberation Army prison in Su Chou located near Shanghai. While being questioned under torture Bishop is threatened to be executed in twenty four hours unless the U.S. government claims him. Should they make such a claim, the government would risk jeopardizing their trade agreement. Exacerbating Tom's situation is the fact that he was operating without permission from the Agency. In order to get a hold on the situation the government resolves to contacting Nathan Muir; actor Robert Redford's character, a veteran mid-level Case Officer on his last day of duty before his retirement, who is also responsible for Bishop's recruitment. With hopes Muir will give them the pretext they need to justify letting Bishop die they don't let on more than they know. Under the false pretense they allow Nathan to assume he is acting as a "stop gap" to fill in some holes in their background files. Unaware he has been tipped off regarding Bishop's capture prior to arriving to headquarters, the CIA higher-ups, fellow veteran agent Harry Duncan; actor David Hemming's character, for whom Tom had been working with on an operation in Hong Kong before going rogue. With the intentions of saving Tom, Muir leaks a story to CNN through a contact in Hong Kong, who he believes that public pressure would force the CIA to rescue him. It merely stalls the government, however, and is stymied during a phone call to the FCC from CIA Deputy Charles Harker; actor Stephen Dilane's character, which results in CNN retracting the story. During the Vietnam War Bishop was a U.S. Marine scout sniper, which Muir explains of how he recruited Tom for an operation during a debriefing. During this discussion he also converses about their 1976 tour of duty in Berlin, Germany, where Bishop was tasked with procuring East German assets.

Jennifer and Brad at the Spy Game premiere
With Muir commanding, as well as Tom's spy work in Beirut, Lebanon in 1985 during the War of the Camps. The latter was being the last time the two men had seen each other. While in Lebanon, Bishop met Hadely, developing romantic feelings for each other. Sometime later it is revealed that she was involved in the bombing of the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom, which caused her to flee the country. Muir tipped off the Chinese to Hadley's location in return for freeing an arrested U.S. diplomat because he feared that Tom's feelings towards Elizabeth might compromise his cover as well as their mission. This causes Bishop to cut all ties with Nathan after Tom discovers his involvement, and Chinese agents kidnapped Hadely. Muir finally realizes after the fact, Hadely was the original target of Bishop's rescue attempt, and his actions have underestimated Bishop's feelings for her. Running out of time, Nathan secretly creates a forged urgent operational directive from the CIA director to commence a mission of his own 'Operation Dinner Out'. It consists of a rescue mission to be spearheaded by Commander Wiley's; actor Dale Dye's character, U.S. Navy SEAL team, for which Bishop had laid the groundwork as "Plan B" for his own rescue attempt. Having to dip into his life savings of $282,000 as well as hacking into to a misappropriated file on Chinese coastline satellite imagery, Muir enlists Duncan's help in bribing a Chinese energy official to cut power to the prison for a total of thirty minutes. During this time it allows the Navy team time to retrieve both Tom and Elizabeth. Rescued minutes before his execution, Bishop comes to the realization that Muir was behind his rescue after he recognizes the name of the plan. It is a reference towards a birthday gift he once gave Nathan while the two were in Lebanon. The films finale scene shows the CIA officials being informed of the rescue, and Muir having already left the building is shown driving off into the countryside. The film is directed by Tony Scott grossing $143,049,560 in box office generating positive reviews from film critics scoring a 66% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states: "The outcome of the kinetic 'Spy Game' is never in doubt, but it is fun watching Robert Redford and Brad Pitt work together."

(2001) Ocean's Eleven
[December 7, 2001] - Jennifer's husband Brad Pitt lands the supporting role of Rusty Ryan in the ensemble comedy heist film 'Ocean's Eleven'. Following his release from prison Daniel "Danny" Ocean; actor George Clooney's character, violates his parole by traveling to Los Angeles, California in order to meet his partner-in-crime and friend Rusty Ryan; Pitt's character, where the two propose a caper. The pair head out to Las Vegas, Nevada to pitch their plan to a wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff; actor Elliot Gould's character. The plan consists of simultaneously robbing the Bellagio, The Mirage, and the MGM Grand casinos. Reuben's familiarity with casino security makes him very reluctant to get involved, but after he begins to think of it as a good way to get back at his rival Terry Benedict; actor Andy Garcia's character, who owns all three casino's, Reuben agrees to finance the operation. The three men predict that on the eve of the upcoming night of a highly anticipated boxing match, the Bellagio vault will contain more than $160,000,000, because the casinos are required by the Nevada Gaming Commission to have enough cash on hand to cover all their patron's bets. With Rusty's help Danny recruits eight former colleagues as well as criminal specialists including: Linus Caldwell; actor Matt Damon's character, a young and talented pickpocket. Frank Catton; actor/comedian Bernie Mac's character, a casino worker as well as a con man. Virgil and Turk Malloy; actors Casey Affleck and Scott Caan's characters, a pair of gifted mechanics. Livingston Dell; actor Eddie Jemison's character, an electronics and surveillance expert. Basher Tarr; actor Don Cheadle's character, an explosives expert. Saul Boom; actor Carl Reiner's character, an elderly gentleman who specializes in the art of conning. "The Amazing" Yen; actor Shaobo Qin's character, an accomplished acrobat. Several of he team members carry out reconnaissance at the Bellagio to learn as much as possible regarding the security such as the routines, and casinos staff member's behavior, as well as the building itself.

George Clooney & Brad Pitt on set of 'Ocean's Eleven'
Meanwhile, others create a precise replica of the vault with which to practice maneuvering through its formidable security system. During their planning phase, the team learns that Danny's ex-wife Tess; actress Julia Robert's character, is Benedict's girlfriend. Believing Danny to be incapable of sound judgment while Tess is involved, Rusty urges him to abandon the mission, however, Danny ultimately refuses. Once the plan is put in motion, Danny goes to the Bellagio in order to be seen by Benedict, who, as expected, has him locked in a storeroom to be beaten by a bouncer by the name of Bruiser. Unbeknownst to Benedict Bruiser and Danny are friends. Escaping through a ventilation shaft, to meet up with his team Bruiser makes it appear to sound as though Danny is being beaten by him. As a part of the plan Linus poses as a gaming commission agent who reveals to Benedict that one of his employees, Ramon Escalante, whom is actually Frank, an ex-con. While staging a faux confrontation in front of Benedict's presence Linus is able to steal the access codes to the vault written on a piece of paper in Benedict's jacket. Meanwhile, Virgil and Turk smuggle Yen into the vault by assisting in a trigger explosive from the inside. Sneaking an explosive into the casino vault, Saul poses as a wealthy international arms dealer whom is in need to especially secure safekeeping for his valuables. While doing so he pretends to have a heart attack with Rusty posing as the doctor who treats him. The team activates a stolen device temporarily in order to temporarily disrupt the casino's electrical power, allowing them to breach the vault undetected. Rusty anonymously calls Benedict on a cell phone that Danny possessed earlier, which he planted in Tess's coat pocket. He informs Benedict of their intentions threatening him if he doesn't cooperate in loading the money.

Brad & Jennifer at the Ocean Eleven's premiere
While observing security footage of the vault confirming Rusty's claims Benedict complies in moving the money, but orders his men to follow the van after it departs calling in a SWAT team to secure the vault along with the other half of the money. Realizing he's been tricked Benedict rewatches the footage. A flashback shows the rest of Danny and Rusty's team posed as SWAT officers taking all of the money in the vault after responding to Benedict's call for the authorities assistance. Attempting to prove that Danny is behind it all Benedict then revisits the storeroom closet he locked Danny in only to discover he's still there. Leaving him with no way to connect Danny to the theft, Tess watches as via security surveillance shows Danny conning Benedict into saying he would give up Tess in exchange for the money. Humiliated, Benedict orders his men to escort Danny off of the premises informing the police that Danny has in fact violated his parole by being in Las Vegas. Tess witnesses her ex-husband being taken into custody by the police. The finale scene shows Danny upon being released after serving a six-month sentence in prison for his parole violation, he is greeted by Rusty and Tess, and the three are shown driving off closely followed by Benedict's bodyguards. The film is directed by Steven Soderbergh grossing $450,717,150 in box office making it one of the Top 10 films of the year 2001 ranking at #5 generating positive reviews from film critics scoring an 82% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states: "As fast-paced, witty, and entertaining as it is star-studded and coolly stylish, 'Ocean's Eleven' offers a well-seasoned serving of popcorn entertainment." In efforts of his performance Brad earned recognition from the MTV Movie & TV awards, Phoenix Film Critic Society awards, and the Teen Choice awards. At the MTV Movie & TV awards Pitt was nominated for Best On-Screen Team shared with the cast. At the Phoenix Film Critics Society award Pitt was nominated for Best Ensemble shared with the cast. At the Teen Choice awards Pitt was nominated for Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Drama/Action-Adventure.

PEOPLE magazine: Brad & Jen So Happy Together
[December 10, 2001] - The Hollywood couple appear on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Brad & Jen: So Happy Together. In this exclusive interview the two talk about sharing dog-walking chores, a sense of humor, a new seaside getaway, and after sixteen months of marriage - the look of love.

article by: Karen S. Schneider

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 56 - No. 24
"Shortly after marrying Brad Pitt in an estimated $1 million dollar ceremony in Malibu July of 2000, Jennifer felt the need to seal the promise with one more detail: new note cards. "I asked the letterpress artist what name I should have on the top," recalled Aniston, "she gave me the options of: 'Jennifer Aniston', 'Jennifer Aniston Pitt', 'Jennifer Aniston-Pitt', or 'Jennifer Pitt.' so now when I send a 5in. by 7in off-white card to my friends it reads JENNIFER PITT, in 12-point Egmont font, all caps. "They marked a rite of passage," commented the letterpress woman, "most people start with 100 cards. I think the fact that she ordered 250 implies that she isn't letting this one go. She is totally planning on staying married." Jennifer's plan is an ambitious one just sixteen months after Brad swore to love, honor, and "split the difference on the thermostat" with her until death due them part, friends figure Mrs. Pitt could have upped her stationary order tenfold. What makes the Pitts, in the context of showbiz couples, extraordinary? According to Aniston's friends it's their ability to be simply ordinary. "There's no insecurity going on," said Jennifer, "We're ourselves. We do the same things that other couples do: go to restaurants, play games, go to work, and go on trips. We're really, truly in love with each other," said the actress. 

This was clear to every one on set of Friends after Pitt, filmed his much publicized appearance along side Aniston in the Thanksgiving episode "The One with the Rumor". While on screen the couple gave NBC's hit show - watched by thirteen million households - its No. 1 ranking. Perhaps most tickled by the episode were the mister and misses themselves. "Rehearsing the show for four days before taping we had a blast," said Pitt. "It's the simple gestures that have come to matter most. She's very affectionate with me," he said, "and she told me I make her feel grounded and whole, as well as smart. I told her she makes me feel like Fred Astaire - which is no small feat." The two attended a concert and Aniston said of Pitt's dance skills, "it's very cool when you have your best friend at your side," she said of her life with Brad. The feeling is mutual, "if you can find someone who can stand you for twenty-four hours a day," said Pitt, "I highly recommend it." During the Friends rehearsal and shoot, Pitt got to share the dressing room where Aniston has their wedding photo propped up - one in the same room he filled with roses last Valentine's Day, spelling out "I Love My Wife" in petals on the wall. During the filming of Ocean's Eleven this past spring, "I flew home every day I had time off, even if it was just for twenty-four hours, just to see her" said Pitt. "Let me clarify one thing, we're not like two fourteen-year olds learning to kiss," he protested, "we have a mature, intelligent affection for one another." "On a typical day," says Aniston, "we wake-up, take care of our dogs, prepare breakfast - I don't want to brag, but I make a mean milk shake. I'll head to the Warner Bros. lot to where I film and rehearse five hours of Friends, and occasionally Brad will drop by to eat pizza, watch me work, and hang out with Matthew, Matt and David," said the actress. 

Jennifer and Brad are truly, madly, deeply in love.
"Once our work day is done we'll dine together while attempting to keep a low-key affair," said Brad, "our favorite place to dine is our living room couch. Of course I do most of the cooking, Jen doesn't cook, however she does thaw, and microwave, and orders in real well." In reference towards parenthood, we wonder if the couple has plans of starting a family. "There is no way she's getting pregnant until the show is done," said Pitt, "when the time comes, we'll both be up to the challenge." Her father, soap opera actor John Aniston of Days of Our Lives, is a grandfather-in-waiting, "they seem to thrive on marriage," said Jennifer's father. Pitt's family agrees saying, "We love Jennifer!" said Brad's sister Julie, brother Doug, father Bill, and mother Jane. "We all think of her as Jen. She's great with Brad's nieces and nephews. It's uncle Brad and aunt Jennifer." A compliment no doubt, but also a strange position for Aniston to find herself in. For now, though, Jennifer is concentrating on getting use to matrimony, what she and Pitt call "the Adventure." The hardest thing right now for the couple is spending time apart from each other. "He's away in London, then one minute he's in Hungary, then in Morocco, then in Vegas. He's all over the map! I managed to catch up with him and we took a nice trip to Budapest. He made it up to me by flying home for a week at a time to spend his first married Christmas with me," said the actress. "I wake-up every morning and say to myself, 'Damn, am I lucky' ", said Pitt. Until his cell phone can beam her up, however, their options are few. "They can (A): Keep cashing in our frequent-flier-miles; or (B) cash in their Actor's Equity cards," said a source close to the couple. "We take one day at a time," said Aniston. As for Friends she has mixed feelings about the show coming to an end, "Walking away," she said, "would be very, very sad. On the other hand I would have more time to devote to another - motherhood." 

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2002: Jennifer Is...The Good Girl
(2002) The Good Girl
[August 7, 2002] - The 33-year old actress lands the lead role in the indie drama film 'The Good Girl'. Set in a rural town of Texas the film focuses on a thirty-year old married woman Justine Last; Aniston's character, who works in the cosmetics department of a retail store, Retail Rodeo. She feels that her life is mundane and that she hasn't done anything meaningful. Justine works with an eccentric group of folks including Cheryl; actress Zooey Deschanel's character, a cynical, young woman who inserts subliminal profanities to the sleepwalking customers. Gwen; actress Deborah Rush's character, an overly peppy elder woman who works with Justin in the cosmetics department. Corny; actor Mike White's character, a Bible-thumping security guard. Jack Field; actor John Carroll Lynch's character, the store manager who tries to obtain balance and order in the store. Just as Justine begins to feel trapped with no sign of escaping she is sent a sign of hope; a new young cashier begins working at Retail Rodeo. She is almost immediately taken by him, but he is very self-kept. It takes her a few days to gain the courage to introduce herself to him. He tells her his name is Holden Caulfield; actor Jack Gyllenhaal's character, explaining the he is a reincarnation of the character from the novel Catcher in the Rye as well as his life paralleling with similar problems. The two become close spending time together eating lunch, and hanging out every day after work. They share things about one another: where they grew up, family, friends, and hobbies. After pretending he's twisted his ankle Holden tricks Justine into giving him a ride home from work. While parked in front of his house he tries to make a move on her, but she reminds him she's a married woman. The next day, Justine returns home from work to her husband Phil; actor John C. Reilly's character, and his friend Bubba; actor Tim Blake Nelson's character, and the two are smoking pot while conversing amongst themselves. Justine changes out of her work cloths and takes a shower. She joins them in the living room where she advises her husband to stop smoking. Justine explains that every time he lights up he's killing one of their unborn children (Justine's comment implies that smoking pot lowers sperm cells). This indicates that Justine and Phil are trying to get pregnant, but later she changes her mind deciding she'd rather have him fix their television set commenting, "Who needs a baby anyhow?" out of frustration. One day, Holden doesn't show up for work, however he sends Justine a letter, telling her if she doesn't meet him behind the Chuck E. Cheese at 5 p.m. she may never see him again. As her workday progresses her friend and co-worker Gwen gets severe food poisoning from some blackberries she'd been eating throughout the day.

Jennifer and Jake Gyllenhaal on set of 'The Good Girl'
Gwen has spent the better part of her time being sick in the ladies room so Justine checks on her as a friendly gesture. Their manager Jack tells Justine to take Gwen to the hospital, but Justine knows if she does this she won't have enough time to meet Holden. Justine drives like a bat out of hell to get Gwen to the hospital, but lies dropping Gwen off at the main entrance saying she'll park the car then meet her inside. Justine rushes to the Chuck E. Cheese where she fears she is too late, and suddenly Holden pops up next to her car, which startles her. He is happy that she came and tells her of his intentions which is wanting to take their relationship to the next level by going to a motel. Once at the motel Justine pays for the room with a credit card. They have sex and Justine begins to feel more alive than she's felt in a long time. In order to keep seeing Holden, Justine lies to Phil with the excuse of visiting Gwen at the hospital every day after work. Justine and Holden continue their affair, without anyone, especially her husband Phil, having a clue. One night, as the two are leaving the motel room Justin spots Bubba's truck in the motel parking lot. This causes Justine to become very paranoid thinking Bubba is aware of her actions. She attempts to keep her distance from Holden whom she tells they should cool down their affair for a while which he finds upsetting. As Justine arrives at the hospital she spots Corny the security guard walking out with a sad look on his face. He tells her that Gwen died and the cause of her death was from eating the blackberries, which had parasites in them. This causes Justine to be upset returning home to Phil whom after telling the news is in disbelief. The next day at work, Jack makes an announcement at work over the intercom should any of the employees need to take time off for themselves they may do so.

Brad & Jennifer at The Good Girl premiere
Naturally, everyone leaves, and the Retail Rodeo is closed that day. During their day off Justine and Holden go to the lake where he skinny-dips with the intentions of having sex with Justine, but she is too shaken by Gwen's death. Storm clouds roll in and it begins to rain so the two have sex in her car. Justine returns home to Phil and Bubba sitting on the couch. As Phil walks out of the room Bubba informs Justine he is aware of her affair advising her if she knows what's good for her she'll show up at his house. The next day Corny corners Justine after work asking her if she'd like to come to Bible study. She politely turns him down, but later changes her mind telling Phil once she's home from work that they're going to Bible study. As they pull up in the church parking lot the sight of the night manager from the hotel spooks her. She flees back to the car dragging Phil by the arm telling him they have to leave. Phil is mortified by his wife's actions wondering why she's acting the way that she's acting. Justine makes up the excuse that they forgot their Bibles and Phil is confused, but accepting of his wife's excuse. The next day at work Holden keeps persisting Justine exclaiming he'll go crazy if she doesn't see him. She promises to see him the next day with the excuse of having to visit somebody else. While at Bubba's house Bubba blackmails her into having sex explaining that if she doesn't agree to go through with it he'll tell Phil about her affair with Holden. During sex with Bubba the look on Justine's face is that of one whom is the least bit interested. Once finished she spots someone starring back at her through Bubba's window; it's Holden who witnessed the entire thing. Sometime later while Phil is at a doctor's appointment Justine and Bubba are alone in the waiting room. He asks her how he measures up as a lover compared to Phil, but is interrupted by a nurse who says Phil has requested her presence. Phil lets Justine in the room where he tells her he's having trouble getting it up asking if he can massage her breasts. She allows it, but tells him to be gentle because her breasts are sore. While at work Justine feels sick telling Cheryl that her breasts feel tender and Cheryl suggests that Justine may be pregnant. Holden doesn't show up for work, but appears in Justine's car in a drunken state saying he'll repeat his actions every day later calling her a hooker. This causes her to realize that Holden isn't right in the mind nor the form of escape she was seeking. Unbeknownst to Holden, after work she visits Holden's house telling his parents she feels their son need's to be institutionalized.

Hollywood Film award - Best Lead Actress
That night while taking an at home pregnancy test she is interrupted by Phil whom demands to be there when the results come out. Phil is excited once the test turns out positive. The next day at work the retail safe has been robbed. During questioning Justine lies saying she is neither associated nor aware of Holden's whereabouts, but Corny says otherwise. Earlier he placed a hidden camera in the storage room with evidence that she and Holden have been having sex. She is asked once again answering honestly telling them Holden has plans to escape. Later Justine runs into him, but tells him if they're going to run away she needs some things. While at an intersection stopped at a stoplight Justine contemplates the future, and turns to Retail Rodeo rather than making good on the promise she made to meet Holden at the motel room. Later on television, Justine, Phil, and Bubba watch the news with reports of authorities surrounding a hotel where a Retail Rodeo clerk is suspected of stealing the ten grand from the vault. Holden commits suicide with the anchor announcing identifying the young man as 'Tom Worther'. Justine is shocked, and Phil asks her is she knew him, but she lies saying she didn't. A few days later Phil learns the truth with Justine owning up to her actions regarding her having an affair causing Phil to strike his wife across the face. This causes him to wonder if the baby is his, and Justine insists that it is. Justine lies saying the affair wasn't important, but to ease her husbands wondering mind answers that the person she had an affair with was the security guard Corny. Phil apologizes for hitting Justine then tells her he's going to beat up Corny. The next day at work Corny shows up bruised with his arm in a sling implying that Phil got his revenge. Justine continues to work at the Retail Rodeo satisfied with her mundane life, stays with Phil, and has Holden's baby. The film is directed by Miguel Arteta grossing $16,856,124 in box office making it a box office bomb generating positive reviews from film critics scoring a an 81% liking from audiences. A general film critics consensus states: "A dark dramedy with exceptional performances from Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal, 'The Good Girl' is a moving and astute look at the passions of two troubled souls in a small town." Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times says, "Aniston has at last decisively broken with her 'Friends' image in an independent film of satiric fire and emotional turmoil." In efforts of her performance Jennifer received multiple nominations including a Hollywood Film award, Independent Spirit award, Online Film Critics Society award, Satellite award, and Teen Choice award. At the Hollywood Film award she won Best Lead Actress of the Year. At the Independent Spirit awards she was nominated for Best Lead Actress of the Year. At the Online Film Critics Society awards she was nominated for Best Lead Actress of the Year. At the Satellite awards she was nominated for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Comedy or Musical. At the Teen Choice awards she won for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Drama/Action-Adventure, she was nominated for Best Liar, and Best Liplock shared with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Vogue magazine: Jennifer Aniston All-American Beauty
[August 2002] - The actress appears on the cover of VOGUE magazine headlining Jennifer Aniston: All-American Beauty. In this exclusive interview the 'Friends' star talks about being easy on the charm for her break out film role in 'The Good Girl', marriage to Brad, and being an All-American beauty.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: This is not the full article. "Click" on the link listed for more information.

Link: http://www.vogue.com/magazine/

article by: unknown

VOGUE magazine
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PEOPLE magazine: Brad, Babies, & a Breakout Movie
[August 26, 2002] - Jennifer appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Jennifer Aniston: Brad, Babies, and a Break Out Movie. In this exclusive interview Jennifer ponders babies, the big screen, and a big house in Beverly Hills as her Friends career prepares to take its final lap.

article by: Karen S. Schneider

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 58 - No. 9
"Even though the actresses tryst with actor Jake Gyllenhaal was all in a days work - scripted into her role as a dowdy and unhappily web clerk in the indie flick The Good Girl - Friends fans might be take aback by the somewhat unsettling sight of Aniston. In the first scene of her thirteen-year show business career, groping about semi-naked on the big screen. "Brad didn't mind," she said with a laugh, "he was like, 'Be nice to the guy. He's just a kid!' ". For the record the kid can take care of himself. "That's the only reason I did the movie," said Gyllenhaal, only half of in jest of their romantic interludes. Aniston's reason? "Call it stage one of my master plan," said the actress. After she wraps up what is expected to be the final episode of Friends come spring of 2003. "I'd like to travel. I'd like to have a family. I'd like to do it all, but all in good time." While Friends fans can't seem to wait to see Jennifer's Zone-honed figure swathed in maternity cloths, she has other plans. "Absolutely it will happen," Aniston says of motherhood, "but probably not for a while. Probably, Friends will end, close that chapter, and see where we go." Right now she'd just like to find her 'Ordinary People'.  The Good Girl is proving a great start. Aniston plays Justine, a depressed cashier who seeks relief from a dreary marriage to a pot-smoking couch potato Phil; actor John C. Reilly's character, through a dead end affair with a co-worker Holden; actor Jake Gyllenhaal's character. Echoing critics across the country, the New York Post raved, "The Friends star announces herself as a true big-screen talent, channeling despair, hope, confusion, and wry humor." 

Jennifer says, "Life is as good as it gets."
Once she chose the somewhat risky role, Aniston has a harsher critic in mind - herself. "I wanted to prove, to myself most of all," she says, "that I could maybe try something different." In reference towards her marriage to Brad, tabloid reports have speculated that the couple smokes copious amounts of marijuana. "False," Aniston said in an earlier interview with TIME magazine, "if I were stoned I'd barely be able to have a conversation with you." Aniston counts on Pitt for more than his promise to "split the difference on the thermostat," as he vowed back at the altar. "It's a nice feeling to have somebody that you just like so much," she said in an earlier interview with VOGUE magazine. "I think it's made me more comfortable in who I am to have someone who loves me and accepts me with all my crap, dysfunction, insecurities and struggles. He kind of sees it all through these beautiful rose-colored glasses." When cast for the role director Miguel Arteta had her in mind recalling her edgy performance in '99s Office Space. He knew she had potential in casting her against her type, "she's incredibly beautiful," said Arteta, "but it's not otherworldly beauty, like actress Sharon Stone," she says. "She's very relatable." To prepare for the role Aniston worked with an acting coach during spring of 2001 that put weights on the actresses arms and legs to curb what Aniston calls her "bad acting habit" of Gesticulating Cute. She also agreed to Arteta's request that she not wash her hair. Not that a decade of fame has completely hardened Aniston to what she calls, "misinformation". "I care about what other people think of me," said Jennifer, "but not enough to worry about what people think of me when I go grocery shopping in street cloths. Both my husband and I drive for success, but it never overshadows our drive for a healthy, and happy life. We enjoy our careers, but if it was ever bad for us, we would so drop it." On August 6 the actress began shooting the comedy Bruce Almighty opposite of actor/comedian Jim Carrey. "I feel that I've worked hard to put myself in a position to do what I want to do," she said. Whatever Aniston chooses her fans need not worry. "I'd like to think that right now I'm on a journey really enjoying it. I'm just very happy as well as very grateful."

(2002-2003) Friends Season 9 DVD Cover
[September 26, 2002 - May 15, 2003] - Jennifer is informed by the network that her along with the rest of her cast mate's have all been signed on for a ninth season with a salary per episode of $1,000,000. Season nine revolves around Monica and Chandler continuing to try and have a baby. Later they discover that they are unlikely to conceive after they visit a fertility specialist. Phoebe begins dating Mike Hannigan, whom Joey set her up with at the last minute. Sometime later Mike proposes to Phoebe. Ross falls for one of his colleagues Charlie, during a paleontology conference in Barbados. Joey begins dating Charlie, to Ross's disappointment because he had plans of moving on from Rachel. Later Joey sees Ross kissing Charlie; causing him to decide to pursue a relationship with Rachel, after she confessed feelings for him. Rachel finds herself developing romantic feelings towards Joey after having a dream about the two of them ending up together. The season premiere episode "The One Where No One Proposes" airs to 34.0 million viewers tuning in to see the after math of Joey accidentally proposing to Rachel. Joey tries to set Rachel straight, but his attempts fail.He has difficulty finding an opportune time to explain to her that it was all a misunderstanding due to constant interruptions. The first interruption occurs when Rachel tries to breastfeed Emma for the first time, and Joey is turned on by it. The second interruption occurs when Joey catches an overly exhausted Ross, who is running on caffeine trying to recall his actions, as well as explain to Rachel that he isn't the one who proposed to her. Rachel is aware informing Ross that Joey is the one who proposed to her. Joey enters the room, but quickly leaves once he overhears their conversation. Ross insists that Joey enter Rachel's hospital room to explain himself. We learn that Joey merely picked up the ring that fell out of Ross's coat pocket and when he turned around Rachel assumed Joey was proposing to her. Joey points out that he never actually asked her to marry him despite her answering, "Yes."

Friends season 9 episode "The One After No One Proposes"
Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler continue trying to have a baby, and every time she finds out she is ovulating she wrestles Chandler into the bedroom. After a while, Chandler is exhausted and Monica begins having to coax him into having sex with her. Ross, unaware Joey has proposed to Rachel, plans to start things up with her again. The season finale is broken into two parts "The One in Barbados (Part 1)" airs to 25.4 million viewers tuning in to see the gang heading to Barbados for Ross's paleontology conference. While there Ross meets up with a fellow paleontologist, Charlie Wheeler; actress Aisha Tyler's character, whom he finds he has a lot in common with. Charlie is rooming with Joey and Ross is rooming with Rachel, but over the course of the episode each couple's feelings change. Ross becomes attracted to Charlie as the pair spend time at the conference, and Rachel finds herself falling for Joey. Amongst this Monica informs Phoebe that David; actor Hank Azaria's character, plans on proposing to her, Monica's hair reacts to the humid climate of Barbados, to Chandler's dismay in order to solve her hair problem Monica has her hair done up in cornrows with seashells. Ross types up a paper, but it is accidentally deleted by Chandler who suggests to Ross that he should seriously consider saving it next time. Chandler deleted Ross's  paper unintentionally while checking his e-mail to see if he won an online auction for a teapot, but instead accidentally opened a spam letter that lead to a virus resulting in the computer shutting down, and Ross's paper being deleted.

Friends season 9 episode "The One in Barbados (Part 1)"
Ross works with Charlie to rewrite his speech that he is set to deliver during a conference, which he is a keynote speaker at. Rachel begins to develop feelings for Joey, but tries to ignore them. Meanwhile, at the paleontogy conference Joey can't handle the fact that he isn't gaining any recognition for being a soap opera star of 'Days of Our Lives', whereas Ross is getting all of the attention from the other scientists at the conference who consider Ross a celebrity and want Ross's autograph instead of Joey's. One woman informs Joey that she doesn't even own a television therefore explaining why she's never heard of Joey. Phoebe is forced to decide whom she'd rather marry after Monica and Chandler meddle in her love life: Monica calls Mike Hannigan; actor/comedian Paul Rudd's character, with the original intentions of asking him what products he uses on his hair, but later urges him to propose to Phoebe after telling him that David plans to. Earlier Chandler gave David; actor Hank Azaria's character, the idea to propose to Phoebe after explaining why she broke-up with with her previous boyfriend Mike: Phoebe concluded that she wanted to get married, but Mike didn't resulting in him moving out ending in them breaking up. Later Mike shows up in Barbados interrupting David on his dinner date with Phoebe before David has the chance to propose to her. Phoebe admits to Mike that she didn't have to get a proposal out of him in order for her to change her mind about wanting to be with him. All Phoebe wanted was to know that their relationship was going somwhere. She later turns David's proposal down, but assures him that had he gone through with asking her she probably would've said yes. "The One in Barbados (Part 2)" airs to 25.4 million viewers tuning in to see Rachel acting on her feelings toward Joey resulting in the two sharing a passionate kiss. To Phoebe and Chandler's dismay Monica and Mike compete in a ping-pong match to see who is more competitive. After the match drags on for several long boring hours Mike wins and a defeated Monica is unhappy.

Friends season 9 episode "The One in Barbados (Part 2)"
Chandler takes her place in the ping-pong match because she is injured, but even after Monica's objection about him sucking, she allows him to play. In one round Chandler hits the ball past Mike therefore winning the match. Monica wonders why Chandler never let her allow him to know he was good at ping-pong, and then she comments "Great! Now we can join doubles tournaments," and he replies, "That's why!". Phoebe runs into her old flame David who intends on proposing to her over lunch, but Mike beats him to the punch. Phoebe is happy after Mike proposes to her proving that he's changed his idea about wanting to get married. Joey breaks up with Charlie once he realizes they have nothing in common. He later see's Charlie kissing Ross so to get back at them Joey kisses Rachel. As Ross and Charlie decide to pursue a relationship so do Joey and Rachel, and each couple is unaware that Phoebe, Chandler, and Monica are all listening in on either sides of their conjoined motel room walls. While ease dropping the only pair that comes clean to their friends is Ross and Charlie, but Joey and Rachel try to keep their relationship a secret especially from Ross because neither wants to see anyone get hurt. Season nine celebrity guest stars include Actor/comedian Paul Rudd guest stars as Mike Hannigan; Phoebe's love interest episode "The One the Pediatrician", episode "The One with the Sharks", episode "The One with the Male Nanny", episode "The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song", episode "The One with Rachel's Phone Number", episode "The One Where Monica Sings," episode "The One with the Boob Job", episode "The One with the Memorial Service", episodes "The One in Barbados (Part 1 & 2)". Actor Hank Azaria guest stars David; Phoebe's scientist boyfriend episode "The One with the Male Nanny", and episodes "The One in Barbados (Part 1 & 2)".

Golden Globe - Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Actress Aisha Tyler guest stars as Charlie Wheeler; Ross's and Joey's love interest episode "The One with the Soap Opera Party", episode "The One with the Fertility Test", episode "The One with the Donor", and episodes "The One in Barbados (Part 1 & 2)". Actor Dermot Mulroney guest stars as Gavin Mitchell; Rachel's boss and love interest episode "The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work", episode "The One with Phoebe's Rats", and episode "The One Where Monica Sings". Actor John Stamos guest stars as Zach; a potential sperm donor for Monica and Chandler episode "The One with the Donor". Actress Selma Blair guest stars as Wendy; Chandler's female co-worker episode "The One with Christmas in Tulsa". Actress Christina Applegate guest stars as Amy Green; Rachel's older sister episode "The One with Rachel's Other Sister". Actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. guest stars as Sandy; a male nanny episode "The One with the Male Nanny". Actor Elliot Gould guest stars as Jack Geller; Monica and Ross's father episode "The One Where No One Proposes". Actress Christina Pickles guest stars as Judy Geller; Monica and Ross's mother episode "The One Where No One Proposes". Actress Maggie Wheeler guest stars as Janice Hosenstein; Chandler's ex-girlfriend episode "The One with the Fertility Test". In efforts of the show the cast of 'Friends' attends several awards shows including the19th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards, the 13th Annual British Comedy awards, the 60th Annual Golden Globe awards, the 44th Annual Logie awards, the 9th Annual National Television awards, the 25th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards, the 7th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards, the 29th Annual People's Choice awards, the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy awards, the 8the Annual Satellite awards, the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards, and the 5th Annual Teen Choice awards. At the 19th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards their series won for Best Foreign Television Program, and Best Female Foreign Television Personality awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 13th Annual British Comedy awards their series was nominated for Best International Comedy Television Show of the Year. At the 60th Annual Golden Globe awards their series was nominated for Best Television Series Comedy or Musical of the Year, and Best Lead Actor in a Television Series Comedy or Musical nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. They won the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress in a Television Series Comedy or Musical awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 44th Annual Logie awards their series won for Most Popular Overseas Program of the Year. At the 9th Annual National Television awards their series was nominated for Most Popular Overseas Comedy Program.

People's Choice award - Favorite Female Television Performer
At the 25th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards their series was nominated for Favorite Television Show, and Favorite Television Actress nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 7th Annual Online Film & Television Association awards their series was nominated for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Christina Applegate for her performance as Amy Green. At the 29th Annual People's Choice awards their series won for Favorite Television Comedy Series of the Year, and Favorite Female Television Performer awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series of the Year, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni, and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Hank Azaria for his performance as David. The won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Christina Applegate for her performance as Amy Green. At the 8th Annual Satellite awards their series was nominated Best Television Series Comedy or Musical of the Year, Best Actress in  Television Series Comedy or Musical nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green, and Best Actor in a Television Series Comedy or Musical nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. At the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for their performances as Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribianni, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel, and Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. At the 5th Annual Teen Choice awards their series was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Courteney Cox for her performance as Monica Geller, Best Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni, and Best Breakout Female Television Breakout Star nominee Aisha Tyler for her performance as Charlie Wheeler. They won the Teen Choice awards for Best Comedy Series, and Best Actress in a Comedy Serires awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green.

Esquire magazine - Women We Love: Jennifer Aniston in the Morning
[October 2002] - She appears on the cover of Esquire magazine headlining Women We Love: Jennifer Aniston in the Morning. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about the aspects of fandom, her childhood, parents, 'Friends', and of course her [then] husband Brad Pitt.

article by: Cal Fussman

ESQUIRE magazine
"I'm at this restaurant and the friend who I'm eating with gets up to go to the bathroom. At a nearby, table, a woman is eyeing me, and I know she's just waiting for the right moment to swop in for the kill. This happens all the time. People feel a certain level of comfort with you when you're in their living room; they feel you're approachable. And the truth is I like to feel that way. When a kid comes up to you at a restaurant with a beautiful sketch he's just made of you and says he just wants you to have it, it's a real tearjerker. And I'm a leaker. But as this woman's heading over, I can tell she's had a few. 'I don't understand your life,' she [the woman] says. 'Neither do I,' I laugh. 'What's the big deal?' she asks. 'Beats me.' 'Look at you. You're normal. You're a bunch of nuthin', aren't you?' I'm like, 'What did you think? That I'm somthing? I never claimed to be something I just do my job.' Her [the woman's] face is crinkling up like a kid who's trying to figure out a puzzle and getting more and more frustrated because she can't. Just then my friend returns. He gives the woman the ol' laser eye and she leaves. We sort of joke about it. 'Well, I guess we'll go back to our buthin' meal.' But tell me: What was I supposed to say to that woman? 'Sit down and I'll try to figure it out with you?' " "My dad has this laugh that made you want to laugh. Still does. Same with my mom. When one would start, the other would follow. My mom's face would get red and her eyes would start watering and her vocal cords would close up, and it would be so funny that you'd be swept up in it and then you couldn't stop. There's nothing better than contagious laughter. It's the most peaceful feeling in the world. My best times as a kid came right after my dad [actor John Aniston of 'Days of Our Lives'] got a job on a soap opera and we moved to New York. I can remember this one party we had: Maybe fifteen of my parents' friends were over, Scotch in their glasses, or sherry. I'm not sure if I belly dances for everyone that night, but I used to cut a real mean one for my Greek relatives. 

I used to sing, too - in the car, in front of the mirror, anywhere. I was about seven and absolutely fearless. I remember playing charades with the grown-ups that night, and all the laughter. Then it was time for me to go to bed, but you could never put me down when there was a good time to be had. Again and again I tried to sneak out my bedroom toward the happy sounds, but they kept making me go back - until I was exhausted and fell alseep. As the years passed, tension came between my mom and dad, and I'd do funny things to try to bring back the laughter. It's hard to recall now what those things were. Maybe I've blocked them out. I guess I've learned to make a living doing what I did to try to heal myself as a kid. When I was about nine, I can home from a friend's party and my dad wasn't there. Divorce happens in a lot of families, and I don't want to break out the violins. But that was that." "I was enrolled in Rudolf Steiner School, which recommends that children don't watch television. I'd sneak it all the time, of course. You become obsessed with anything your parents tell you not to do. Plus, dad had left. How could I connect with him? He was on the television! One day, my dad got me on 'Search for Tomorrow' [a soap opera] as an extra. I must've been thirteen. I can still see this little yellow ice-skating dress that I was psyched to be in that morning. At that age, it was thrilling to just sit in the makeup chair. In the middle of the scene, someone came over and asked me to swap places with another girl. It was very quick, and I didn't think anything of it. On the way home, dad mentioned how I wouldn't have been picked up by the camera if our palces hadn't been switched. I felt terrible, absolutely mortified and humiliated that the poor girl got bumped because of me, the daughter of the soap star. I still remember walking down Broadway in silence after he told me. I didn't have the kind of ambition. You know how there are some people who burn with this feeling of 'I'm goint to make it'? I never had that. Yeah, I want to prove that I can do it. But I'm ashamed to want it. It's a paradox - which I guess I am at times. Maybe that's why I love 'Friends'. It's an ensemble. Even the recent Emmy nomination - it's not about me. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for those other five people. That nomination is theirs, too, whether they like it or not. But there was another thing I learned that day as an extra. In order for me to get what I'd wanted, something was compromised. What you want always comes with a price. 

When I was in school, I think there was a Teachers Who Hate Jennifer Aniston Anonymous group, and I'll bet Mr. Piening never missed a meeting. There were these two palm trees in his English class in junior high. I don't remember exactly what I did, but one day Mr. Piening got SO mad at me, he shouted in his German accent: 'JENNIFER! I want to tie a palm tree to each of your feet and throw you out the window!' When I got in trouble, my mom and dad would have to meet at the principal's office. There was that little manipulation for a while. But it didn't work out. It's hard to impress your dad when you're in the principal's office for being stupid. It was the school part of high school that I really had a problem with. Otherwise there were some great times. At one point, my hair was shaved about an inch above the ear. I had the short hair and the big black outfits and the black liquid eyeliner that made me look like a vampire, with all sorts of pins sticking out of my body parts. I actually invented an excuse in high school so that I didn't have to sing in a play. I doodled the answers to my SATs, I'd go A, A, B, A. Let's see, haven't had a C in a while... . When my high school threanted to kick me out, I had to focus and get the schoolwork done. Only time I ever got A's. One of the first jobes I was pretty psyched about was at the Public Theater. This was off-Broadway. It was that time of your life when you don't know any better to know that you're acting in the worst play of your life. Anyway, there is this scene where I sit up, Look at the audience, and say this one line, and it always got a laugh. One night as I'm doing it, I realize that I'm staring right into this huge, gaping cavern that is the mouth of [actor] Al Pacino. He's sitting in the audience next to [actress] Diane Keaton - and he's really laughing. I coudn't believe it. I made Al Pacino laugh. It was one of the greatest moments I'd ever had. A moment like that can carry you for a year or two. I'd done that about seven hudrefailed shows before 'Friends', and there was no reason to believe that 'Friends' would be any different. Right before it aired, the director, Jimmy Burrows - or Papa, as I call him - flew the six of us [Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer] to Las Vegas, Nevada. He took us out to dinner and said, 'You don't know what you're about to embark on. You better take care of each other.' We had NO idea what he was talking about. Then he gave us each $500 and said, 'Enjoy it. This is the last time you'll be able to walk through a casino without being bothered.' Papa is one psychic Jew. That first year, we shot to number one in summer reruns. 

People came over to me at a drugstore one day and said, 'We've been following you for blocks and just wanted to know if it was you, and could we have your autograph?' I'm standing there with toilet paper under one arm and tampons under another and I say, 'Sure.' You know, I can remember waking up at five in the morning when I was a teenager to go to a record signing by Duran Duran. My girlfriends and I had every one of their albums, including those rare albums from Europe with two songs that have never been heard. We had every video. Videos of the making of the videos. Anyway, I got up at the crack of dawn and went with a red rose to the video store where they were doing the signing. There was already a line around the block. I waited all day with that red rose. Finally, I work my way to fifth on line. All of a sudden, they lock the doors and everybody in line goes crazy. And I'm standing there with this bent red rose from battling all these animals. Of course I was bummed. But looking back, I wonder: 'What did I want? What was I expecting?' I don't understand it even now. I know that the real person isn't worthy of the adoration of innocent girls. And yet, those girls are allowed to have that, arent' they? I've been on both sides now, but that doesn't make it any easier to understand. Then it was success at the speed of a stealth bomber. I'd try to go out on a date and there would be video cameras waiting. And before I even knew if there would be a second date, I'd read that I was engaged to the guy. That guy wasn't calling back! Say goodbye to him! The six of us at 'Friends' would be saying to each other: 'You all right? You okay? Jeez! This is intense!' Then comes the inevitable backlash. I guess a group of young actors getting a lot of money is going to piss some people off. Now some of the media's saying we're spoiled brats. But I was more than that. 'Cast members of 'Friends' trying to act in movies? Hey, keep your day job!' And so when it comes time to step out and try something different, to challenge yourself, you can't help but feel this fear. It's like you're not supposed to jeopardize your success by trying anything else. The compromise starts getting the best of you. Something that you loved from the time you were a kid starts to get lost. Nine years have passed, and the six of us did take care of each other. No matter what problem and of us had, there was always Lisa Kudrow's laugh. She has one of the all-time greats, like a roller coaster going up - tick, tick, tick - before the big drop. There she goes! Then she can't speak. She cries. And we all lose it and can't do any shooting for two hours. What's that saying? Friends are the family we choose. 

The dark side never overpowers the light side. But sometimes it feels like there's not sanctuary. Lord knows, I wish I had a different situation with my mom. You know something, lots of daughters have difficult relationships with their mothers. Only when you're under a microscope, it gets played out in public like it's some kind of court trial. You walk out of your therapist's office - he works out of his house in a quiet neighborhood - and there are four vans with lenses popping out. They say you're an actor and it comes with the territory. But can somebody please tell me when I signed up for that? Whether you're a ditchdigger or you're an a movie screen, shouldn't you have the right to sunbathe without worrying that some Peeping Tom is going to scale the wall to your backyard and take pictures of you? I'll gladly go by the rules if somebody would just tell me what they are. Hey, I subscribed to Teen Beat when I was a kid. I'll admit it. Out loud. I was once the girl who wanted to know everything abotu Shaun Cassidy. I know people want to know about be and Brad. But I don't want to go into the details of our marriage, because it's best not to. That's what helps keep it normal. Besides, there's enough false information out here to last you a lifetime. But seeing there's a theme here, I will say one thing. I'll tell you about Brad's laugh. I don't know how to explain it except it sounds like a twelve-year-old boy who just threw a water balloon down on somebody. Just the other night, he was wathcing the Robin Williams HBO special ['Robin Williams: Live on Broadway'] while I was sending out e-mails in another room, and out burst that great mischievous laugh. I just looked up and giggled. When I got the script to this movie, 'The Goo Girl', I read it in an hour. The writer, Mike White, has an ability to create characters that are so creepy and dysfunctional and human, with this duality that makes people feel empathy for them at the same time. My first thought was: 'Was this sent to the right person?' I called my agant. 'Are they sure? Let's say "yes" before they realize they've sent it to the wrong person!' On my first day of shooting, we started in the middle of the movie. Right at the center of my character's arc, where she's losing her mind and she's got a get ride of her illicit lover and she doesn't know what to do, but she's got to get ride of him, so she buys these blackberries. I don't want to give away too much. But I had to do this really tense scene with the blackberries on the very first day, and this fear welled up in me, and next thing I knew I'm asking Miguel Arteta, the director, if maybe we could move the location and start with another scene. I'll never forget what he said: 'The way I look at it, you might as well jump chest first into the empty pool.' I jumped, and I'm glad I did. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to belly dance again. You know, I still can't even sing karaoke. A while back I went to a karoke barwith a bunch of friends. Courteney Cox got on that little stage and just sang her heart out. So did all the other friends around me. They're all hollerin' at me, 'Go on up!' and I'm slinkin' in the back just looking for a place to hide. Every time they tried to pass me the microphone, I was wishing I had a paint gun in each hand. You know what I'm hoping? One of these days there will be a moment when I can get up on that karaoke stage and sing. Let's face it, if I make a living making people laugh, why stop there?"

___________________________________________________________________________________

2003 - Friends Till the End: The 10th and Final Season
Jennifer & Brad at the 18th Annual Independent Spirit awards
[March 22, 2003] - The 34-year old actress attends the 18th Annual Independent Spirit awards as a nominee for Best Female Lead for her performance as Justine Last in he drama film 'The Good Girl'. Jennifer was accompanied by her husband Brad Pitt on the red carpet. The ceremony took place in Los Angeles, California and was hosted by film director John Waters. Independent Spirit award winning films include drama drama film 'Far From Heaven', comedy/drama film 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys', biographical/drama film 'Antwone Fisher', comedy/drama film 'Lovely & Amazing', black comedy/drama film 'The Good Girl', romantic comedy/drama film 'Secretary', and comedy/romance film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. 'Far From Heaven' received all five of its Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Feature of the Year awarded to producers Jody Allen and Christine Vachon, Best Director of the Year awarded to director Todd Haynes, Best Female Lead of the Year awarded to actress Julianne Moore for her performance as Cathy Whitaker, Best Supporting Male of the Year awarded to actor Dennis Quaid for his performance as Frank Whitaker, and Best Cinematography of the Year awarded to cinematographer Edward Lachman. 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' won the Independent Spirit award for Best First Feature of the Year awarded to producers Jodie Foster, Meg LeFauve, Jay Shapio and Todd MaFarlane. 'Antwone Fisher' received one of its two Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Male Lead of the Year awarded to actor Derek Luke for his performance as Antwone "Fish" Fisher.

Independent Spirit award - Best Female Lead Nominee
'Lovely & Amazing' received one of its six Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Supporting Female of the Year awarded to actress Emily Mortimer for her performance as Elizabeth Marks. 'The Good Girl' one of its four Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Screeplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Mike White. 'Secretary' received one of its three Independent Spirit awards including Best First Screeplay awarded to screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson. 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' won the Independent Spirit award for Best Debut Performance of the Year awarded to actress Nia Vardalos for her performance as Fortula "Toula" Portokalos. Other Independent Spirit award winning films include drama film 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', documentary film 'Bowling for Columbine', drama film 'Personal Velocity', documentary film 'Love & Diane', comedy/drama film 'Real Women Have Curves', drama television movie 'Stranger Inside', and 'Paradox Lake'. 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' won the Independent Spirit award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year awarded to director Alfonso Cuaron. 'Bowling for Columbine' won the Independent Spirit award for Best Doumentary Feature of the Year awarded to director Michael Moore. 'Personal Velocity' won the Indpendent Spirit award for the John Cassavetes award. 'Love & Diane' won the Independent Spirit award for Truer Than Fiction award. 'Real Women Have Curves' and 'Stranger Inside' won the Independent Spirit award for Best Producer of the Year awarded to producer Effie Brown. 'Paradox Lake' won the Independent Spirit award for Someone to Watch awarded to director Przemyslaw Reut.

(2003) Bruce Almighty
[May 23, 2003] - The 34-year old actress lands the supporting role of Grace Connelly in the comedy/fantasy film 'Bruce Almighty'. A guy who complains about God too often is endowed with his divine powers in order to teach him just how difficult it is to run the world. Bruce Nolan; actor/comedian Jim Carrey's character, a television field reporter in Buffalo, New York for Eyewitness News, but desires to be a news anchorman. Following what Bruce insists on being the worst day of his life: during his first live broadcast he has a nervous breakdown; insulting his interviewee as well as the people back at the news station after the announcement is made he has been passed over for a promotion during sweeps weeks by his rival Evan Baxter; actor/comedian Steve Carell's character, Bruce is then fired from his job, beat up after attempting to prevent some hooligans from harassing a hobo, and almost destroys his relationship single-handedly with his girl friend Grace; Aniston's character all in one day. Followed by his series of misfortunes, Bruce complains that "God is the one whom should be fired," as well as comparing God to "a mean little kid on an ant hill with a magnifying glass, but rather God leave the ant hill alone he likes to burn off my [Bruce's] feelers and watch me squirm." For the next few days Bruce receives random messages on his pager from an unknown number. For awhile he is able to ignore them, but later he grows agitated by the device therefore throwing it out of his apartment widow, it bounces off of a light pole, and finally lands the street and then is run over by multiple vehicles. To Bruce's amazement the pager buzzes one last time, which is seemingly impossible after what the device has gone through. This time he acknowledges it calling the number on his home phone. A voice recording answers and by the end of the message says, "Is your name Bruce Nolan? If so come to the following location." Bruce quickly jots down the information, which directs him to an abandon warehouse. While exiting his car Bruce steps into a man-sized pothole soaking his entire pant leg. This upsets Bruce, but he decides to go through with meeting the anonymous source anyhow. Once inside the warehouse Bruce crosses paths with a janitor who informs him that the elevator is broken so he must take the stairs instead. After climbing multiple flights of stairs Bruce finally reaches the floor he's suppose to be on discovering the room to be empty. An electrician appears before him on a latter who tells him that the boss man will be right in. The electrician as well as the janitor are one the same man as well as God; actor Morgan Freeman's character. Bruce is in disbelief and God advises him once he leaves the building he'll be endowed with all of his powers.

Jennifer and Jim Carrey on set of 'Brice Almighty'
Bruce ignores God initially jubilant with power, eventually breaking one of the three major rules: don't mess with free will. The other rule is he can't tell anyone else that he's God. While Bruce has God's powers he parts his tomato soup like the red sea, makes spoon appear out of his mouth, trains his dog Sam to use the toilet, causes a monkey to spontaneously appear out of a mans butt, sexually impresses Grace in the bedroom, as well as other things he was advised by God specifically not to do. Sometime later Bruce begins to hear voices in his head that God later clarifies aren't voices they're prayers, and should they go unanswered too long, will begin to pile up. To solve the problem Bruce tries different forms of organization such as a filling system from A-Z, numerous sticky post-it notes, and finally a computer. He downloads a total of over a billion unanswered prayers then simply answers a mere: "YES" to everyone's prayer. To his dismay over a billion more enter into his inbox. He also finds a way to use his newfound powers to make otherwise mundane events appear miraculous such as covering local news event including discovering Jimmy Hoffa's body, and causing a meteor shower. All of these things end up earning Bruce his old job back at the news station. While there, he causes Evan to stutter as well as embarrass himself while on the air, which results in Evan being fired in Bruce's favor making him the new anchor. While at a day spa with her sister Debbie; actress Lisa Ann Walter's character, Grace tells Debbie of all of the nice things that Bruce has been doing for her lately. This causes Debbie to insinuate that the dinner he has planned for this evening is all leading up to a marriage proposal. On the eve of their dinner date an ecstatic Grace sits through dinner patiently awaiting Bruce to propose. As he leads up to his big news Grace becomes enthused, but is quickly disappointed after Bruce tells her the good news is that he got the anchor position.

Jennifer at the Bruce Almighty world premiere
He then begins screaming loudly exclaiming to Grace that it seems loud in the restaurant. She scolds him for screaming in a public place assuring Bruce the only loud thing is him screaming at her. Bruce re-encounters God, who confronts Bruce on using his powers for personal gain and not helping people. Later that evening Bruce attends a party celebrating his promotion as the new news anchor. Bruce can't seem to enjoy himself so he tries desperately to contact Grace begging her to come to the party. After several phone messages Grace goes to the party, but once she arrives she witnesses Bruce kissing his co-worker Susan. A heartbroken Grace heads back to her car, but Bruce follows her to try and persuade her otherwise. As the two argue she refuses to hear his excuses so he tries to use his powers on her, but finds he can't influence her free will. Meanwhile, the city of Buffalo falls into chaos so Bruce turns to God who explains to him he can't solve the problem, and you must figure out a way to solve it yourself. Bruce decides to solve his life problems practically: he helps a homeless man cross the street, potty trains his dog to go outside, and helps Evan get his job back. He even answers the prayers as best he can, and as he reads through them and an incoming prayer turns out to be from Grace. Bruce views her as she prayers the following, "I don't know what to do. I just want to move on. I don't want to love him anymore." Later a deeply depressed Bruce walks alone in the pouring rain in the middle of a highway. He surrenders to God dropping to his knees asking God to strip him of his powers, and then suddenly a bright light appears before him. Bruce is with God who tells him, "You can't kneel down in the middle of a freeway and live to tell about is son." He then advises Bruce to say a real prayer so Bruce prays for world peace and good health unto others. God replies that was great if you were running for a miss America pageant asking him to trying again. This time Bruce prays, "I pray for Grace. That one day she can find a man who makes her happy. I also pray that she can one day see me the way you see me: through your eyes." As he regains consciousness Bruce awakes in the hospital with Grace at his bedside. The final scene shows the two rekindling their relationship as well as become engaged and he returns to being a field reporter, which he describes as taking more pleasure in due to the simpler stories. The film is directed by Tom Shadyc grossing $484,592,874 in box office making it one of the Top 10 film in box office of the year 2003 ranking #5 generating mixed reviews from film critic's scoring a 48% liking from audiences. A general film critics consensus states: "Carrey is hilarious in the slapstick scenes, but 'Bruce Almighty' gets bogged down in treacle." Film critic Simon Braund of Empire magazine says, "With Carrey on top form and some highly inventive sight gags, it's the proverbial laugh riot." Film critic Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle says, "It's Carrey who must carry this film, and he lifts 'Bruce Almighty' to the heavens." In efforts of her performance Jennifer was nominated for an MTV Movie & TV award for Best Kiss shared with her co-star Jim Carrey, and a Teen Choice award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy.

PEOPLE magazine: Courtney & Jennifer: Best Friends!
[June 9, 2003] - Jennifer and her 'Friends' co-star actress Courteney Cox appear on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Best Friends! In this exclusive interview the women talk about their mutual support, and undying trust for each other with Aniston exclaiming, "That's what friends are for!".

article by: Jill Smolowe

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 59 - No. 22
"Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox seem like best friends...that's because they are! Since meeting at an audition for Friends in '94, Aniston and Cox have developed a bond that far exceeds the famously friendly rapport of the cast. "Jennifer appreciates the best of me and I of her," said Courteney. "You don't see that in show business - this mutual friendship and respect, especially on the same show," said an insider. As for what will happen to that amity after the show wraps it's tenth season, Cox's then husband actor/film producer David Arquette predicts: "There will plenty of dinner parties, lunch dates, and girls night's out," he said. "They became real friends while playing them on television. That won't end because the show is going off of the air. They can't just turn that off." It began virtually the moment the two actresses met nine years ago. "We clicked immediately," said Aniston. "Since then our lives have taken many similar turns. As our prime-time careers have elevated us from pavement-pounders to paparazzi fodders, we've both have set about building big-screen careers, married actors (Courteney and David celebrate their fourth anniversary June 12; and Brad and I reach the three year mark July 29). We've also wrestled with thorny, but as yet unresolved questions of when to start a family. Through it all, I marvel at how we've never competed. There's no jealousy, no fits of pique over some imagined slight," said Jennifer. It helps, no doubt, that the perennial one-for-all ethos of Friends has ensued that both enjoy roughly equal screen time and earn precisely equal paychecks of $1 million per episode. In their off months, both Aniston and Cox have also benefited from a steady diet of projects. Aniston is currently co-starring with actor/comedian Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty, which took over $85 million in box office its opening weekend, placing it firmly at the top of the box office heap over the four-day Memorial weekend. Later this year she will share the screen with actor/comedian Ben Stiller in romantic comedy Along Came Polly. Meanwhile, Cox is producing a television series for the fall lineup of the Women's Entertainment network called Mix It Up, which draws on her passion for interior designing. Still, none of that quite explains why Aniston and Cox seek each other out during five-minute breaks on the set. While fellow Friends co-star actress Lisa Kudrow often joins the two for lunch a source says, "It appears as Jennifer an Courteney have more in common. Unlike them, Lisa seems more mature and more matronly whereas Aniston and Cox are like girls post-college who act like former roommates that still live together."

Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston are Soul Sisters.
The telltale signs? "Their constant giggling, whispering, and eagerness to share stories," said another on set source, "they get up close together and hold each others forearms while they're whispering," says the source. At some level their friendship may be a case of opposites attracting. "Courteney is so hyper, jumping around, snapping her fingers," said Jennifer. "Jennifer just stands there calmly. Our interpersonal styles are so different, " said Courteney. Kudrow recently spoke with Hollywood Life magazine during an earlier interview about her female Friends co-stars saying, "Courteney is not afraid of conflict, and she's not combative. You talk it out with her." And Jennifer? "She's very emotional, spiritual, loving and supportive. Whatever you say, she's going to find a way to support you with it," said Lisa. In an earlier interview with PEOPLE Courteney spoke of her bond with Aniston, "We kind of have a pact. If anything ever bothers either of us, we don't hold it in for one second. I never have to say, 'Are you mad at me?' and she never has to ask, 'Are you upset with me?' bottom line - we trust each other implicitly." These days both women are busy on the home front, Aniston and Brad Pitt, are close to moving into their oceanfront estate; meanwhile Cox and David Arquette can expect their Hollywood Hills home to be completed in a few weeks. Both continue to want to have children as well: Cox, who has suffered two miscarriages, can sound almost mystical on the subject of babies. Last winter the actress told Instyle magazine during an earlier interview, "I know I can get pregnant. I'm not panicked about it at all. I feel like whatever is going to happen will happen." Aniston is more evasive, routinely issuing public statements like, "That will happen, but not for a while - but I can't wait." As they unwind prior to beginning the final - and what is certain to be emotional - Friends season, the souls sisters have spoken of a happiness only recently attained. Cox said in a earlier interview with Glamour magazine, "I have attributed to my new inner calm of realizing it's okay for people not to like me." Aniston has conquered an enemy a little closer to home, "If there's one thing I'm proud of," she told W magazine in an earlier interview, "it's that I've finally gotten over not liking myself." As for their feelings about each other, the final word goes to Aniston, who shares a sentiment that will resonate with close female friends anywhere: "I guess the reason why I love Courteney so much is that I feel very safe with her - always."

(2003-2004) Friends Season 10 DVD Cover
[September 25, 2003 - May 6, 2004] -  Jennifer along with the rest of her cast mate's is informed that this is the tenth and final season of the show. Season ten revolves around Ross and Charlie being a couple, and Rachel and Joey being a couple attempting to work through the awkwardness it creates for one of them. After several obstacles prevent Joey and Rachel from consummating a relationship, they decide it's best if they just remain friends. Ross eventually breaks things off with Charlie who ends up with her ex-boyfriend, whom Ross despises. Upon learning that they are infertile Monica and Chandler resort to adoption. After they apply through the adoption agency they encounter a young woman, Erica, who agrees to their arrangements. However, Monica and Chandler falsely allow her to think they are a different couple, ending with the Erica changing her mind causing her to think that they are unfit to raise her unborn baby. Later, Chandler persuades Erica who allows them to go through with the adoption process. Following this, the Bing's begin house hunting in Westchester, to Joey's dismay, who doesn't want to lose his friends. As they tour each house Joey complains about different things with hopes it will prevent Chandler and Monica from wanting to move. Later Joey comes across a little girl in one of the houses, so to get back at him, Chandler says she's a ghost and that no one has lived in the house for years. To her dismay Rachel is fired from Ralph Lauren, and isn't hired for the job with Gucci like she so desperately wanted. Sometime later she runs into her old colleague from Bloomingdale's, Mark Robinson, who offers her a job with Louis Vuitton in Paris. Opportunity presents itself for Rachel who must make a big decision: stay in New York to be near her friends or take the job offer and fly out to Paris. Amongst this mid season Phoebe and Mike wed with her finally getting a happy ending of her own.

Friends season 10 episode "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss"
These events are set in motion, which serves as an outline for the season finale. The season premiere episode "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss" airs to 24.5 million viewers tuning in to see the aftermath of Joey and Rachel kissing. Upon Ross entering their apartment Rachel attempts to dismiss what he just witnessed her and Joey doing. As Joey tries to explain their way out of it Rachel can't keep her cool. Ross is overall in shock, but lies regarding being okay with the fact that one of his best friends wants to date the woman he's in love with. One night Ross decides in order to prove he's "fine" with Joey and Rachel being a couple he invites them over to his apartment for dinner. After drinking one too many margaritas in order to relax, Ross makes everyone, including Charlie, uncomfortable resulting in her breaking up with him. Rachel and Joey can't bare to witness Ross in his drunken state and mutually confess to Ross that neither want to jeopardize their friendship with him causing Joey and Rachel to just be friends. To Chandler's dismay, Monica has her hair styled in cornrows, which he absolutely hates, however the problem solves itself after she gets her hair stuck in a shower curtain. Chandler agrees to help Monica free herself from the shower curtain on the condition that she take out the cornrows. Phoebe learns that Mike has been seeing someone else for the past few months. This causes him to want to break-up with Phoebe, but the tables turn with Phoebe breaking up with Mike instead after she catches him with the other woman at his apartment.

Friends season 10 episode "The Last One (Part 1)"
However, later the two reconcile and mid season the two marry. After Phoebe convinces Mike's girlfriend Precious, that she doesn't want to be with him, Precious tells Mike off informing him that he's a lying-cheating-bastard whom she never wants to see again. The season finale episode is broken into two parts "The Last One (Part 1)" airs to a total of 52.4 million viewers tuning in to see the gang throw Rachel a going away party before she departs for Paris. During the party she takes each of her friends individually to a separate room so she can tell them all a personal "goodbye". Once Rachel says her "goodbyes" to Monica, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler, Ross is upset thinking she's forgotten about him. He expresses his anger by telling her off, but this doesn't resonate well with Rachel so she who explains, "If you think that I didn't say goodbye to you it isn't because you don't matter to me Ross. It's because you mean more to. Just the thought of not seeing you makes me not want to go. So there, there's you're goodbye!" Later the two have sex with Rachel exclaiming, "that was the perfect way to say goodbye". However, after doing so Ross realizes he is still in love with her. Meanwhile, Joey and Phoebe help Monica and Chandler pack up their belongings preparing to move into their new home. During this Erica goes into labor so the couple accompany her to the hospital. With Phoebe's help Ross tracks down which airport Rachel is at with hopes of confessing his love for her might change her mind about getting on the plane. Once they arrive Ross realizes that they are at the wrong airport. As he and Phoebe race to the proper airport the plane begins boarding passengers and as Rachel exits the gate Ross calls out to her. She doesn't hear him so Phoebe yells for her, which Rachel hears. As her friends try to persuade her not the leave Rachel exclaims that she has to go, she has to board the plane; they're waiting for her.

Friends season 10 episode "The Last One (Part 2)"
"The Last One (Part 2)" airs to 52.4 million viewers tuning in to see a disappointed Ross heading home from the airport. Meanwhile, at the hospital Erica gives birth to twins, which Chandler and Monica name Jack and Erica - Jack after Monica's dad, and Erica in honor of the surrogate mother. While still on the plane, Rachel contemplates Ross's plea and she has a change of heart about going to Paris. While checking his voice messages on his answering machine Ross hears Rachel who left him a message. As it plays he hears Rachel telling the flight stewardess she needs to get off of the plane, but the stewardess denies her request. In a struggle Ross accidentally breaks his answering machine yelling at it out of frustration wanting to know if Rachel made it off of the plane. Just then there is a knock at his door, it's Rachel exclaiming, "I got off the plane." The two embrace in a hug and share a passionate kiss while she tells him that they're really going to do it this time - be a couple. Ross jokes saying, "Unless we're on a break." Later, back at Monica's apartment, she walks in holding a baby announcing to the others that she has a surprise for them. Shortly afterwards Chandler walks in holding the second baby with Joey exclaiming, "what's the surprise?". Joey catches on that Monica and Chandler have twins. As the friends exchange their last goodbye's they each turn in their keys and go out for their last cup of coffee together with Chandler saying the last sarcastic line of the show, 'Where?". Season ten celebrity guest stars include actor/comedian Paul Rudd as Mike Hannigan; Phoebe's husband episode "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss", episode "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits", episode "The One with the Home Study", episode "The One with Phoebe's Wedding", episode "The One with Princess Consuela", and episodes "The Last One (Part 1 & 2)".

Cast of Friends taking their final bow from their last performance
Actress Aisha Tyler guest stars as Charlie Wheeler; Ross's love interest episodes "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss", episode "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits", and episode "The One with Ross's Grant". Actress Anna Faris guest stars as Erica; Monica and Chandler's birth mother episode "The One with the Birth Mother", episode "The One Where Joey Speaks French", episode "The One with Rachel's Going Away Party", and episode's "The Last One (Part 1 & 2)". Actor Danny DeVito guest stars as Joe; a male stripper episodes "The One Where the Stripper Cries". Actress Ellen Pompeo guest stars as Missy Goldberg; Ross's love interest episode "The One Where the Stripper Cries". Actress Christina Applegate guest stars as Amy Green; Rachel's older sister episode "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits". Actor Ron Leibman guest stars as Leonard Green; Rachel's father episode "The One Where Joey Speaks French". Actor/comedian Giovanni Ribisi guest stars as Frank Buffay, Jr.; Phoebe's half-brother episode "The One Where Ross Is Fine". Actor Elliot Gould guest stars as Jack Geller; Monica and Ross's father episode "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits". Actress Christina Pickles guest stars as Judy Geller; Monica and Ross's mother episode "The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits". Actress Maggie Wheeler guest stars as Janice Gorainik; Chandler's ex-girlfriend episode "The One Where Estelle Dies". In efforts of the show the cast of 'Friends' attends several awards shows including the 20th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards, the 2nd Annual Gold Derby awards, the 61st Annual Golden Globe awards, the 45th Annual Logie awards, the 10th Annual National Television awards, the 27th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards, the 30th Annual People's Choice awards, the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy awards, the 9th Annual Satellite awards, the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards, and the 6th Annual Teen Choice awards.

Brad & Jennifer at the 56th Primetime Emmy awards
At the 20th Annual Aftonbladet TV Prize awards their series won for Best Foreign Television Program, and Best Female Foreign Television Personality awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 2nd Annual Gold Derby awards their series was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Lisa Kudrow for her performance as Phoebe Buffay, Best Lead Actor Matthew Perry for his performance as Chandler Bing, Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Danny DeVito for his performance as Joe, and Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Anna Faris for her performance as Erica. At the 61st Annual Golden Globe awards their series was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Television Series Comedy or Musical nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. At the 45th Annual Logie awards their series won for Most Popular Overseas star awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 10th Annual National Television awards their series was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Program of the Year. At the 27th Annual Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards their series was nominated for Favorite Television Show of the Year, and Favorite Television Actress nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 30th Annual People's Choice awards their series won for Favorite Television Comedy Series of the Year, and Favorite Female Television Performer awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy awards their series was nomianteed for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominee Danny DeVito for his performance as Joe, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Christina Applegate for her performance as Amy Green. At the 9th Annual Satellite awards their series was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Series Comedy or Musical nominee Matt LeBlanc for his performance as Joey Tribianni. At the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards their series was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series nominees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer for their performances as Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribianni, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller, and Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series nominee Lisa Kudrow for her performance as Phoebe Buffay. At the 6th Annual Teen Choice awards their series was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series nominees Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry for their performance as Joey Tribianni and Chandler Bing. They won the Teen Choice award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series awarded to Jennifer for her performance as Rachel Green. At the 20th Annual Television Critics Association awards their series was nomianted for the Heritage award. At the 8th Annual TV Quick awards their series won for Best Comedy Show of the Year.

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2004: From Television Star to Film Actress
(2004) Along Came Polly
[January 16, 2004] - Jennifer lands the supporting role of Polly Prince in the romantic/comedy film 'Along Came Polly'. An insurance risk assessment expert, Reuben Feffer; actor/comedian Ben Stiller's character, is getting married to real estate agent Lisa Kramer; actress Debra Messing's character. During their reception Reuben's boss Stan Indursky; actor Alec Baldwin's character, toasts a life of happiness to the couple. Later, the newlywed couple fly out to island of St. Bart's to celebrate their honeymoon. While on the beach Lisa is reading a book while Reuben flips through classified ads in the newspaper. He tells Lisa he's bought a house for them to live in and they can move in together once they fly back to the states. A man approaches them introducing himself as Claude; actor Hank Azaria's character, a French scuba instructor offering them a scuba lesson. Lisa takes Claude up on the offer, but Reuben passes with plans of a romantic evening for he and his wife. Reuben heads back to their suite where he covers the room along with the bed in rose petals, lights candles, and plays music prepared to stay in the room for the rest of the evening. He heads back to the beach to see if Lisa is done with her lessons, but to his horror he catches her having sex with Claude on his boat. Lisa attempts to explain herself pleading that she is confused, needs time to think, and wants to stay on the island with Claude. Reuben is furious unleashing his anger at Claude by attacking him exclaiming, "I'm gonna kill you!". Of course being a 'not too risky' kind of guy, Reuben doesn't, and he leaves the island of St. Bart's alone and heartbroken. Meanwhile, back home in New York he attempts to piece his life together with the help of his friend Sandy Lyle; actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, a former child star actor. The next day at work Reuben receives glances of sympathy from his co-workers and in his office discovers multiple sympathy cards and a book of Dating for Dummies. He asks how the news traveled so fast and one of his co-workers appear behind him in the doorway exclaiming that his mother called. Later that evening Sandy takes Reuben out to an art gallery, where they run into their former classmate Polly Prince; Aniston's character, who is a cocktail waitress for the event. Reuben is taken by her immediately, but is interrupted by Sandy who tells him they have to leave because he messed in his pants.

Ben Stiller and Jennifer on set of 'Along Came Polly'
Sometime later Reuben and Polly begin dating, with her introducing him to activities he once wrote off as "too risky" on his risk assessment program on his computer such as eating Moroccan food; which he later explains as not liking because he suffers from irritable bowel syndrome, salsa dancing; which he accuses of being similar to the form of dance in the film 'Dirty Dancing', along with being excessively cautious; he won't allow Polly to step on a street grate, and he's germaphobic; which he explains that only one of every three people who go to the restroom washes their hands. Along the way Sandy gives Reuben some so-called "helpful hints" regarding his relationship with Lisa compared to Polly. They two analyze Reuben's wedding video and Sandy pauses it pointing out that Lisa has the face of a liar not a happy bride. All of these actions somehow culminate to Reuben and Polly enthusiastically sleeping together at Polly's place with Reuben shouting "50" as he orgasms. After sex he has to use the restroom, but there is no toilet paper so he uses Polly's grandmother's hand embroidered towel instead, which clogs the toilet. To make-up for it he buys Polly a new bath loofah because he used her other one to plunge the toilet with. Unsure of his relationship with Polly he enters both her name and Lisa's into his computer insurance risk assessment program to determine which woman is the least risky. In comparison, despite his numerous blunders with her, the computer tells him Polly is the best choice for him. Polly joins Reuben on a sailing trip he takes in order to inspect one of his high-risk clients Leland Van Lew; actor Bryan Brown's character. While below deck Polly comes across Reuben's laptop that pops up the risk program results with her name and Lisa's name. Offended by the results she rejects his proposal to move into together, telling him that he'd be better off going back to Lisa as well as telling him off: "You know what? I've moved a lot, I've been in relationships, crappy ones and good ones, and I've been living my life, which is a lot more than I can say about you!".

Jennifer & Brad at the Along Came Polly premiere
Eventually he gets back together with Lisa whom he takes along with his parents, to see Sandy's amateur public theater production of Jesus Christ Superstar, where Sandy plays the role of Judas. During a quarrel with the lead actor Sandy objects to not playing Jesus because he feels he should have the lead in the play. This disrupts the plays production and Sandy is escorted out of the theater. He owns up to his actions telling Reuben that MTV isn't really making a documentary about him, he just hired some of his buddies to following him around and act like a camera crew where Sandy would later attempt to sell the footage himself to the network. Sandy encourages Reuben to go after Polly, but Lisa tells him that they have lunch plans. Reuben tells Lisa off saying, "No! I don't want to be with you. What kind of cold callous b*tch would screw the scuba instructor on their honeymoon?" Polly has left her apartment so she can move on to her next life adventure, but she left Rudolfo the ferret behind by accident. The key finder that Reuben got her is attached to Rudolfo's neck and it goes off. As Polly gets closer to it the device makes a beeping noise and she discovers Reuben with the ferret. Reuben tries to convince Polly that he has changed and he even takes the drastic measure of eating peanuts off of the ground as a gesture to prove he's capable of taking risks. Sometime later, Reuben and Polly are shown taking a holiday vacation on the island of St. Bart's where he and Lisa had their honeymoon. Claude approaches them asking if they'd like to scuba, but Reuben politely declines later thanking Claude. The finale scene shows Reuben and Polly heading out to ocean where they go for a swim appearing happily content with life. The film is directed by John Hamburg grossing $171,963,386 in box office generating negative reviews from film critics scoring a 26% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states: "Though the supporting actors are funny, Stiller and Aniston dosn't make a believeable couple, and the gross-out humor is gratuitous." Film critic Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle says, "Within the context of what is essentially a formula picture, Hamburg comes up with lively and anarchic comic situations, and he comes up with them consistently." Film critic Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle says, "Thought 'Along Came Polly' packs ample comic punch, it also demonstrates that life isn't about safe past or the uncertain future, but the journey we make each day." In efforts of her performance Jennifer was nominated for an MTV Movie & TV award for Best Dance Sequence shared with her co-star Ben Stiller.

Matt LeBlanc & Jennifer at the 61st Annual Golden Globes
[January 25, 2004] - The 'Friends' star attends the 61st Annual Golden Globe awards as a presenter accompanied by her cast mate actor Matt LeBlanc on the red carpet. The award ceremony took place in Beverly Hills, California at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. Aniston presented the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Comedy Series awarded to actor/comedian Ricky Gervais for his performance as David Brent on 'The Office'. Aniston also went to supporting LeBlanc who was nominated for Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Comedy Series for his performance as Joey Tribianni. Other Golden Globe award winning films include action/adventure-fantasy film 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King', comedy/drama film 'Lost in Translation', and drama film 'Mystic River'. 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' received all of its four Golden Globe nominations including Best Drama Film of the Year awarded to producers Barrie M. Osborne and Fran Walsh, Best Director of the Year awarded to director Peter Jackson, Best Original Song of the Year "Into the West" awarded to singer/songwriter Annie Lennox, Fran Walsh, and composer Howard Shore, and Best Original Score of the Year awarded to composer Howard Shore. 'Lost in Translation' received three of its five Golden Globe nominations including Best Comedy Film of the Year awarded to producer Ross Katz, Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Comedy film awarded to actor/comedian Bill Murray for his performance as Bob Harris, and Best Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Sofia Coppola. 'Mystic River' received two of its five Golden Globe award nominations including Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Drama film awarded to actor Sean Penn for his performance as Jimmy Markum, and Best Supporting Actor of the Year awarded to actor Tim Robbins for his performance as Dave Boyle. Drama film 'Monsters' received the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Drama film awarded to actress Charlize Theron for her performance as Aileen Wuornos. Romance/comedy film 'Something's Gotta Give' received one of its two Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Comedy film awarded to actress Diane Keaton for her performance as Erica Barry.

Jennifer presenting Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Drama/epic war film 'Cold Mountain' received one of its eight Golden Globe nominations including Best Supporting Actress of the Year awarded to actress Renee Zellweger for her performance Ruby Thewes. Foreign film 'Osama' received the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film of the Year awarded to director Siddiq Barmak. Other Golden Globe award winning television series include HBO's made-for-television drama film 'Angels in America', BBC America's comedy series 'The Office', CBS's drama series 'Without a Trace', FOX's drama series '24', HBO's drama series 'Six Feet Under', and HBO's comedy series 'Sex and the City'. 'Angels in America' received five of its seven Golden Globe nominations including Best Lead Actor of the Year in a television film awarded to actor Al Pacino for his performance as Roy Cohn, Best Lead Actress of the Year in a television film awarded to actress Meryl Streep for her performance as Hannah Pitt, Best television film of the Year awarded to producer Celia D. Costas, Best Supporting Actress of the Year in a television film awarded to actress Mary-Louise Parker for her performance as Harper Pitt, Best Supporting Actor of the Year in a television film awarded to actor Jeffrey Wright or his performance as Mr. Lies. 'The Office' received both of its Golden Globe award nominations including Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Comedy Series; previously mentioned, and Best Comedy Series of the Year awarded to creator Stephen Merchant. 'Without a Trace' received the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Drama Series awarded to actor Anthony LaPaglia for his performance as John Michael "Jack" Malone. '24' received the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series of the Year awarded to creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran. 'Six Feet Under' received the Golden Globe award for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Drama Series awarded to actress Frances Conroy for her performance as Ruth Fisher. 'Sex and the City' received the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Comedy Series awarded to actress Sarah Jessica Parker for her performance as Carrie Bradshaw.

VOGUE magazine: Everybody Loves Jennifer
[January 28, 2004] - The actress appears on the cover of VOGUE magazine headlining Everybody Loves Jennifer. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about what her life is like after starring on a decade of NBC's hit sitcom 'Friends'; which earned the actress a Primetime Emmy award and Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Comedy Series, her dream house, and babies with her husband film actor Brad Pitt.

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VOGUE magainze
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Jennifer at the 19th Annual Independent Spirit awards
[February 28, 2004] - Jennifer attends the 19th Annual Independent Spirit awards as a presenter. The ceremony takes place in Los Aneles, California and is hosted by film director John Waters. She co-presentered the award for Best Director of the Year with screenwriter/actor Mike White awarded to director Sofia Coppola for the film 'Lost in Translation'. Independent Spirit award winning films include romantic-comedy/drama film 'Lost in Translation', drama film 'The Station Agent', biographical/crime-drama film 'Monster', drama film 'In America', and drama film 'House of Sand and Fog'. 'Lost In Translation' received all four of its Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Feature of the Year awarded to producer Sofia Coppola, Best Director of the Year awarded to director Sofia Coppola, Best Male Lead of the Year award to actor/comedian Bill Murray for his performance as Bob Harris, and Best Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Sofia Coppola. 'The Station Agent' received three of its four Independent Spirit award nominations including Best First Screenplay awarded to screenwriter Tom McCarthy, the John Cassavetes award, and Best Producer of the Year awarded to producer Mary Jane Skalski. 'Monster' received two of its three Independent Spirit awards including Best First Feauture of the Year awarded to producers Charlize Theron, Mark Damon, Clark Peterson, Donald Kushner and Brad Wyman, and Best Female Lead of the Year awarded to actress Charlize Theron for her performance as Aileen Wuornos. 'In America' received two of its five Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Supporting Male of the Year awarded to actor Dijimon Houson for his performance as Mateo Kuamey, and Best Cinematography of the Year awarded to cinematographer Declan Quinn.

Mike White & Jennifer presening Best Director
'House of Sand and Fog' received one of its four Independent Spirit awards including Best Supporting Female of the Year awarded to actress Shohre Aghdashloo for her performance as Nadereh "Nadi" Behrani. Other Independent Spirit award winning films include family drama film 'Whale Rider',  documentary film 'The Fog of War', semi-autobiographical teen drama film 'Thirteen', documentary film 'Lost Boys in Sudan', drama film 'The Jimmy Show', comedy film 'Funny Ha Ha', and drama '21 Grams'. 'Whale Rider' received the Independent Spiit award for Best Foreign Languag Film of the Year (New Zealand) in German awarded to director Niki Caro. 'The Fog of War' received the Independent Spirit award for Best Documentary Feaure of the Year awarded to director Errol Morris. 'Thirteen' received one of its three Independent Spirit award nominations including Best Debut Performance of the Year awarded to actress Nikki Red for her performance as Evie Zamora. 'Lost Boys in the Sudan' received the Independent Spirit award for Truer Than Fiction award presented to director/producers Migan Mylan and  Jon Shank. 'The Jimmy Show' received the Independent Spirit award for Best Producer of the Year awarded to producer Mary Jane Skalskl. 'Funny Ha Ha' received the Independent Spirit award for Some One to Watch award presented to director Andrew Bujakskli. '21 Grams' received the Independent Spirit award for Special Distinction award.

PEOPLE magazine: Friends Till The End
[April 19, 2004] - The cast of 'Friends' appear on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining The Friends Talk!. In this exclusive interview the six actors Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer all talk about what the show meant to each of them as their hit sitcom airs the last few episodes of its final season.

article by: Michelle Tauber

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 61 - No. 15
"As dinner parties go, the one held at a Beverly Hills mansion had a lot going for it: a warm host, great company and fine wine. Of course, it didn't hurt that the host was Jennifer Aniston, the setting was her Malibu home she shares with husband Brad Pitt, the guests were the cast as well as the executive producers of Friends, and the wine - vintage bottles, bought around the time of the shows first season back in '94-'95. The intimate gathering, held just four days before the taping of the Friends series finale, "It was a great evening," said Aniston, "it served as a sort of closure for all of us." With that, Friend's tight-knit friends - Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer - headed into their last week on the job, capped of with the final taping on Stage 24 at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California. There, after a ten season run, dozens of hairstyles, gallons of latte's, and a decades worth of emotional ups and downs, the cast bid a teary farewell with their beloved sitcom. "It's going to be extremely hard not to be a part of this show that I've grown up doing," said Cox. "I don't know what it'll be like not doing it," she added. So reluctant was the cast to say goodbye that one form of closure would hardly do. Instead they settled for three: dinner at the Pitts; dinner at II Sole, a favorite cast hangout in West Hollywood, three days later; and a pull-out-the-stops wrap party. "The party was beautiful as well as sweet," said Aniston, "and sad," she added. That was nothing compared to shooting the season finale episode, which airs May 6 on NBC. 

As the audience of 250 family and friends applauded during the opening theme song, "The tears that are flowing and the entire cast had to go back and have their make-up redone before starting," said Kudrow, "the energy in the place was just incredible." In fact, the entire day had been pulsing, beginning with a message to series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, courtesy of five sky-writing jets: "Thank you Marta and David - Love, the writers." A few hours after the writing had faded, the six cast members huddled backstage before the taping commenced just as they have for the past decade. "That's one thing that has stayed consistent for ten years, is that nobody knows what goes on in that huddle," says LeBlanc. "What goes on in our huddle is between us," he added. Emotions continued to run high throughout the taping, which invoked a sort of high school graduation vibe to it: The cast and crew took turns signing specially created Friends yearbooks, and Cox's then husband actor/film producer David Arquette, filmed the special moment with a video camera. When his wife repeatedly flubbed a line at one point, "I said, 'somebody is gonna get fired,' " said Perry, "The whole place cracked up," he said. Yet by the time director Kevin Bright, who directed to last episode, yelled, "That's our show!" the tears were flowing as freely as the coffee at Central Perk. Although Aniston had been tagged as the Friend Mostly to Need a Hanky, the tears were widespread: "There were no rocks," she said, "we were all pretty porous." The weepiness is understandable. Once strangers when they were thrown together for the Friends pilots, the cast soon formed an exceptionally close bond that has seen them through major real-life changes as well as their collective rise to megastar status. As the show's wrap party, which drew one thousand guests to Los Angeles's Park Pizza Hotel, the sextet honored their roots by reenacting the original pilot's inaugural scene. "Nobody knew we were going to do it," said Schwimmer, "and it blew everyone away." 

The bash, which featured cocktails with names like Smelly Cat, and Ugly Naked Guy, also boasted music by Sheryl Crow and the Rembrandts, who performed - what else? - the Friends theme song. The revealers included Pitt, who had skipped the final taping the day before in hopes of keeping the ending a surprise until May. "I arrived, and told them, 'Don't tell me anything!' ". Sorry, Brad, but let's face it: You don't have to read the espresso ground to know how it's going to end. Yet beyond the suspense of whether Ross will finally wind up with Rachel, whether Monica and Chandler will finally become parents? - what do you think? - the bigger questions loom: What will happen to Central Perk's couch, Joey's recliner, and Monica's peephole frame? Although the cast grabbed a few mementos from the set, "From what I was told everything's going to be preserved for posterity," said Schwimmer, "and most of the props destined for a probable Warner Bros. museum," he added. Unity endured, guiding the cast through the much-publicized salary negotiations that led to their individual paydays of $1 million per episode. "On the set you saw genuine affection," says Perry, "it wasn't cliquish. It wasn't anything but a genuine union." It's one that the cast plans to maintain after the shows demise. "We'll keep seeing each other," says Perry, "we love each other. We're like family." Still, a certain distancing is inevitable as they pursue separate paths. "Our group is so close - I really think it'll knock the wind out of our sails," says Kudrow, "it's going to be more of an adjustment than we realize." Especially given the looming life changes on the horizon: Aniston has made no secret of the fact that she and Pitt are ready to start a family. "I'm looking forward to meeting my future grandson or granddaughter," said her father soap opera actor John Aniston of Days of Our Lives. As each of the six cast members embark on their Friends after life, saying goodbye to Stage 24 - now officially renamed the Friends Stage - remains difficult. How would they like the show to be remembered? "As being funny," says Perry, "as being just the nicest place to be," he added. Spoken like a true friend."

PEOPLE magazine: 50 Most Beautiful People
[May 10, 2004] - The 35-year old actress appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People of 2004. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about being everyone's favorite Friend and having the honor of leading the pack of 2004's most beautiful people.

article by: Alex Tresnlowski

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 61- No. 16
"You just wrapped up ten years of Friends, and your husband Brad is busy shooting a film - so what do you do now, Jennifer? "Step 1: Stay in bed. Step 2: Pull up the covers. Step 3: Repeat as necessary. I felt on the verge of something new and exciting, but I was also experiencing a huge void and deep pain," said the actress of her emotional day after filming the 236th episode of Friends, which airs May 6. "I was like Bambi, not knowing how to stand up. Once I finally managed to get out of bed, I threw myself a wrap party  - the seaweed kind - at a spa a few hours from my Los Angeles home. I totally needed it," she says of her week long, one-woman retreat. Although her co-stars dove into other projects, Aniston made a conscious decision not to do anything. "I didn't want to be in denial, and have it bite me in the butt four months later. I didn't want to go, 'Where am I? Who am I?' ". Call it Jennifer Aniston: The limbo months. Happily so, chatting about life after Friends, she touches on everything from her fear of flying; which she explained as "I know there's a whole theory behind it, and aerodynamics - still, it's a big, heavy plane", her lack of a sweet tooth: which she explained as, "driving Matthew Perry crazy - I could have one M&M", the perils of life with my husband under the tabloid laser which she explained as, "He's the one to tell me, 'Don't read that crap! Stop it' ", and now how their marriage survived the grizzle Adams beard Pitt grew in 2002 for a movie which she explained as, "You marry someone for better or worse, but I helped him shave it. We did all sorts of facial designs as it got less and less. There was the Amish look, the bounty hunter thing, and a French guy look...". 

In short Aniston sounds relaxed and happy, during the course of an interview she is by turns funny, thoughtful, vulnerable, and self-protective. Clearly she relishes the opportunity, after a decade on Friends, to take a breath and absorb all that has happened. "To be a public person is to have a lot of energy thrown at you," she explained, "people put out so much of who they think you are, and then you can kind of get lost as to what's real, what's fantasy, what's the priority here? For ten years I haven't had time to deal with that," said Aniston. So now she focuses on trying to figure that out, day by day. "I'm looking forward to going to Italy with Brad when he shoots Ocean's Twelve; during my last trip there, to promote Along Came Polly, I had just one free evening in Rome. It was like, 'That's a tease, c'mon!', but I and Brad did get to take a walk at night. This time I'm going to go back and really see it." Of course this wouldn't be a Jennifer Aniston story if we didn't address The Big Question: Are you trying to start a family? "We're absolutely in the process," she says of having a baby. "It's where we're headed. I'm taking folic acid - a prenatal must have - and I and Brad have designed one room of our house as a possible nursery," she added. Matthew Perry, ever the friend, is standing by. Aniston has spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a good mother. "I've spent a good part of my life being estranged from my mother Nancy Dow, but since '96 we've figured things out," is all Jennifer would say of her feud with her mom. "Part of the reason," says the actress, "was my mother's frequent tip about how she might enhance her eyes, minimize my nose, or whatever else I quickly learned to feel self-conscious about. My self-esteem took a hit. I didn't even realize it until I got to a good therapist who figured all that stuff out." 

Jennifer Aniston is The Girl Next Door...
Aniston recalled a comment one of her earlier boyfriends told her in regards to not needing to wear so much make-up, but Aniston insisted, "I do." After Aniston finally stopped hiding behind layers of lipstick and mascara it helped her understand what was behind her mother's suggestions. "It was my mother's own lack of self-esteem," explained Jennifer, "we pass on this sort of stuff that we don't necessarily mean to." Today Aniston says, "I try not to stress out when it comes to my appearance. The idea a plastic surgery, for instance, doesn't appeal to me - at least not yet. I don't know if I'm a Botox girl. Shooting botulism into your brain cavity seems frightening, but hey, anything is possible." While she can go glam with the best of them, the actress says she doesn't much enjoy walking down the red carpet in designer gowns. "Oh, no, no," she says, "I'd love for you to put on a dress, shoes, and have a hundred people scream at you, and then walk down a red carpet. There are dresses that are exquisite, but you have to hold your breath to sit down or walk up stairs. I'm more comfortable in a simple dress I can just wear and kick off my shoes as I sit cross-legged on the couch." Nowadays Aniston's secure enough in her own skin that she can handle the many rigors of celebrity. It's not always easy. Recently tabloids speculate that Pitt has been getting way too close to his Mr. and Mrs. Smith co-star actress Angelina Jolie. "We try to laugh about it, of course," Aniston says. "You protect each other, but it's Hollywood, baby. It's like every day, every week, and something new. It's a good life," she readily admits, "but much of it's as real as anyone else's. We're human, and like all other couples we go through good times and challenging times," said the actress, "and there's always going to be that." At the base of it all is a genuine caring towards each. Jennifer and Brad show up on each other's sets all of the time and don't fret about love scenes. "We watch, we don't care. It's our job," says Aniston."

(2004) Troy
[May 14, 2004] - Jennifer's husband lands the lead role of Achilles in the ensemble cast epic war film 'Troy'. Prince Hector; actor Eric Bana's character, the best warrior amongst the Trojan's and his younger brother Paris; actor Orlando Bloom's character, negotiate a peace treaty with Menelaus; actor Brendon Gleeson's character, king of Sparta, while celebrating the end of a long as well as bloody war. On that same evening Paris sleeps with Menelaus's wife Helen; actress Diane Krueger's character, the queen of Sparta, then smuggles her onto their homebound vessel. To Hectors shock and fury Paris reveals Helen, and later Hector warns him that their peace treaty with Sparta is void as well as chastises Paris for risking a Greek invasion of Troy. Infuriated, Menelaus travels to Mycenae wherein his elder brother Agamemnon; actor Brian Cox's character, king of Mycenae as well as supreme commander of all of the Greek forces. Menelaus asks Agamemnon to go to war with him against Troy agreeing on the pretense of reclaiming Helen, but actually only wishes to conquer Troy for prestige of the cities immense wealth. As the Greek armies are mobilized, king Nestor of Pylos and Agamemnon's adviser; actor John Shrapnel's character, convinces him to recruit Achilles; Pitt's character, as well. Odysseus king of Ithaca; actor Sean Bean's character, visits Phtia with hopes of persuading Achilles to fight with them. Achilles refuses seeking counsel from his mother Thetis; actress Julie Christie's character, who tells him should he remain he will live a long happy life, but he'll not be remembered. However, should he go to Troy, he will indeed find everlasting glory, renown, but will die. Wanting to be remembered he ultimately decides to go taking his cousin Patroclus; actor Garrett Hedlund's character, with him. Meanwhile in Troy, King Priam; actor Peter O'Toole's character, is in dismay once Paris brings Helen home, but is welcoming of her as a guest. Hector pleas with his father to send her home in order to avert war with the Greeks, but Priam is in love with Helen resulting in him following her. She warns Paris that Menelaus along with Agamemnon will wreak havoc on Troy, but Paris says he'll challenge Menelaus to combat for Helen. The next day the Greek army arrives with Achilles and the Myrmidons landing first taking the beach, ransacking the Temple of Apollo, and capture the priestess of Apollo Brisels; actress Rose Byrne's character. With Hector as their leader, Trojan reinforcements go to battle with the intentions of confronting Achilles, who lets a concerned Hector go because of a lack of ill will. As the Greek rulers celebrate the capture of the Trojan beach, Agamemnon angers Achilles by taking Brisels.

Brad & Jennifer at the Troy premiere
Achilles orders the Myrmidons to stay out of the war until Agamemnon begs him to return. The next morning the Greeks march on Troy with Paris challenging Menelaus to single combat resulting in the winner taking Helen home settling the conflict. Agamemnon initially refuses telling Menelaus he came for Troy not Helen. Menelaus manages to convince Agamemnon to agree to Paris's request planning to attack Troy after Paris's demise. Menelaus single handily defeats the inexperienced Paris, but is killed by an intervening Hector after Paris cowardly retreats. A furious Agamemnon orders his troops to attack, but are easily repelled by the Trojan forces. Ajax the Greater; actor Tyler Mane's character, is slain by Hector in a vicious duel. This causes the Greeks to rapidly retreat out of fear of being wiped out. In the aftermath of the battle Nestor and Odysseus persuade Agamemnon to make peace with Achilles who along with Myrmidons, refused to take part in the battle, as the Greeks are hopeless in battle without him. Greek soldiers attempt to rape Brisel, but she is saved by Achilles. One night as Achilles sleeps Brisels tries to cut his throat, but she realizes that he she loves him and the two have sex. Sometime later Priam gathers the Trojan military leaders who are all in agreement to attack to Greek camp. Tragedy strikes as Achilles cousin Patroclus is killed in battle by Hector. Achilles catches word of his cousin's death, which causes him to be vengeful with plans for battle. After several sleepless nights he calls Hector out to single-handed combat. Achilles wins the battle and out of a gesture of spite drags Hectors lifeless body from Troy's wall to the Greek camp. In a surprise ambush the Greeks including Achilles and Odysseus destroy the city. Achilles faces death accepting it as punishment for his vengeful killing of Hector. The film ends with a speech recited by Odysseus as the funeral pyre burns: "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say, I lived, in the time of Achilles." The film is directed by Wolfgang Petersen grossing $497,409,852 in box office making it one of the Top 10 films of the year 2004 ranking #8 generating mixed reviews from film critic's scoring a 54% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states, " 'Troy' is a brawny, entertaining spectacle, but lacking emotional resonance." In efforts of his performance Brad earned recognition from from the MTV Movie & TV awards, People's Choice awards, and the Yoga awards. At the MTV Movie awards Pitt was nominated for Best Male Performance of the Year, and Best Fight shared with Eric Bana. At the People's Choice awards Pitt won for Favorite Leading Man of the Year. At the Teen Choice awards Pitt won for Best Lead Actor of the Year in a Drama/Action-Adventure. At the Yoga award Pitt won for Worst Foreign Actor of the Year.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY magazine: Brad Pitt in Troy
[May 14, 2004] - Jennifer's husband appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine headlining Brad Pitt in Troy. In this exclusive interview the actor talks about the battle of making 'Troy' with Hunks!, Hurricanes!, and Homer!.

article by: Gillian Flynn

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY magazine Vol. 765 - No. 2
"Troy has become one of the most expensive movies in the history of film. In return for its hubris, the ambitious production's budget ballooned to more than $200 million as it suffered a string of costly crises: emergency relocation, set destruction, and an injury to Pitt that postponed a crucial fight scene for months. See Pitt, in his first starring role since 2001's Ocean's Eleven, plays mercenary warrior Achilles. A good Greek tragedy film such as this needs irony, death, love, mayhem, and guys with names like - it's-so-long-you're-just-showing-off-for-us. In reference towards the direction of the film Pitt says, "Wolfgang, the films director, is a very savvy storyteller. He knows what's going on, he has a dry sense of humor, and he does it big." It all started two years ago when the two men had lunch together. After striking the deal for Brad to be the lead it must've felt nice: both men had seen their fair share of previous Warner Bros. projects fizzle. Pitt, who'd spent months sporting a ragged Crusoe-sque beard for 'The Fountain', was finally cutting bait after more than a year of delays caused by budget issues as well as co-star actress Cate Blanchett's pregnancy. Pitt, who was eager to play the stormy, vengeful Achilles, got the movie a fast start. "It's the next evolution of Taxi Driver to me," says Pitt, "I was a sick fan about it," said Bana, [once actor Eric Bana was hired on he admired Pitt's every move]. The pair had pledged to work together, and Bana had nice heat on Pitt thanks to the then-much-anticipated bomb-to-be The Hulk. "Troy was a combination of loving the script and Eric and I not wanting to play the same role, which was helpful, I'll say" said Pitt. Brad offered up his own ideas, in regards to his own character, to meetings steeped in Achilles analysis. "I'd come with a binder that contained five hundred pages of writing on Achilles that I'd underlined as well as highlighted," recalled the actor. Throughout the shoot the crew tightened the warrior's words. "I'd like to think as an actor I'm very smart," he added, "I've never been able to exactly say the lines that even a great writer such as David writes for me - I need to shape it a bit for my own vision. I also like to be all sparse with the dialogue, and David totally supported me because he likes to do the same thing." 

To prepare for the role Pitt said he stopped smoking, packed on some massive knots of muscle, and trained in everything from horseback riding to swordsmanship. "I found inspiration for my angry ancient in oddly modern places. I started out with a lot of Audioslave or anything Chris Cornell - it helped with the aggression," he says, "and Chris Webber from the Sacramento Kings. There's a real sweetness behind his eyes, but he's pissed off. You know, you live the part, you do what you gotta do, and Achilles is definitely a tortured guy, but that's what I was drawn to," said Pitt. The first day he got on set in Malta, there were nearly one thousand five hundred extras in costume, and the set designers had perfected the entire city of Troy. "It was like being there," he said, "outrageous." It was the record heat that quickly buckled cast and crew, who were stuck there from May to June. Production was set to be moved to Morocco for major battle scenes in June; sets had been built in anticipation. At that point Warner Bros. studio could neither postpone nor dissolve the production. Aside from the intense heat there were also tropical storms that threatened to turn into hurricanes, a couple of which did. "My house got wiped out," says Pitt, "I was living in a cliff side house, awake up at four in the morning, and I heard this waterfall. I got out of bed and I'm standing in an inch of water. The thing had sprung leaks all over the place. The ship was going down. So I slept through the actual hurricane - I was so tired from the night before," he said. A second hurricane destroyed the supposedly indestructible walls of Troy. A costly reconstruction for the one scene yet to be shot: Pitt and Bana's big showdown. Unfortunately, just before the hurricane Pitt had sidelined himself. "During filming a fracas, I jumped up to land a death blow, and hit the ground in pain. I was a damaged Achilles...literally. My heal time was an estimated three months, but six weeks later Bana and I had our final fight. The funny thing was more than twelve weeks ago after we all signed on to the project we all aged a year in front of the camera," he added. Scary figures...considering that Troy is two and a half hours long and rated R nor has the films director Peterersen ever grossed more than 'The Perfect Storm' $183 million in box office. Brad's more mellow in regards to the movie doing well in box office, "Whether it explodes or not doesn't affect my self-esteem at all. If there's one thing I can admit to being really, really good at, it's relinquishing the things I have no control over." Considering the film's source material, it's probably the most appropriate response: Place Troy's fate in the hands of the Gods - and hope they're in a benevolent mood."

(2004) Ocean's Twelve
[December 10, 2004] - Jennifer's husband Brad Pitt reprises his supporting role as Rusty Ryan in the sequel comedy/heist ensemble film 'Ocean's Twelve'. The film focuses on Terry Benedict; actor Andy Garcia's character, who manages to locate all eleven members of Danny Ocean's; actor George Clooney's gang including: Linus Caldwell; actor Matt Damon's character, Frank Catton; actor/comedian Bernie Mac's character, Reuben Tishkoff; actor Elliot Gould's character, Virgil and Turk Malloy; actors Casey Affleck and Scott Caan's characters, Livingston Dell; actor Eddie Jemison's character, Basher Tar; actor Don Cheadle's character, "The Amazing" Yen; actor Shaobo Quin's character, and Saul Bloom; actor Carl Reiner's character, demanding they return the $160 million they stole from his casinos plus and additional $38 million in interest. Short by half, the group plots a scheme to stage another heist in Europe with hopes of avoiding problems with the United States authorities. Things go accordingly until they are tipped off by an informant Matsui; actor Robbie Caltrane's character, about the location of the first stoke certificate ever. After a complex series of schemes they find that the document has already been stolen by "The Night Fox" also known as Francois Toulour; actor Vincent Cassel's character, another master thief. Europol detective Isabel Lahiri; actress Catherine Zeta-Jones's character, is called in to investigate the theft realizing that her talking earlier about a particular burglary with Rusty; Pitt's character during their relationship, would have given him the idea as to how to solve the complication the gang would have come up against. Taking the gang by surprise Isabel shows up unexpectedly at their accommodations warning them they can't beat "The Night Fox" or his mentor Gaspar LeMarc; actor Albert Finney's character, both of whom excel in practicing the "long-con", explaining she should know, she's been hunting both for years. With the help of his gang, Danny and the others discover "The Night Fox's" identity Baron Francois Toulour, a wealthy businessman who has a mansion on Lake Como. Toulour invites Danny to his mansion revealing that he had hired Matsui with hopes of informing the gang about the certificate in order to arrange the meeting with Danny. Toulour grows upset that LaMarc didn't describe him as the best thief in the world resulting in him challenging Danny along with his gang, to steal the Faberge Imperial Cornation Egg. Should they complete the task accordingly, Toulour will pay off their debt to Benedict.

Brad at the Ocean's Twelve premiere
Danny informs his gang while they plan an elaborate heist to swap the egg for a holographic recreation. Things go accordingly, until they find out that the engineer that they hired accidentally tipped off detective Lahiri in regards to their whereabouts resulting in the capturing of most of the gang on their first attempt. Linus comes up with a back up plan involving Danny's wife Tess; actress Julia Roberts's character, to pose as herself with hopes that she can get close enough to the egg in order to perform the switch. However, in the process they are foiled by Lahiri who intervenes, causing the rest of Danny's gang to be caught as well. With orders from her superiors Lahiri takes Danny along with his gang back to the states where they are to be extradited. Linus is chosen first to be interrogated by the FBI agent; actress Cherry Jones, assigned to them. Unbeknownst to Lahiri the FBI agent is apart of the plan because it is later revealed agent Jones is Linus's mother sent there to release him along with the rest of the gang. Agent Jones points out to Lahiri that she'll face only retribution for her forging a signature on a Europol form. Sometime later, Danny accompanied by Tess, returns to Toulour's estate where he reveals his glee at their failure. Toulour claims to have stolen the egg at night using the agility and Capoeria skill in order to evade the heavy security. However, Toulour's celebration is short-lived once Danny informs Toulour that his gang stole the egg while it was in transit to the museum. Toulour is angered realizing that they were tipped off my LeMarc. A flashback shows that Danny along with Rusty had met up with LeMarc earlier when he allowed his confidence trick intended to humiliate Toulour, and at the same time, to restore to himself the Faberge egg that he had stolen years ago had returned following his wife's wishes. This forces Toulour to admit to Danny's victory in regards to their bet giving him the money for the debt. Once back in the states Danny pays back Benedict promising not to perform any more heists in his casinos even as Toulour himself is in the background spying on Benedict. Rusty takes Lahiri to a safe house that he claims has been let to him by LeMarc. While there she is reunited with her father, who is revealed to be the man she has been pursuing for years: Gaspar LeMarc. The final scene shows the Danny and his gang playing a private poker match implying that Lahiri and Rusty have rekindled their relationship. The film is directed by Steven Soderbergh grossing $362,744,280 in box office making it one of the Top Ten films of the year 2004 in box office ranking the #10 spot generating mixed reviews from film critics scoring a 55% liking from audiences. In efforts of his performance Brad earned recognition from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Yoga awards. At the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards Pitt was nominated for Best Ensemble shared with the cast. At the Yoga awards Pitt won for Worst Foreign Actor of the Year.

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2005 - Rumor Has It...: The Hollywood Couple Split
PEOPLE magazine: Brad & Jen: Why They Split
[January 24, 2005] - The Hollywood couple appear on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Brad & Jen: Why They Split. In this exclusive interview Hollywood's golden couple of Jennifer Joanna Aniston and William Bradley 'Brad' Pitt call an end to their story book romance. In this article find out the truth about her fears, their careers, the baby question, and whether or not the couple will reunite. The big question: What happened?

article by: Michelle Tauber

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 63 - No. 3
"We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate. For those who follow these sorts of things. We would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media. This decision is the result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months." Respectfully, Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt - in a statement to PEOPLE magazine. They're a couple that once described themselves as "phone junkies," keeping up a constant patter even when an ocean lay between them. However, last week Pitt and Aniston found themselves picking up the phone - together - to do the most difficult dialing of their 41/2-year marriage. "One by one we called relatives, close friends, and business associates to break the news that would become public on Jan 7: We decided to separate," said Aniston. Yet the calls didn't have the teary, pass-the-tissue tone that such heartbreaking news might suggest. "I didn't want people to think the separation is a bad thing," said Pitt, "that's why I emphasized that Jen and I were in a good place. I believe that the decision was good for us. We're getting along. We really care about each other," he added. To be sure, almost as shocking as the news of the split is the extraordinary civil manner in which Hollywood's golden couple - whose romance seemed to so successfully straddle A-list glamour and down-to-earth fun - have approached it. "We still love each other," said Aniston. "The separation is a step back to see if our relationship is going to be forever or if it's not, We're searching for the answer, which is not an easy one to come up with," and she adds "we're still very close." 

They certainly seemed close during their Caribbean getaway last week. Although Aniston and Pitt had already decided to separate, the trip had been scheduled long before, so they agreed that, "We should go and have a great time." "They kissed, laughed, and held hands," says a source, "but all of that may have been real or it may note have been real all the time." The couple appeared reserved during dinner, "I never saw them touch during the entire meal," says one onlooker, "they seemed more like they were on a first date." Once they spotted photographers outside the restaurant the pair put their arms around each other and these big smiles on their faces as if to say, 'Look at us, we're incredibly happy," says the source. This seemed so opposite of the couple, so what went wrong exactly? According to several reliable sources, it became increasingly difficult for Jen and Brad to balance work and family. Ever since they exchanged lavishly romantic wedding vows back in July of 2000, they have been dogged by, "The baby question", As recently as last month during an earlier interview with Diane Sawyer, Pitt told her of his hopes about the near future, "God, I'm going to say it: Kids. Family. I'm thinking family. Yeah, I got family on the mind." Although Aniston has expressed similar desires in the past, "Lately, Jennifer has been resisting having a child for a number of reasons," said a source, "One: was never her career, she made clear she wouldn't prevent it from her having kids. Two: she wanted to make sure the marriage would last; there was a doubt that crept in. Brad was much more interested in having a child. It might have been Jen who broke off wanting to have kids, we'll never really know, but it appeared he was a half a step behind her.

The Hollywood golden couples divorce is a heartbreaker.
Beyond the baby issue, the couple also grappled with the rumors of a fling between him and his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star actress Angelina Jolie, his onscreen spouse. Such reports have been dismissed by both Pitt as well as Aniston. A source close to the couple says, "He's changed, and was influenced by Jolie particularly by her humanitarian efforts. It might be slight, but it's noticeable, and Jennifer knew it." Photos emerged of Pitt with Jolie bonding with her son Maddox. Jen, on the other hand is squarely in movie making mode. Having wrapped up ten seasons on NBC's Friends last spring, she currently has at least half-a-dozen big screen projects in the works. "In many ways her career is just starting," said a source close to Aniston, "the timing is off for them." Even without their diverging career paths, the pressures of fame associated with two such high-wattage stars have taken their toll in the years since the pair was first introduced in '98. "It's not a career issue or an issue of spending too much time apart," says another source close to the couple, "the real issue is about them as individuals. What they should do is reconnect to who they were before they met and married. They've both changed in the years they've known each other. It's like they live in a fish bowl. Brad and Jen spend so much time trying to figure out how to behave while everyone's looking that they've gradually lost sight of themselves as individuals, and despite their nice lifestyle, and having everything they might want, they aren't happy. They lost a sense of ones self." Now it seems that they may have lost each other as well. Or maybe not. As the inevitable questions arise regarding who gets what, and where they go from here, those close to them say, "The end of Brad and Jen has yet to be written. The need to regroup," says a source, "if they're meant to be back together, they'll figure that out, it not, they'll still love each other. They're in a peaceful place."

PEOPLE magazine: Brad & Jen: Separate Lives
[January 31, 2005] - The Hollywood couple appear on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Brad & Jen: Separate Lives. In this exclusive interview the couple discuss her tearful goodbye, who gets what, how they're coping, and why they're still wearing their rings. Each embarks on their new lives-with or without each other.

article by: Michelle Tauber

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 63 - No. 4
"No puffy eyes - at least no in front of the cameras. Rather, in the wake of their separation shocker, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt have proceeded to act a lot like they did while they were married: working on different continents, and even wearing their respective wedding bands. There was Pitt wedding ring on display while promoting Ocean's Twelve in Japan January 13. Meanwhile, there was Aniston smiling broadly - ring also on hand - as she left the Los Angeles set of her upcoming comedy-drama film Friends with Money January 12. She had a different sort of bubbly-up beat sense about her, which was a dramatic difference compared to the last time the pair was spotted in public. One day after announcing their split while grimly departing the airport concluding their weekend getaway to the Caribbean's a visibly distraught Aniston was seen wiping tears from her face. The pair mutually agreed to strike out their rings as an attempt at a last stitch effort for their post split lives. Pitt has taken time off, while Jen jumped into film projects. So how are they doing it? "I feel like we're leaving our relationship with the same grace and respect that we went into it with," said Aniston, "I'm trying to remain positive as one can under the circumstances." In the aftermath of their break-up, intense speculation bordered on national conversation - swirled around two perceived trouble spots: 1) tension over whether to start a family; 2) Pitt got too close to his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star actress Angelina Jolie while filming. Jolie learned of Pitt and Aniston's divorce while in Niger filming a documentary. "I was surprised," said Jolie, "I know what people are saying. I told a friend that there isn't a doubt in my mind that Brad's never cheated on Jennifer. I don't believe he's done or would even do something like that," commented Jolie. Clearly in evidence on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith set, however, was Pitt's fondness for Jolie, which sources have said, "bothered Aniston. There was a platonic relationship going on," said a source. 

"Pitt and Jolie often relaxed in a patio area that he set up outside of his trailer. Quite often the two were out there together talking with each other and her little boy, Maddox, playing near by." As for the issue of when to start their own family, not everyone is convinced that the popular perception - Brad wanted kids, Jennifer wanted a career - is accurate. "Everyone says she doesn't want kids, and so he left," says a representative for the couple, "that's so untrue, and mean. Brad is not pressuring Jen to have a baby. He wants a family and so does she. In an ideal world, they'd have a child, but this is real life and neither one of them wants to have a child under conditions that aren't right."  The couple didn't split because of one bad problem. It's a little bit more of many things, all wrapped up into one. As much as these two people care about each other, and from what it appears they really do care, they just want different things. Aniston and Pitt have been thinking as well as talking about their problems for at least two years. Still, they remained close, often exchanging the loving gesture through via hallmark cards of their 41/2-year marriage. "The one set that I was never allowed on was Mr. & Mrs. Smith," said Aniston, which she thought was strange. "However, I would send over little food things that I made for Brad's dinner. He would request that I run an errand for him and in return I would arrange it so an old friend meet me there to surprise him. Even as the break-up neared, many people close to us held out hope that our marriage would survive," she said. Now as the reality of separate lives sets in, both Aniston and Pitt must decide whether to move forward with divorce proceedings or attempt to rebuild their relationship; the rings still on their left hands indicates they haven't give up on the marriage. "In efforts of reconciliation; they are currently dating each other," said a source, "I see very few people in Hollywood separate and then get back together. It appears to me that both parties are looking to put the pain of the split behind them."

Entertainment Weekly: The Real Story Behind Mr. & Mrs. Smith
[June 3, 2005] - Jennifer's husband appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly with his 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' co-star actress Angelina Jolie headlining The Real Story Behind Mr. & Mrs. Smith. In this exclusive interview Brad and Angelina explain the movie behind the rumors regarding their personalities, their big-screen sex scene, and how the movie was saved from the rumors.

article by: Steve Daly

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Vol. 823 - No. 1
"Are they a couple? If they are, did that happen during or after the time they spent making the movie together? If it is true or was true or might be true, how long will their relationship last? These are the sort of nosy, rude, intrusive, unfair, wildly speculative, and completely titillating questions that an ever-widening global mob of gossip tabloids has been asking Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ever since they began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a $120 million budget spy-versus-spousal-spy spectacle that opens June 10, all after a long and bumpy road to final cut. Note, this isn't the first time a much-rumored romance has gone supernova, but what's now being branded the saga of "Bradjolina" sets a new, 21st century benchmark - a sort of perfect publicity storm centered on two people whom the public is treating as daydream playthings. "For me," said Jolie, "it was a lot of thinking about old relationships I had, (in regards to her drawing emotion for her character in the movie), marriages I had, and thinking, 'Oh, that's the point where I wanted to kill that person' ". 

Brad & Angelina Jolie on set of 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith'
There were constantly paparazzi on set, crazy paparazzi trying to get pictures of Pitt and Jolie together. Did the craziness escalate this past spring after your wife filed for divorce the time you were doing some reshoots? "They followed me one day," said Pitt, "a helicopter followed me from the time I exited my hotel room to the time I arrived on set. It was then that I found out that if a photo of Angelina and me together was taken it would be worth $300,000. At some point we were shooting at an IKEA-type store and Angelina and I were both like, 'you know, fiddling around with the paddleballs or something. The usual stuff actors do before takes. On this movie compared to others, saying someone one was "screwing around' (a crew member radioed the to the director, 'Hey, Brad and Angelina are screwing around') would have a different context." What about speculation that the publicity would hurt the movie, the way it hurt, say Proof of Life when actress Meg Ryan separated from her husband actor Dennis Quaid after allegedly having an affair with her co-star actor Russell Crowe? "You can sit there and blame it on Meg and Russell, but they aren't the ones at fault," explained Pitt, "it's all the tabloids twisting, and blowing things out of perspective. They make it so one simple comment such as: "Everything's fine between me and so-and-so" and turn it into, "Everything's fine? He and-so-and-so are really" whatever kind of crap they come up with," added the actor. Did the "Bradjolina" rumors effect the editing of the film? There were reports that a sex scene between you and Angelina got trimmed. "That's untrue," said Pitt, "that scene is in the movie, after our characters have a huge fight trying to kill each other, which is all I can say without giving away too much of the film." The director, Doug Liman spoke out about the rumors, "Honestly my heart goes out to Aniston. I worried that her fans would lose that little niche audience of people who would ultimately hate Angelina Jolie if the sex scene is too sexy." 

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt (2005)
Jolie thinks opposite in regards to her sex scene with Brad, "I think people will watch that scene and say, 'Oh, that's how she did it. She used her wiles to seduce Pitt's character.' " said Jolie. What about actually filming that scene? A blushing Pitt replied, "It was awkward for me," he admitted, "to break the ice, I thought I would use one of those techniques where you talk about something embarrassing about yourself, and it's a big bonding experience. I lost all sexual credibility with Angelina on the spot." People keep calling it "the sex scene", the movie is PG-13. "It's not like our characters are lying down in a bed," explained Pitt, "they're standing up kissing and grinding against each other. It's not like we simulate the actual deed," he protested. When the cameras actually rolled, was it awkward for you? "In the end I was pretty uncomfortable, because Angelina is such a force to be reckoned with," he said, "occasionally she'd make a comment and both of us would be like, 'Whoa!' ". A comment like what? "I like to be shockingly sexual," said Jolie. "Just read any interview I've given. I like to be the person in the room who's least embarrassed, and willing to put themselves out there," said the actress. How did you influence each other's acting? "I'd like to think that in the movie," said Jolie, "I'm playing how Brad is in real life, and vice versa," she said. "For me I had no point of reference at all, from my own life, of what a normal home would be like. I'm much more into weapons than Brad is, as a human being." "What I hate is that people assume since we're celebrities, rich and famous - we have it easy. It's never easy," said Pitt, "actually, as evidence by recent events, it's no easier for me to maintain a marriage than it is for you. People assume because I fly on private jets, have a huge mansion, that life must be great, but it doesn't get easier because of those things. It doesn't get easier because I'm Brad Pitt either," said the actor."

(2005) Mr. & Mrs. Smith
[June 10, 2005] - Jennifer's husband stars as John Smith in the romantic/comedy-action film 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' which tabloids speculated as the reason behind his and Jennifer's divorce. The film revolves around a bored upper-middle class married couple John Smith; Pitt's character, and his wife Jane Smith; actress Angelina Jolie's character, who are surprised to learn that each are assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other. The couple has been married for five or six years, but their marriage is suffering to the point that they can't remember the last time they had sex. During marriage counseling each is answering questions regarding their relationship. They tell the story of their first meeting in Bogota, Colombia, where both were secretly on the run from Colombian authorities. After a recent heist, knowing the police were searching for tourists traveling alone the two claimed to be together with hopes of avoiding being questioned. John recalls telling Jane that she "looked life Christmas morning" on the day they met, and from there to two quickly fell in love and got married. Both John as well as Jane are skilled assassins each concealing form the other their true profession among both being the best in their field of expertise. Each owns their own incorporation John owns: Smith Engineering, Inc.; Jane owns: I-Temp Technology Staffing. In order to keep up appearances in front of their neighbors they attend social events such as house parties and backyard barbecues to avoid suspicions. Under these stories - John and Jane maintain balance in their seemingly mundane marriage, which both of them find after a few years to be growing dull as well as suffocating due to their secretive work. Once both are assigned the same mission: kill DIA prisoner Benjamin "The Tank" Danz; actor Adam Brody's character during a transfer. John encounters Jane on the job resulting in the hit being botched. After their respective companies find out about the botched hit, each is assigned to discover as well as eliminate the other. Fueled by a mutual sense of betray, John and Jane commit a few attempts on each other's lives. This ends with their conflict culminating in an explosively violent fight in the Smith house involving both firearms, makeshift weapons, and hand-to-hand combat between husband and wife. During their evenly matched fight John wields his gun taking aim at Jane's face. She does the same, but neither can come to find the guts to shot each other so they each yield their weapons. This makes for a raunchy semi-violent, steamy bump-and-grind clothed sex scene between the two actors as their characters reunite making love for the first time in a long time. This newly rekindled Smith partnership is quickly threatened by their employers, who have now decided to eliminate the couple.

Brad & Angelina at the Mr. & Mrs. Smith premiere
John's best friend and co-worker Eddie; actor/comedian Vince Vaughn's character, turns down a bounty of $400,000 for each Smith since he won't get out of bed for anything less than $500,000. However, John and Jane find themselves under fire from an army of assassins. While attempting to fend off an attack the Smith's home is destroyed in the process resulting in John and Jane stealing their neighbors minivan. They manage to successfully eliminate and attack three pursuing armored BMW sedans, all while bickering over their fighting styles and newly discovered personal secrets. They kidnap Danz from his high-security prison in order to give their employers something they want more than them. Revealing he was merely bait, Danz explains to them he was hired by their employers after it was discovered that they Smiths were married, in hopes one or the other would commit the others demise. John and Jane put aside their separate contingency plans making their stand together. In the final fight scene the Smiths - now working together smoothly as a team - defeat an extended attack by a rather large force or armed personnel during a long shoot-out inside of a department store. The couple attend a final meeting with their marriage counselor again, where each states how much their marriage has thrived, how happy they are, and ends with John motioning a subtle "10" when asked about the sex question once more on a scale of one to ten. The film is directed by Doug Liman grossing $476,336,279 in box office making it on of the Top 10 films of the year 2005 ranking the #7 spot generating mixed reviews from film critics scoring a 59% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states: "Although this action-romance suffers from weak writing, and one too many explositions, the chemistry generated by on-screen couple Pitt and Jolie is palable enough to make 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' a thoroughly enjoyable summer action flick." In efforts of his performance Brad earned recognition from the Irish Film & Television awards, MTV Movie & TV awards, NRJ Cine awards, People's Choice awards, and Teen Choice awards. At the Irish Film & Television awards Pitt was nominated for Best International Actor of the Year. At the MTV Movie & TV awards Pitt won for Best Fight shared with Angelina Jolie, and was nominated for Best Kiss shared with Angelina Jolie. At the NRJ Cine awards Pitt won for Best Lead Actor of the Year, and Best Kiss with Angelina Jolie. At the People's Choice awards Pitt won for Favorite Lead Man of the Year, and was nominated for Favorite Male Action Star of the Year as well as Favorite On-Screen Match-Up shared with Angelina Jolie. At the Teen Choice awards Pitt won for Best Rumble shared with Angelina Jolie. Pitt was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in an Action/Adventure-Thriller, Best Liar, Best Chemistry shared with Angelina Jolie, Best Liplock shared with Angelina Jolie, and Best Dance Sequence shared with Angelina Jolie.

PEOPLE magazine: Jen Breaks Her Silence
[August 15, 2005] - The 36-year old actress appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Jen Breaks Her Silence. In this exclusive interview the former 'Friends' star goes public in regards to the aftermath of her divorce from husband Brad Pitt. She talks about how she tried to save their marriage, what Brad told her about Angelina, how she feels about him now, her loneliness, anger, hurt, and how she's moving on. 

article by: Michelle Tauber

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 64 - No. 7
"Breaking up is hard to do, but breaking up publicly, then seeing your ex stroll on a beach three months later with his new girlfriend in photos beamed around the world? That's a whole new level of post split trauma. "I can't say it was one of the highlights of my year," understates Aniston, breaking her silence about the end of her 41/2-year marriage to Brad Pitt in a surprisingly candid interview in the new issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Of her initial reaction to the now famous photos of Pitt and Angelina Jolie's beach side stroll in Kenya last April, she says, "Who would deal with that and say, 'Isn't that sweet! That looks like fun', but sh*t happens. You joke, and you say, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' " For Aniston, navigating the choppy waters of life without Brad has been an admittedly challenging process. In reference towards after those photos being published the actress commented, "I think the world was just as much in shock as I was," she said during a previous interview for Vanity Fair. Aniston also noted, "I would be a robot if I didn't experience moments of anger, hurt, and embarrassment. My seven year relationship with Brad was very dear, very complicated, and very special." She spoke very openly about her pain of the past few months, but is quick to none her resilience. "Am I lonely? Yes. Do I have my days when I've thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. However, I'm also doing really well." Clearly between her and Pitt she's the one who has a lot to say. While he has remained vague on the subject of the couple's split, Aniston offers the most insight yet into what went wrong between the two. When Friends finished shooting in January 2004 the same month Pitt started filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Jolie, "He just wasn't there for me," she said of the emotional milestone. She also passionately disputes the much-repeated rumor that an uninterest in having children contributed to the couple's rift. "A man divorcing would NEVER be accused of choosing a career over children," she says, "that really pissed me off. I've NEVER in my life said, 'I don't want to have children.' I did, and I do, and I will!" 

Jennifer talks about how her marriage to Brad fell apart.
Then there is the subject of The Other Woman, who has been staying with her two kids at Pitt's new estate. "I'd like to believe my ex-husband's claim that he didn't cheat on me before we separated is true," said Aniston. "I don't think he started an affair physically, but I think he was attracted to her [Angelina]. There was a connection, and he was honest about that with me," she added. When asked about the recent photos of Brad and Angelina together in W magazine, where the Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-stars posed as a '60s husband and wife pair, Aniston noted, "There was a sensitivity chip missing from him, but let me make it clear that Brad is not mean-spirited." Now filming The Break-Up, a romantic/comedy co-starring actor/comedian Vince Vaughn, Jennifer gets emotional when confronted with the rumor that Jolie is pregnant. She didn't comment, but she did shed tears. Such public displays of distress are rare for Aniston, who is said she is "moving on." "I have a very positive outlook. I'm keeping busy." During filming Rumor Has It where she is opposite of actor Kevin Costner he noted, "She remained remarkably professional despite her public trauma. There was no evidence of emotion other than the work," he said. If there are any signs of outward stress, it's that Aniston has began smoking cigarettes a lot. As for rumors of her being on rebound with her co-star Vince Vaughn she says, "forget about it. I like a lot of people, but I am so not 'in like' with anybody. What am and doing is enjoying being myself." The actress is also in a good frame of mind when it comes to romance given what she's been through she stated, "There's an amazing man that's wandering the streets right now who's the father of my children. In five years I would hope to be married and have a kid." She is less certain about what her professional future holds. As for her future with Pitt, "I've phoned him a couple of times while he was hospitalized last month with meningitis. I love Brad; I really love him. I will love him for the rest of my life, but we're not in love. Now I love him like you would a friend. We spent seven very intense years together that made for a beautiful, complicated, relationship. I really do hope that with time someday we can be friends again."

Vanity Fair magazine: The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston
[September 2005] - Jennifer appears on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine headlining Jen Finally Talks!. In this exclusive interview she talks about the how the whole world watched as her "perfect" marriage fell apart. Now, in her first interview since she split from Brad Jennifer spills her heart, as well as some tears with Leslie Bennetts sharing her her shock, and confusion over Pitt's liason with actress Angelina Jolie, her desire for a family, and her deep, conflicting emotions of anger, hurt, exasperation, and tenderness toward the man she still loves.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: This is not the full article. We felt that this five-page article was too long to incorporate into our blog. If you desire to read the full story "Click" on the link.

Link: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2005/09/aniston200509#

article by: Leslie Bennetts

VANITY FAIR magazine
"As Aniston greets me at the door of her bungalow she's been held up in lately, she flashes me a radiant smile, an evasive "Hello", and the actress burst into tears. Her face crumpled as she told me, "I haven't been feeling emotional lately, really I haven't," as she wails, and flutters her hands like her character from Friends, Rachel Green, in distress, except this time it isn't funny. With only security guards as her company Aniston has been camped out in a modest rental home where she has been coping with the aftermath of the ending of her marriage to Brad Pitt, which has been far worse than the actual split. "The last few months have brought an endless nightmare of hurtful headlines about my soon-to-be ex-husband, along with blatantly fraudulent stories about myself in the tabloids and supermarket gossip magazines. I've been pursued around the clock by - what the actress calls - 'rabid paparazzi' - and have been ambushed even on my own deck by photographers who lurk on the beach outside of my door, just spying on my every move." Jennifer squeezes her eyes shut in an effort to stop crying. Little more than a year ago the couple shared a hopeful vision of their shared future together, which Aniston awaited only a baby in a bassinet to complete a picture-perfect existence. Back then they seemed the most fortunate of couples imaginable - two beautiful superstars who had hit the jackpot. Each earning not only fame and riches, but also an enduring love. The fans had long been captivated by the romance of Jennifer being "American's Sweetheart" and Pitt being "The Sexiest Man Alive" in the world, and now they were ready to begin a thrilling new chapter. "My decade long run on Friends was ending, and Brad and I vowed to start a family when my stupendously successful television series was finished. His final words to me reinforced the impression of connubial bliss: "I'm happier than I've ever been." 

The ensuing months to come brought an onslaught of rumors that he had gotten involved with Angelina Jolie while filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith," said Aniston. Instead of the joyful announcement many had anticipated for the Pitts, there was only silence. The New Year began with photographs of the Pitt and Jolie strolling hand in hand along the beach looking relaxed and happy. Then came the oh-so-civilized announcement, on January 7, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were separating - that their parting was quote - "the result of much thoughtful consideration," that it was not caused by, "any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media," and that they would remain, "committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another." Had Pitt kept a low-key profile in the months to come, that might've turned out to be true. Instead, the ominous drum roll of gossip began to crescendo with he and Jolie rendezvoused in exotic locales, still denying that they were an item. With paparazzi Pitt stepped into what looked suspiciously like a paternal role with Jolie's adopted Cambodian son, Maddox. "It was extremely hurtful to me," said Aniston, "that he was seen with another woman so quickly after we were separated." Instead of being reviled as 'The Other Woman', the twice divorced Jolie previously known as a tattooed vixen with a taste for bisexuality, heroin, brotherly incest, mental institutions, and wearing a vial of her husband's blood - had suddenly morphed into a globe-trotting humanitarian. For Aniston it was a different story. "I had expected to spend the past year being pregnant, but instead I dealt with the pain of watching this spectacle unfold that was compounded by vicious rumors about myself. As misogynist as they were false, sensationalist stories claimed the real reason my marriage ended was that I refused to have Brad's baby because I was so callable ambitious that I only care about my career...that really pissed me off. A man divorcing with NEVER be accused of choosing a career over children," she protested, "I've NEVER in my life said, 'I don't want to have children'. I DID, and I DO, and I WILL! The women that inspire me the most are the ones who have careers and children; why would I want to limit myself? I've always wanted to have children, and I would NEVER give up that experience for a career. I want to have it all," said Aniston. 

To us it appears that while you and Brad were still married the idea of having a baby was an abstract desire for him whereas for you it was much more immediate. So is there a part of Brad that's diabolical? Did he think, 'I need to get out of this marriage, but I want to come out smelling like a rose, so I'm going to let you be cast as the Ultra-Feminist and he's going to get cast as the Poor-Husband-Who-Couldn't-Get-a-Baby and so had to move on? "He's not mean-spirited; Brad would never intentionally try to rub something in my face. In hindsight, I can see him going, 'Oh, I can see that, that was inconsiderate.', but I know him. Brad would go, 'That's art!' ". As the image wars rage on in the gossip media, a heartbroken Aniston retreated to her Malibu hideaway to lick her wounds in private. However, public sympathy seemed to be on her side; a Hollywood boutique reported that its "Team Aniston" T-Shirts were outselling "Team Jolie" T-Shirts by a margin of 25 to 1. That provided little solace to Aniston who was assaulted by one provocation after another. "When we split up Brad kept insisting he didn't sleep with Angelina, and I was accepting of his denial. In my defense I wasn't naive, nor was I suggesting I didn't know there was an enchantment, and a friendship between the two of them, but Brad was telling me, 'this is not about another woman.' " However, the moment he and Aniston separated, he re-emerged in what looked life a full-blown affair with Jolie. "As I struggled with accepting our separation that I never wanted I found that the facts I had been told kept shifting like quicksand beneath my feet." When asked about the gracious, No-one-is-to-blame announcement of her separation, she replied "What we said was true - as far as I know. We sat down and wrote it together, very consciously, and afterwards we both felt very good about it. We both exited this relationship as beautifully as we entered it." From that point on all Aniston wanted to figure out was what happened. "I found myself constantly wondering, 'How did our happy life's we'd planned drift so far apart?'." April 29, everything changed; photos broke of Pitt and Jolie with her son Maddox in Africa on a romantic resort in Africa. "The world was shocked, and I was shocked," said Jennifer, "but to say this news was like pouring salt in the wound, which would be an understatement as well as understate its impact considerably; it's more like pouring molten lava into the hole where somebody ripped your heart out,"  she said.

In the tabloid and celebrity gossip magazines, the soap-opera version of her life continues to hurtle along like a runaway express train. "I've seen some of the headlines. I try not to read or focus too much on that crap. They all say the same thing, Jen Is Devastated!, Jen Is Furious!, Jen Gets Revenge!, Jen Has a New Man!, Jen Is Over Brad!, and most of the stories are wrong." While the tabloids insist on dividing her emotions into neat, distinct chapters, the reality is that pain, denial, anger, and resignation all blur together. "Sometimes at the same moment - and the lengthy process of mourning is nowhere near over. There are many stages of grief," she says. "It's sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open in a way - cracks you open to feeling. When you try to avoid the pain it creates greater pain. I'm a human being, having a human experience in front of the world. I wish it weren't in front of the world, and so I try really hard to rise above it." Meanwhile, she is trying to find a deeper meaning in the debacle. "I have to think there's some reason I have called this into my life," said the actress. "I have to believe that otherwise it's just cruel." Her friends are filled with admiration for how she's handled the whole mess. Jennifer's response to dealing with it all? "Retreating to my cocoon, in an effort to take of myself and my heart," she said. "I feel like I'm nesting. I love being home. I have friends that come over. It's not like I'm isolating myself. When things happen we all tribe together and they help lift me up. Have I had lonely moments, sure, who doesn't, but I'm also really enjoying myself." There's no question that something like this can take some getting use to. "I'm a partnership person, and if something happens your instinct is to share it, but I'm not longer apart of a couple. I definitely miss that. It's sort of like Bambi - I'm trying to learn to walk again. I'm a little awkward; stumble a little bit, but get back up eventually. The things I did with my partner, I don't do anymore. Its uncharted territory, but I think it's good for me to be a solo person right now. It's almost like I'm forced to rediscover myself, and take it to another level. As individuals if we can find a way to see the glass as half full, these are the moments when we'll learn the most. I've had to re-introduce myself to myself in a way that's different." She doesn't downplay the difficulties of the aftermath either. "Am I lonely? Yes. Am I upset? Yes. Am I confused? Yes. Do I have my days when I've thrown a little pity party for myself? Absolutely. But I'm also doing really well," she said. 

"I've got an unbelievable support team, and I'm a tough cookie. I strongly believe in therapy; I think it's an incredible tool in educating ones self on the self. I'm really proud of how I've conducted myself." A crucial part of Aniston's strategy has been to ignore the putrid rumors, speculations, and outright falsehood in the tabloid media. "It's been very important for me no to read anything, or see anything," she said. "It's been my saving grace. That stuff is just toxic for me right now. By doing so I probably avoid a lot by not engaging in it, not reading, or watching." She tries to keep the lurid details to herself while stating, "I'd like to think I'm grieving, but taking the high road to do so. I'm mourning the death of my marriage, and I believe I'm doing it in a very private manor. I have my moments of rage, but I don't want to out Brad, and that is what keeps my heart clear. I don't think I'm badmouthing him. I don't want to make him the villain and me the victim." Indeed Aniston, vehemently rejects the interpretation that she was left for another woman, "I don't feel like a victim," she said, "I've worked with a therapist for a long time, and we've both made it my major goal to focus on - I get one day to be a victim - that's it because that's all I need. Then I'm to take responsibility for my own input. To live in a victim place is pointing a finger at someone else, as if you yourself have no control. Relationships are two people; everyone is accountable. A lot goes into a relationship coming together, and a lot goes into a relationship falling apart. Even it it's 98% the other persons fault, it's 2% yours, and that's what I'm focused on right now. I can only clean up my side of the street." One index of recovery these days is the fact that Aniston's sardonic humor is resurfacing. Overall she signs off saying, "I fell like I've earned a superpower shield," she says afraid of sound grandiose Jennifer adds, "I'm not comparing my suffering to other people's suffering. Everybody has their own." Although she remains determined not to lash out, she sometimes questions her own restraint. "Why am I protecting him?" she explained to a friend, only to continue with what she sees as the dignified course of action. 

"I'm not interested in taking public potshots," she explained, "It's not my concern anymore. What happened to him after the separation it's his life now. I've made a conscious effort not to add to the toxicity of this situation. I haven't retaliated. I don't want to be a part of it. I don't have a halo that I'm polishing here; everyone has their personal thoughts, but I would much rather everyone move on. I am not defined by this relationship. I am not defined by the part the media is playing me out to be in their so-called 'love triangle'. The truth is I'm figuring this out as I go along. This is my first time at this particular picnic, and I'd say I'm handling it very well." When asked about her relationship with Brad after it became public she said, "We were put on a pedestal, but we're just a couple like anybody else," she said. "Even golden couples struggle with relationships as well as the formidable challenges of marriage. "It's like the ebb and flow of every relationship," exclaimed the actress, "It's hard; it gets easy; it gets fun again. What's hard to sustain is some ideal that it's perfect, which it wasn't. The fantastic thing about it all was getting through those ebbs and flows with the same person, and looking them in the eye saying, 'I'm still here. I still love you.' That's what I love about marriage and want in one as well. Unfortunately we live in a very disposable society. The moments of any relationship where it looks like 'Uh-oh, this isn't working!' are the ones that are the most important, those are the transformative moments. That wasn't her ex's view of things. "We got to the point where our beliefs didn't line up. You can't force a relationship even if it's your view of how you would like it to be conducted. My goal is to achieve a very deep committed relationship. It's someone's prerogative to be or not to be in or out of a relationship. Basically I wanted to work it out and he didn't. Towards the end he lost sight of what he wanted." Nevertheless, Aniston has only kind words about her marriage, "I still feel so lucky to have experienced it. I wouldn't know what I know now if I hadn't been married to Brad," she says. "He's a fantastic man. I don't regret any of it, and I'm not going to spend the rest of my life beating myself up about it. During the time we spent together we taught each other a lot; about healing, and about fun. We helped each other through a lot, and I really value that. The sad thing for me is the way it's been reduced to a Hollywood cliche - or maybe it's just a human cliche. You do the best you can, I think we did. We did the best we could."

PEOPLE magazine: Jennifer's Hot New Romance!
[October 31, 2005] - The film star appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Jennifer & Vince Vaughn: Hot New Romance!. In this exclusive interview Jennifer coming out as a couple with her 6'0" funny man/'The Break-Up' co-star actor/comedian Vince Vaughn with reports of the two spotted dancing, kissing, and her meeting his mom!

article by: Jason Lynch & Jennifer Wulff

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 64 - No. 18
"Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn acted out their share of cozy moments while filming romantic/comedy The Break-Up in Chicago, Illinois this summer. Back in the city on October 12, the pair was ready for another one. "They spent a romantic evening together dinning out at a restaurant appearing very friendly with one another," reports a source close to Aniston. All we know is she appears surprisingly affectionate with the guy she's told reporters, "I'm not dating." The actress cleared things ups saying, "Vince is my friend," during an earlier interview with Elle magazine. "He's deliciously funny, but I don't want to be a rebound girl," she said. Good luck...with a photos beginning to emerge of the two openly kissing and cuddling at restaurants, nightspots, and even the Wieners Circle hot dog stand, Aniston and Vaughn have made it pretty clear to then entire city of Chicago - and the world - that they're a romantic item. There was no question things had heated up considerably. Aniston showed up at Vaughn's comedy show where they headed to the Holiday Club afterwards to the bar. While there they were spotted kissing and making out. With onlookers confirming, "We'd say they're a couple". Apparently a surprisingly serious one. Not only were they spotted snuggling and reading the morning paper on her hotel terrace, Vince also brought her home to meek his folks. "We visited Lake Forest, where he grew-up," said Aniston. 

Jennifer and Vince Vaughn appear to be More Than Friends.
"While there I had the opportunity to be introduced to his mother, and stepfather over lunch. Then we all went shopping at Target." It was as much as shock to onlookers at the Target as it is their fans. When asked what attracts her to Vince the actress replied, "He's as funny and harming off screen as he is on screen," she said. "He's well-brought-up, polite, thoughtful, kind, and he has an old-world quality about him, like a Frank Sinatra." While following his comedy tour she attended every performance laughing, looking on as he glanced up at her balcony seat and waved. Once the shows ended she would stick around for the wrap parties. "At first we kept out distance," said Vaughn, "but we quickly warmed up to one another. Let's just say we boogied all night long on the dance floor to the song "Funkytown." Aniston had this affect on him from day one of filming The Break-Up, which the pair immediately clicked on-camera. "We loved working together!" said Aniston. "It's very palpable. During the beginning stages of filming we weren't an item," she clarified, "the was social interaction, but it wasn't overtly romantic." As rumors began to swirl - especially after the pair appeared touchy feely at the wrap party of the movie they were both quick to deny a romance going on between them. Aniston said in an earlier interview, "I adore Vince, but I'm not going out with him." During an earlier interview with Elle magazine Vaughn revealed, "She is so easy to feel drawn to. You can see why people are so enamored by her." Aniston was just as delighted with the friendship, which helped distract her from what quickly turned into the summer of "Bradjolina". "I couldn't have picked a better person to spend a few months with while I was going through all of this," she said. "Vince really looks out for me, brings out something in me that brightens me. I find myself constantly laughing when we're together. It's a joy to experience."

(2005) Derailed
[November 11, 2005] - Jennifer lands the supporting role of Lucinda Harris in the drama/thriller film 'Derailed'. The film focuses on Charles Schine; actor Clive Owens's character, an advertising executive whose marriage is deteriorating, and whose daughter Amy; actress Addison Timlin's character, suffers from diabetes, which requires expensive medical treatment. Due to her condition; her disease has caused her to have frequent breathing conditions, which prevent her from attending public schools so her father home schools her. One day while catching the commuter train to Charles forgets his wallet and is unable to pay the boarding fee. A young woman offers to pay his fee for him at no consequence. He sits next to her where she introduces herself as Lucinda Harris; Aniston's character, explaining she is an advertising executive as well, and flashes him a picture of her daughter. The two find they share things in common and Charles is ultimately taken by Lucinda with whom he begins an affair. The pair begin spending more time together: they got to a bar where he kisses her without touching her lips, and then out to a restaurant during another encounter where she talks about being married and her daughter. After days of contemplation Charles and Lucinda decide to consummate their feelings for one another by going to a seedy motel. While there they get a room, but in the process of engaging in sex they are interrupted by an armed man. The gunman breaks into their hotel room, steals Charles's wallet, knocks him out, and brutally rapes Lucinda. After Charles regains consciousness a mortified Lucinda just wants to leave. Charles attempts to plead with her saying they should report the crime to the authorities. Lucinda argues that if they do that they'll have to inform the cops what they were doing there, and she exclaims that as long as she's been married she has never lied to her husband and if she were to he would take their daughter from her.

Jennifer and Clive Owen on set of 'Derailed'
The two mutually agree not to alert the authorities, days later he is contacted by the gunman who reveals himself as Philippe LaRoche; actor Vincent Cassel's character, who blackmails Charles threatening the well being of his family if he doesn't pay LaRoche a fee of $20,000, which Charles agrees to promptly pay. He takes it out of his mortgage on the house with hopes that his wife Deanna; actress Melissa George's character, won't notice. Charles meets up with Dexter; rapper/actor Xzibit's character at the place he was told to meet up at in order to make the transfer. A month later Charles life goes from bad to worse, after LaRoche calls again only this time he requests Charles pay him $100,000. Charles explains his situation to his best friend and ex-con Winston Boyko; rapper/actor RZA, who offers to scare his attacker off. He agrees resulting in Charles embezzling the $100,000 out of the company. Thinking they have the upper hand by planning to get the drop on LaRoche, they arrive early to the meeting spot specified by him located in the slums of the city near a strip joint. As Winston is explaining the plan to Charles, LaRoche who is pissed, assassinates Winston with a single bullet to the head. He takes the money, but is angered by Charles's little scheme of having to kill for the money rather than him simply taking it. Charles dumps the car along with Winston's body in a lake hoping it will look like a suicide. Charles addresses Lucinda regarding her end of the situation and she still refuses to go to the police. She tells him she had an abortion as a part of the aftermath from their situation, and he exclaims he could've done something.

Jennifer & Clive Owen at the Derailed premiere
Detective Franklin Church; actor Giancarlo Esposito's character, begins tailing Charles in regards to Winston's death, but Charles isn't cooperative raising the detective suspicions of him being a suspect. With the help of Dexter, LaRoche terrorizes Charles and Lucinda one last time holding them both hostages at gunpoint in his apartment. LaRoche and Dexter flee the scene with a relieved Charles and Lucinda unharmed hoping the worst of this bad situation is over. Sometime later, Charles curiosity gets the better of him so be decides to stop by Lucinda's company in hopes of seeing her one last time. Once he gets to the front desk the secretary explains to him the woman he was with was only a temp pointing across the room to the real Lucinda. Realizing the woman he meet on the train is in on the scam he tracks down her location learning her real identity is Jane, seen kissing LaRoche. Aware Jane and LaRoche are pulling the con again on a different unsuspecting businessman he intervenes their plans. Charles stays one step ahead: buying a room on the same hotel floor, knocking out Dexter who is dressed as hotel security, and finally ending in gunfire; he manages to stop them. All except Charles is shot and left for dead while he flees the scene of the crime. As police investigate he is questioned then free to go. He claims his brief case at the front desk with the money still inside. The next day at work he is arrested for embezzlement and sentenced to six months of community service teaching in a prison. While in jail he reads one of the inmate's papers written about and at the end of the story it advises him to go to the laundry room. There, Charles discovers the mystery identity of the writer as LaRoche whom he thought to be dead. He tells him that Charles killed the love of his life Jane, and he plans to continue making his life a living hell because of it. Using a makeshift shank given to him earlier by Winston he stabs LaRoche repeatedly killing him. As he leaves, he encounters detective Church ho indicates that he knows LaRoche is the one who killed Winston. Charles returns home to his family reconciling with his wife and daughter. The film is directed by Mikael Hafstrom grossing $57,479,076 in box office making it a box office bomb generating negative reviews from film critic's scoring a 20% liking from audiences. Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times states, "Owens's and Aniston's performances were intriguing. Jennifer does that interesting thing of not being a stereotyped sexpot, but being irresistibly intriguing."

(2005) Rumor Has It...
[December 25, 2005] - Jennifer lands the lead role of Sarah Huttinger in the romantic/comedy 'Rumor Has It...'. Set in 1997, an obituary and wedding announcement writer for The New York Times, travels to Pasadena for her younger sister Annie's; actress Mena Suvari character, wedding accompanied by her fiance Jeff Daly; actor Mark Ruffalo's character. At a pre-wedding party, Sarah; Aniston's character, learns from her grandmother Katharine; actress Shirley MacLaine's character, which her mother Jocelyn ran off to Cabo San Lucas where she spent time with Beau Burroghs; actor Kevin Costner's character, the week before her wedding. Later Jeff points out that Sarah's parents were married just short of nine months before her birth leading her to wonder if Beau might really be hear biological father.  A paranoid Sarah asks her aunt Mitsy; actress Kathy Bate's character, questions regarding her theory, which her aunt confirms as true. Mitsy explains to Sarah that Beau was their prep school classmate. While flipping through an old year book she points out a picture of Beau with his classmate Charlie Webb one in the same as the author of the novel indicating to Sarah that her family is inspiration behind the novel as well as the '80s film 'The Graduate' starring actor Dustin Hoffman. Determined to find out more about Beau as well as her mother's past she decides to fly to San Francisco instead of back home to New York with Jeff. He supports her decision jokingly saying that a movie was based up his family as well; Titanic, explaining there was no boat, nobody died, but he did pose nude for a painting. Sarah tracks down Beau; now a highly successful - not to mention very wealthy - public speaker for Silicon Valley Internet wizard, at a seminar he is addressing. She sneaks in as part of the press, but holds all of her questions for later. Beau's business partner Roger; actor Christopher McDonald's character, pushes Beau to make a business deal with a rival company, but refuses by engaging in conversation with Sarah. He greets her telling her he's happy to have representation from Lady Liberty asking what her questions pertain to. Sarah tells him she's Jocelyn's daughter explaining that he went to prep school with her. She later point blank asks him if he is her father, and a shocked Beau tells her he the thought never crossed his mind as to why she was here. Beau explains to her it isn't possible for him to be her father due to an accident back in high school: he was goalie for the soccer team during a big game, and a player came down the field - and, "let's just say he kicked the wrong ball." His accident resulted in him suffering from blunt testicular trauma causing him to be sterile.

Jennifer and Kevin Costner on set of 'Rumor Has It'
Sarah thanks him for his time then leaves the convention center. While outside trying to hail a cab she breaks down in tears. Beau joins her outside comforting her offering to cheer her up. The two go out for drinks, talk for hours, dance to the jukebox tune of a Randy Travis song, and end up kissing. The following morning Sarah awakes in Beau's bed at his Half Moon Bay home where she recovers from a hangover with Aspirin and coffee, compliments of Beau. Jeff's cell phone rings, but she is occupied unable to answer. Jeff continues calling with an operator answering refusing to give out Beau's information, but he argues that his fiancee is with Beau and he is beginning to worry something bad has happened to Sarah. Although guilt-stricken by her behavior she allows Beau to convince her to accompany him to a Charity Ball. The two laugh, and carry on making fun of guests: a woman with back cleavage, a man with a bad comb-over's, and a guy with a George Hamilton tan who turns out to be George Hamilton. Beau mingles with other people leaving Sarah alone at their table. A young man sits down across from her and just as he is about to leave he tells her he was looking for his father, but it appears he's nowhere in sight. Sarah asks which man his father is with the young man replying: Beau Burroughs. This causes Sarah to become disgusted with herself as well as begin to question her actions given the recent events. Out of disgust she shutters as Beau approaches her from behind wondering what's with her odd behavior. She him that his son came looking for him accusing Beau of being a "sick man". Beau corrects Sarah explaining: "Blake - the young man - is not my biological son. His wife very much wanted to have a baby, but knew it wasn't possible." She then asks Beau if Kevin is adopted, which he denies with Sarah exclaiming her life is no longer like The Graduate it's more like Deliverance. Beau continues saying, "I and my wife consulted with a donor. Blake doesn't know he isn't my biological son, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him otherwise." Sarah promises to keep Beau's secret from Scott apologizing for calling him a "sick man" by showering him with compliments.

Jennifer & Mark Ruffalo at the Rumor Has It premiere
The two further reconcile by sharing a kiss, which Jeff witnesses exclaiming, "I hope that's not your father!" He leaves furious at what he's witnessed with Sarah chasing after him. She explains that she feels as though she's been possessed by this person who is scared, confused and screwed up, begging Jeff not to go. He asks her to marry him on the spot, but she doesn't answer causing him to leave. Dejected, Sarah returns to visit Katharine, who flies into a rage after she learns that Sarah has slept with Beau. The two receive a phone call from Sarah's father Earl; actor Richard Jenkins's character, who informs them that Annie had an anxiety attack while boarding the plane for her honeymoon and requested to talk to her sister. While consoling her sister she tells her about the relationship she, their mother, and their grandmother have all had with Beau. Katharine spots Beau outside of the house where she pursues him antagonizing him with questions regarding why he chose Jocelyn over her. She asks him if he knows how old her made her feel by doing that pointing out that he is about the age she was all those years ago when the two of them had an affair. Katharine tells him off by saying she guesses that there comes a time when everyone has someone in their lives that reminds them of how old they really are. Just as she makes the comment Sarah arrives outside followed by her father. We learn that Earl is the cause of Beau's blunt testicular trauma - he is the soccer player who kicked the wrong ball all those years ago. Sometime later Earl explains to Sarah that he is in fact her biological father and known about their mother's affair with Beau for quite some time. He explained the reason Jocelyn returned was because though she found adventure in Beau, she knew she could settle and start a life with him. Meanwhile, in New York she confronts Jeff about her feelings towards their engagement agreeing to marry on the condition that if they ever have a daughter, she won't be allowed anywhere near Beau. The finale scene shows Sarah and Jeff's wedding. The film is directed by Rob Reiner grossing $88,933,562 in box office making it a box office bomb generating negative reviews from film critic's scoring a 20% liking from audiences. Despite it being a box office bomb, film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the film positively saying, "The plot sounds like a gimmick, but it works for good reasons. It's not a great movie, however it is very watchable and the casting of Aniston is crucial because she's not only is she the heroine of the story she also has the presence to pull it off."

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2006 - The Break-Up: A Year After Brad
PEOPLE magazine: How Jen Is Coping
[February 6, 2006] - Jennifer appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining How Jen Is Coping. In this exclusive interview she talks about focusing on building a life beyond the fast lane, healing a rift with her estranged mother; Nancy Dow, and finding happiness with a man who makes her smile; actor/comedian Vince Vaughn.

article by: Karen S. Schneider

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 65 - No. 5
"January 21 the actress attended the premiere of her low-budget comedy Friends with Money, which opened the 19th during the Sundance Film Festival. In an earlier statement she issued regarding her personal life the actress replied, "I love work! I love work when things are crappy and I love work when things are great!" She signed autographs for fans with a smile on her face. Her current films has her playing a pothead who quit her job as a school teacher becoming a maid a role Aniston calls, "Beautifully written," and "a relevant impression of human beings relating to each other." Just like the rest of the planet - the media wanted to know how she was feeling regarding the recent headlines about her ex, Brad Pitt and actress Angelina Jolie having a baby. Aniston was prepared for a siege as she arrived to the Sundance premiere. Though she left her beau of six months, Vince Vaughn, back in Los Angeles, she was always well protected by close friends including her co-stars actresses Catherine Keener and Joan Cusack. She chatted with both of them while in the audience awaiting the screening of the film ignoring the fact that every camera was focuses on her. Once Aniston joined her cast mates for a panel discussion on stage for a press conference she sat quietly while the other answered questions regarding the movie. She made no attempt to hid her weariness with of the spotlight daily "Bradjolina" has created for her regarding headlines about them expecting. "Headlines accused me of toying with the idea of leaving the Los Angeles area hoping to get some sort of escape from the glare of it all," she said. "That is untrue. I'm better than ever! In fact a few days ago I and Vince sat down at a restaurant enjoying a late-night dinner with each other." How about the news regarding your ex having a baby with Jolie? "Brad was kind enough to inform me through his representative before I found out the news from reporters or tabloids," said Aniston. "My initial reaction...tears. I was very upset and crying, but by the time the world knew I had more than bounced back. I am fine about them expecting. I've moved on. I really have. I'm very happy with my life right now." Much of the credit goes to the 6'5" party boy who has become a fixture in the actress's life. "Vince is a caretaker by nature," she said. "Work prevented him from accompanying me at the film festival premiere, but he has been staying with me at my home. We've become inseparable: By night we share margaritas, and listening to '80s tunes. By day we go on hikes together," she said. You've been accused of being nothing more than a rebound romance for each other is that the case? 

Jen faces her future with the help of Vince Vaughn.
"We are so much more than that," she protests, "we met at a time when I needed someone to make me smile. Vince did a really good job of lifting my spirits, and how it's evolved into a true love affair." "We barely knew each other when we first began filming The Break-Up together in Chicago last June," she explained. Casting director Jonathan Kinnas shares his insight about the couple, "It's a classic case of opposites attracting," he said. "She's son tiny, and he's so giant, in size and personality. Vince is a partier while Jennifer is on the quiet side. There was no real chemistry between the two while filming until the wrap party. The pair were very chummy causing the crew to wonder." As Aniston and Vaughn grew close to each other question arose as to how she could go from loving someone who looked life Brad to someone who looked like Vince. What do you see in Vince? "He's got fortitude and a resolute in life, but it really comes down to the simple fact that he makes me laugh." After a year of melodrama, laughter is what Aniston was seeking. "I want to find peace," she told reporters back in December. "I just want to be happy." In regards to her divorce from Pitt and him moving on with the confirmed pregnant Jolie she called these times the, "best of times and the worst of times." "I toughed out the trauma with a sort of Zen resignation. My survival mantra has been simple: Sit it in, be with it, and be in it. There is such a freedom in a weird way to say to myself, 'Look, here I am, this is it.' You move through it faster. Where I am heading is unclear at the moment, but I'd like to think my future today bears little resemblance to life years ago." Aside from the media uproar of "Bradjolina" Aniston has also dealt with disappointment in the box office: drama/thriller Derailed and romantic/comedy Rumor Has It did exactly hit big in the box office. As to how her fans will respond to her current projects Friends with Money and The Break-Up are unknown, but she feels that they well definitely determine her viability as a Hollywood star. "As much as I love my line of work," she said in an earlier interview, "there is so much else that's now interesting to me." Aniston has finally reconnected with her mother, Nancy Dow, with whom she was estranged from for years. After the vantage from her own divorce Jennifer looked anew with her own mother, who split from her father when she was just nine. "I'm eager to begin the next chapter in my life," said the actress, "I just came to the realization that I can move; I don't have to live here [Los Angeles]. That's just dawning to me. Knowing that alone has made this year so much more fun for me!" Aniston still hopes to start a family confirming she and Vince aren't trying for a baby they're simply enjoying each other."

Jennifer at the 78th Annual Academy awards
[March 5, 2006] - The 37-year old actress attends the 78th Annual Academy awards as a presenter appearing solo on the red carpet. The ceremony was hosted by talk show host/comedian Jon Stewart held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Jennifer presented the Oscar for Best Costume Design of the Year awarded to costume designer Colleen Atwood for her work in the drama film 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. Other Oscar award winning films include drama/romance film 'Brokeback Mountain', drama/crime film 'Crash', drama/adventure film 'King Kong', and drama film 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. 'Brokeback Mountain' received three of its eight Academy award nominations including Best Director of the Year awarded to director Ang Lee, Best Adapted Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriters Larry McMarty and Diana Ossana, and Best Original Score of the Year awarded to composer Gustavo Santaolalia. 'Crash' received three of its six Academy award nominations include Best Film of the Year awarded to producers Paul Haggis and Cathy Shulman, Best Original Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Robert Moresco, Best Film Editing of the Year awarded to film editor Hughes Winbourne. 'King Kong' received three of its four Academy award nominations including Best Sound Editing of the Year awarded to sound editors Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn, Best Sound Mixing of the Year awarded to sound mixers Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek, and Best Visual Effects of the Year awarded to visual effects artists Joe Jetterin, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor.  

Jennifer presenting the award for Best Costume Design
'Memoirs of a Geisha' was awarded three of its six Academy award nominations including Best Art Direction of the Year awarded to art directors John Myhre and set director Gretchen Rau, Best Cinematography of the Year awarded to cinematographer Dion Beebe, and Best Costume Design of the Year; previously mentioned. Biographical film 'Capote' received one of its five Academy award nominations including Best Lead Actor of the Year awarded to actor Philip Seymour Hoffman for his performance as Truman Capote. Drama/musical film 'Walk the Line' received one of its five Academy award nominations including Best Lead Actress of the Year awarded to actress Reese Witherspoon for her performance as June Carter-Cash. Geographical/thriller film 'Syriana' received one of its two Academy award nominations including Best Supporting Actor of the Year awarded to actor George Clooney for his performance as Bob Barnes. Drama/thriller film 'The Constant Gardener' received one of its four Academy award nominations including Best Supporting Actress of the Year awarded to actress Rachel Weisz for her performance as Tessa Quayle. Animated/comedy film 'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' received the Academy award for Best Animated Feature film of the Year awarded to producers Nick Park and Steve Box. Foreign film 'Tsotsi' received the Academy award for Best Foreign Language film of the Year awarded to director Gavin Hood. Documentary film 'March of the Penguins' received the Academy award for Best Documentary Feature film of the Year awarded to director Luc Jacquet. Documentary Short film 'A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin' received the Academy award for Best Documentary Short Feature film of the Year awarded to producers Corinne Marriana and Eric Simonson. Short film 'Six Shooter' received the Academy award for Best Live Action Short film of the Year awarded to director Martin McDonagh. Animated short film 'The Moon and The Son: An Imagined Conversation' received the Academy award for Best Animated Short film of the Year awarded to producers John Canemaker and Peggy Stern. Indie/drama film 'Hustle & Flow' received the Academy award for Best Original Song of the Year "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" awarded to songwriters Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, and Paul Beauregard.

(2006) Friends with Money
[April 7, 2006] - The actress lands the lead role in the indie comedy-drama ensemble cast film 'Friends with Money'. Set in Los Angeles, California a young woman Olivia; Aniston's character, who quit her previous job as a school teacher becomes a maid cleaning other people's houses in order to make ends meet. Meanwhile, her wealthier more successful group of supportive friends Franny; actress Joan Cusack's character, a stay at home mom with a large trust fund married to Matt; actor Greg Germann's character, an accountant. Christine; actress Catherine Keener's character, a successful television writer married to David; actor Jason Isaacs's character, Christine's writing partner. Jane; actress Frances McDormand's character, a fashion designer married to Aaron; actor Simon Burney's character, who owns his own fashion line of socks. Each of her friends have already loaned her their fair share of respectable amounts of money in the past. On top of that Olivia steals from the people's homes she cleans; mostly cosmetic products, smokes weed; one of her clients has a stash of it in their refrigerator, and stalks a married man with whom she had an affair; she constantly calls him, but hangs up and sometime later pursues him by car. At this point in her life she feels that she can't find love or money resorting to questionable tactics to satisfy both. Olivia's friend's lives aren't as seemingly perfect as they appear either: Christine and David are constantly at odds with each other arguing about the direction of the current script they are writing, he isn't considerate enough to ask, "Are you okay?" when she injures herself, he pokes fun at her weight, and she unknowingly agrees to a house renovation from hell; which involves adding a third story to their home blocking their neighbors view of the city. Franny and Matt appear content with their lives, but tension arises over her inheritance money - she'd like to spend it wisely, but he would rather burn it. On top of that her friends argue she shouldn't let him smoke, but she doesn't protest otherwise. However, their problems are solved by their sex life. Jane and Aaron deal with wanting to have another child - he wants to, but she feels she is too old. She finds that the older she gets the more unpleasant she becomes to be around; refuses to wash her hair, causes hostile arguments, and learns it's all due to her going through premenopausal. Jane also deals with her friends accusing her husband of being gay because he has good taste in fashion.

Joan, Catherine, Jennifer, and Frances on set of 'Friends with Money'
While cloths shopping Aaron is flirted with by another male customer who asks him out for a cup of coffee. He tells the gentlemen he is married with the guy commenting to him, "the guy that you're married to is one lucky man,". Later Aaron runs into another gentleman who's name is also Aaron; actor Ty Burrell's character, with whom he spends time with at the movies and dinner. Out of sympathy for Olivia, Franny sets her up on a date with her personal trainer Mike; actor Scott Caan's character. The two go out to lunch, but he is the least bit interest in her especially after he spots an old friend. He joins his friend at their table instead leaving Olivia alone to pick up the tab. As she leaves the diner he chases after he apologizing asking her to give him another chance. Olivia takes Mike with her to work so he can observe because he is in disbelief that she is a maid for a living. He offers to help her clean so she tasks him with cleaning the refrigerator. While going through the fridge all he finds are low carb, non-fat products until he stumbles on the stash of weed. Mike asks if Olivia has ever smoked it, but she denies his accusations. He stops her from cleaning and the two dance in the kitchen. Sometime later Mike offers her a job as a personal trainer explaining she could make twice as much as she does now with him putting her through training. Eventually Olivia quits training with Mike because she finds it too vigorous a career to her liking. She also stops dating him; he takes half of her pay as his own even though he does little to no work, and Olivia comes to the realization he is only in it for the sex. After the holiday months she gains a new client Marty; actor Bob Stephenson's character, who appears to be leading as miserable a life comparable to hers.

Jennifer at the Friends with Money premiere
While giving her sales pitch, out of pity she allows him to take money off of the original price she usually takes. Jane ends up on the hospital after an accident: while trying to return items to the GAP people line jump her and she causes a scene ending with her being escorted out of the store, walking into a glass door resulting in her breaking her nose. Her friends arrive at the hospital with Olivia being the last one to show. Franny and Christine discuss with her that she may want to get her priorities in order if she is ever to settle down. This causes Olivia to be upset at her friends with her protesting that she is sorry that she doesn't have her life figured out just yet. Christine invites the others to attend a charity benefit dinner and Olivia decides to take Marty as her guest. The four friends along with their significant others enjoy an evening of laughter, dinning out, and catching up. Jane provided their apparel from her fashion line telling them that it's on the house none of them have to pay her back; which mostly implies to Olivia. The film ends with Christine and David breaking up, however, she goes through with the renovations. Franny and Matt get over their differences about her inheritance coming to the ultimately deciding less is more coming to the mutual agreement to control their spending habits. Jane and Aaron help each other cope with her lack of hygiene, fear of getting older, and his sexuality. Olivia and Marty are happily content they found each other revealing he isn't employed due to inheritance money of his own. The film is directed by Nicole Holofcener grossing $18,245,244 in box office generating positive reviews from film critic's scoring a 72% liking from audiences. A general film critics consensus states, "Strong lead performances, witty dialogue and wry observations cement 'Friends with Money' as another winning dramedy from writer/director Nicole Holofcener." Film critic Jonathan Rosebaum of the Chicago Reader says, "Jennifer Aniston comes into her own with this funny and sensitive comedy about four lifelong friends." Film critic Phoebe Flowers of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says, "The performances are uniformely excellent - this is easily Aniston's best work - but there is the unshakeable senese that Holofcener has spread herself too thin trying to tell too many stories."

Vogue magazine: Jennifer: Don't Feel Sorry For Me!
[April 28, 2006] - The film star appears on the cover of Vogue magazine headlining Jennifer Aniston: Don't Feel Sorry for Me!. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about moving on with her 'The Break-Up' co-star actor/comedian Vince Vaughn from her divorce with Brad Pitt, how she's handling the new headlines regarding her ex's and Angelina's baby news, and loving life telling media as well as her fans, "Don't feel sorry for me!".

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Link: http://www.vogue.com/magazine/

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VOGUE magainze
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Entertainment Weekly: All About Their 'Break-Up'
[June 2, 2006] - Jennifer appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine with Vince Vaughn headlining All About Their 'Break-Up'. In this exclusive interview in the on-screen/off-screen couple talk about their romantic-comedy as well as their real life relationship.

article by: Joshua Rich

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Vol. 879 - No. 1
"You've read all about them in the tabloids, and watched Lord knows how many reports about their romance on television, but here's one fact about Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn that you probably haven't heard a lot: They make one hell of an odd couple. This was evident as each was interviewed as separate times to discuss the romantic/comedy, which they met a year ago. Not one to enjoy sharing details of his personal life, the actor/comedian says, "Feel free to ask me anything." Hey, man, don't worry, we will. As ironic titles go, The Break-Up is a doozy. Both Aniston and Vaughn have been trying to keep their relationship quiet, but their unmitigated failure to do so has made their movie one of the most buzzed-about films of the summer. Aside from the box office comedy hit Bruce Almighty back in (2003) Aniston's film career has yet to soar. Lately the actress has had a string of box office bombs: (2005) drama/thriller Derailed, (2005) romantic/comedy Rumor Has It, and now Friends with Money, which all failed to announce her arrival as a movie star. "I'm not sitting there trying to figure out ways to get people to go in a see my movies," she said. "The last couple I've done have not been successful, but I didn't do them thinking, they would be a success or not. You never know." Vaughn has proven to show clout by assembling projects like his live road production of Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show as well as conceiving the idea of The Break-Up, which has solidified both his audience appeal as well as his industry power. "It marks a big moment in my career," Vaughn said of doing the film. "This is a movie I put together on my own, produced it, came up with the story, and hired everybody. I feel like I really made something happen." He admitted to having Jennifer in mind for the part of Brooke Meyers the character that is opposite of his own. "When casting her there was no second choice," he said. Aniston says, "My real-life woes had nothing to do with my decision on taking on this film project. It wasn't like anybody came up to me and said, 'Who's an actress who's going through a really painful public break-up that they could cast in this movie?' ". 

Vince Vaughn & Jennifer (2006)
"Everyone was so nervous to come to me with a movie called The Break-Up, thinking, 'She'll never do that!' I went, 'You've gotta be kidding. Really?' Of course, with me, I didn't think, 'How dare they' I actually thought, 'that sounds really funny!" said Aniston. How did you come to the resolution where you said to yourself, okay, I can do this. "I didn't know I could. I didn't want to take advantage of my divorce, but then I thought, 'Well, there's a reason this movie came to me at this time," said Jennifer. Would you say doing this movie was cathartic? "It was," said the actress, "it's not always you have the opportunity to go through a break-up and then shoot a movie called The Break-Up. I just find it luck, good luck, truthfully. Because I was able to exorcise something quicker. I had a little bit of a well to dip into." "I hope aside from all of the tabloid circus that's going on with stories juggling around, people just want to see me happy with Aniston," said Vaughn. "You can't really be like, 'Oh, I'm an actor, I'm being followed by the paparazzi and it's horrible.' I just like to think that the paparazzi are bounty hunter bounty hunting for a picture, and it that gets higher they're prepared to do more and more," says Vaughn. He adds philosophically, "In the scheme of life, it's ridiculous." Earlier you told us to feel free to ask you anything so this is us asking if you're dating Jennifer. "I'm dating her. There." he says sarcastically joking.  Sarcasm aside he replies, "You know, here's my answer to that stuff: I'm not a person who discusses all of the ins and outs of what's going on with me because I feel like it betrays something that's mine, that's special to me. It's private, it's my stuff, and ultimately if people know or don't it won't change their lives. Aniston is almost a year into a relationship that's under scrutiny. The fact that people will be watching The Break-Up to get a sense of her chemistry with Vince disappoints her. "I didn't shoot this movie so that people would go see it because it reflects what's happening in my private life," she said, "I'd like to be give a little bit more credit. I know that that's been said, but I don't give a sh*t what people think. I do movie roles based on what speaks to me, and what I feel I could do a good job at. This just happens to be that." In regards to her real life break-up Aniston has been portrayed as the victim, but she said her decision to play a spurned and sometimes vengeful lover in The Break-Up was not retaliation. "There's nothing that's new information about my divorce," she said."

(2006) The Break-Up
[June 2, 2006] - Jennifer lands the lead role of Brooke Meyers in the romantic/comedy film 'The Break-Up'. Set in Chicago, Illinois Gary Grobowski; actor/comedian Vince Vaughn's character, a tour guide for his family business, and Brooke Meyer's; Aniston's character, a manager at an art gallery owned by Marilyn Dean; actress Judy Davis's character. Gary and Brooke first met at Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs baseball game. From then on they begin dating becoming a couple, eventually moving in together into a condominium they purchase. One evening while preparing for a dinner party Brooke is racing around trying to put the finishing touches on everything. Gary comes home after a long day at work handing her a bag of lemons before relaxing in the living room. She discovers that there are only three lemons in the bag rather than twelve, which were required for her centerpiece. Gary argues she could add it to the chicken for flavor making for a better meal verses using the lemons as something visually nice to look at. Brooke urges Gary to shower before the guests arrive because she'd hate to answer the door and still be preparing the meal. The couple argue about who pulls more weight in their relationship escalating to: "Why can't you do this one thing for me?" They make it through dinner, but afterwards Gary not offering to help her with the dishes is Brooke's final straw. Earlier she exclaimed to him that it would be nice if he helped her with the dishes, but he ultimately refused simply wanting to continue to relax, but eventually gives in to her pleading. She tells him that she doesn't want him to help her just because she asked him to, but rather it would be nice he did so on his own. Brooke then lectures Gary that it would be nice if he did a lot of things without her having to ask. It all comes back to the lemons: She wishes that he'd bought her the ammount she asked for, and he in turn wishes he'd brought a hundred lemons and everyone at dinner had their own individual bag of lemons had he know it would be this beig a deal. Gary becomes frustrated with her with him viewing Brooke as having a controlling, perfectionist attitude, and expresses his desires to have a little more freedom particularly not appreciating her nagging him when he comes home from work and tries to unwind. He tells her off stating, "All I ask Brooke is that you show a little bit of appreciation. That I just get 2-minutes to relax when I get home instead of being attacked with questions, and nagged the whole day: 'the bathrooms a mess, your belt doesn't match, hey Gary you should probably go workout'. Nothing I ever do is good enough! I just want to be left the hell alone!"

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer on set of 'The Break-Up'
Brooke protests that she doesn't feel appreciated while criticizing Gary who she views as immature as well as unwillingness to work on improving their relationship. She stands in shock at what he told her then furiously walks up to him telling Gary off, "Really? Is that what you want Gary? Is that what you want? That's what you want. Fine. Great. Do whatever the hell you want. You leave your socks all over this house, dress like a pig, play your stupid ass video games. I don't care I'm done." Gary is in disbelief at what Brooke has told him as she continues yelling at him: "I am done. I don't deserve this, I really do not deserve this. I deserve somebody who gives a shit. I'm not spending one more second of this life with some inconsiderate prick. You're a prick!" Gary leaves the condo to take a walk then confides in his friend Johnny Ostrofski; actor/comedian Jon Favreau, his side of things. Meanwhile, Brooke calls her friend Addie; actress Joey Lauren Adams, explaining she broke-up with Gary, but wishes she hadn't. Brooke wants Gary to want to make their relationship work. With each refusing to willingly move out of their shared condominium, they compromise by becoming roommates: he resorts to living as well as sleeping in the livingroom on the pullout couch while she stays in their bedroom. However, in order to provoke the other into moving out they begin acting out: Brooke goes on a string of dates inviting them over to the condo for Gary to witness with hopes of making him jealous, she manages to get their bowling team to turn against him voting him off of the team, and allows her brother Richard's; actor John Michael Higgins, vocal group The Tone Rangers; which Gary despises, to rehearse loudly in her bedroom.

Jennifer at The Break-Up premiere
Gary sabotoges Brooke by replacing the dinning room table with a pool table despite Brooks wishes, he holds a strip poker tournament inviting his brother Lupus; actor Cole Hauser's character, and his friend Johnny who hook him up with some strippers, and Gary refuses to clean up after himself. While at work Christopher; actor Justin Long's character, tries to cheer Brooke up. Marilyn Dean fires Brooke telling her she gave Brooke time off from work to grieve about her break-up. Marilyn Dean gives Brooke the name of a spa informing her to get her canvassed waxed to show Gary what he's missing. The next night after showering Brooke walks naked through the condo to get a soft drink from the refrigerator while Gary watches in shock. In order to keep up appearances with their friends they go ahead with hosting game night at their condo. While playing charades Gary pokes fun at Brooke's artistic abilities in front of their friends ending in an argument. Their friend Mark Riggleman; actor/comedian Jason Bateman's character, who is also their realtor suggests they each move on and move out because it would be best for both of them. Mark calls Brooke informing her he's sold the condo and she and Gary have two weeks to move out. At a last stitch effort to reconcile their relationship Brooke invites Gary to an Old 97's concert explaining that she has an extra ticket with hopes he will recognize the gesture. Agreeing to meet her there, Gary misses the hidden agenda as well as the concert leaving Brooke heartbroken. While she is at the concert Gary is at the bar with his friend Johnny who points out that the whole time Gary's been in a relationship with Brooke he's always had his guard up. Johnny also points out how selfish Gary is explaining that Brooke never stood a chance emotional intimacy wise with him because she wore her heart on her sleeve and he never returned the feeling. Once Gary returns home from the bar he hears a weeping Brooke in her bedroom. He offers solace, but she doesn't want to be bothered by him advising him to leave her alone. She composes herself long enough to tell him: "I just don't know how we got here. Our entire relationship, I have gone above and beyond for you, for us. I've cooked for you, I've picked up your sh*t off the floor, I've laid your cloths out for you like you're a four-year old. I support you, I supported you work. If we ever had dinner or anything I did the plans, I take care of everything. And I just don't feel like you appreciate any of it. I dont feel you appreciate me. All I want is to know, is for you to show me that you care."

People's Choice award - Favorite Female Movie Star
Gary cleans up his act by doing as those around him have been asking and expecting of him: at work he files all of his unlogged tours as his brother Dennis; actor Vincent D'Onofrio requested for the past few weeks, he also prepares a home cooked meal for Brooke and him to make for a romantic evening together; something she always wanted him to do for her. Things go accordingly until she arrives home from work with a guy. Gary expresses his true feelings towards Brooke, but she tells him that she doesn't feel the same way about him. He leaves allowing her and her guest to enjoy the rest of their evening together before Brooke has the chance to further explain herself. The gentleman with her is actually a client interested in a piece of art that hangs above the dinning room entryway. Brooke and Gary manage to get all of their belongings out of the condo before the two week deadline. Brooke quits her job a Marilyn Dean to pursue spending time traveling in Europe. Gary takes a move active role in his tour guide business expanding from tour buses to boat tours as well. Sometime in the winter the two meet up on the streets of Chicago as he is out grocery shopping and she is on her way to a meeting. The two embrace in a hug, chat for a while complimenting each other's appearance, and go on their way. Each glances over their shoulder exchanging smiles with Gary winking at Brooke. The film is directed by Peyton Reed grossing $204,999,686 in box office generating negative reviews from film critics scoring a 33% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states, "This anti-romantic comedy lacks both laughs and insights, resulting in an odd and unsatisfying experience." Film critic Tony Horkins of Empire magazine says, " 'The Break-Up' doesn't turn the rom-com on its head, but with its focus on the darker side of love manages to gently tip it on its side." Film critic Peter Howell of the Toronto Star says, "It's the most interesting spin on domestic strife since actor Michael Douglas and actress Kathleen Turner were hurling dishes at each other in 'The War of the Roses' ". Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader says, "It's full of pain and quirky characters, standing at oblique angles to one another, and while it doesn't add up it held me throughout." In efforts of her performance Jennifer won the People's Choice award for Favorite Female Movie Star, and won the Teen Choice award for Best Chemistry shared with her co-star Vince Vaughn. She was also nominated for a People's Choice award for Favorite On-Screen Match-Up shared with Vince Vaughn, and nominated for a Teen Choice award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy.

PEOPLE magazine: Is Vince The One?
[July 26, 2006] - The film star appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Is Vince The One?. In this exclusive interview Jennifer talks about the engagement rumors denying that she and Vince are engaged, and reveals the truth about her private romance.

article by: Karen S. Schneider

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 66 - No. 4
"Lately Jennifer's 6'5" funny man hasn't exactly been partying or enjoying the nightlife out in Carthage, South Dakota where he is shooting drama film Into the Wild directed by actor Sean Penn. Vince has managed to occupy his time bowling and playing poker, but not with his usual zest. "This is not my kind of place," said Vaughn. "I don't mind the great out doors, but this is ridiculous." Meanwhile, Aniston is awaiting his return back at her Malibu home missing her man. "I rang the front desk at the Holiday In Express where the cast was staying for a few days," she said. "At the time my cell phone wasn't working," recalled Vaughn, "so she made contact with me through my drivers number. Her calls helped make my time on the prairie a little less lonely." Until recently, though, the high-powered pair hasn't had enough time apart to miss each other. One year after getting together on the set of The Break-Up, Jennifer and Vince have outlasted cynics who dismissed their relationship as merely a rebound romance or on-set affair. During a Mexican getaway last month the couple rarely ventured out, spending most of their time at the Punta de Mita estate of Girls Gone Wild producer Joe Francis. Once the trip was over and they made it back home Aniston and Vaughn mutually agreed to keep a low profile. "When the walk outside, they are so aware of paparazzi and know not to do anything. No even hold hands," says a source close to the couple. "When they're in private, they are very affectionate." This begs another question regarding the 9.5 carat yellow diamond ring he gave her while the pair was in Europe promoting The Break-Up. So what of rumors Vince popped the question? "The engagement stories are fabricated," said Aniston, "such talk about it is silly."

Vince and Jennifer's relationship makes for A Fine Romance.
Still, there is no doubt that their relationship has shifted into something serious, evidence in party by Aniston's willingness to troop along with Vaughn to view Chicago real estate, and a recent openness on the part of the pair to discuss one another. While promoting The Break-Up Vince said of Jennifer, "She's the most sincere woman I know. She doesn't lie, she has a good heart." In an earlier interview with Harper BAZAAR magazine Aniston spoke of Vaughn, "He's a very deep human being. He's incredibly smart, loves history, is protective, and very loyal to his family and friends. Plus he's hilarious, and makes me laugh which is a big part of my attraction towards him." Now when Vaughn visits home, he is more likely to catch a Cubs game with her, as they did on Memorial Day, than hit the singles' scene. As Vaughn said during a red carpet interview, "My mother, who's impatient, asks me all of the time, 'When am I going to stop working so hart so that you can give me grandchildren?'. I tell her the time may be nearing. As I get older I'm becoming more open to the idea of meeting the right person and starting a family." Could that person be Jennifer, we can only wonder. Jennifer has said in the past that she's a self-professed control freak when it comes to eating right, working out, and scour in the kitchen before she goes to bed. Whereas Vince has admitted to eating too much, smoking too much, and drinking more than a person should. "I like that Jen can see beyond all of that," said Vaughn. That kindness plays well with Aniston, who recently has had a tumultuous personal life. "I know I've said in other interviews that I want to remarry, but I'm approaching intimacy with caution," explained the actress. "You've got to feel safe with somebody." she added, "and that's worth more than any ring." The bond between Aniston and Vaughn, which began, as he said, "instant chemistry", has now grown into something diamonds can't outshine."

PEOPLE magazine: Defending Their Love
[October 30, 2006] - Jennifer appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Defending Their Love. In this exclusive interview the couple talks about setting the record straight denying rumors regarding that the couple are breaking up as, "So false". Meanwhile, Vince deals with the rumors regarding he has been unfaithful to Jennifer as, "Lies."

article by: Jason Lynch

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 66 - No. 18
"In the movies Vaughn's characters are perceived as talking a mile a minute where as Vaughn himself is a man of decidedly few words - especially when it comes to his girlfriend, Jennifer Aniston. Vince rarely gabs about their yearlong relationship, even to close pals. "He'd rather talk about sports and beer," said his close friend actor/comedian Jon Favreau. "Until October 16, that is, when Vaughn reacted chivalrously to tabloid reports that he and his co-star in The Break-Up had, indeed, broken up. "While in London filming the holiday/comedy, Fred Claus, I phoned my lawyers, who issued a statement saying, 'I am the partner of Jennifer Aniston,' and will be filing a "legal complaint" against The Sun, the Daily Mirror, and the New York Post, which ran all ran stories alleging the pair were on the rocks. Furthermore, "Ms. Aniston and Mr. Vaughn had not ended their relationship either at the material time of the articles or since." Translation: Jen and Vince are still going strong. Across the pond Aniston denied a rift on Oprah, telling Winfrey, "No, no," when asked about a split and adding sweetly, "Vince is a regular guy." For the two stars, who are famously reluctant to even acknowledge their relationship publicly, such declarations are practically Shakespearean love sonnets. They come even as the pair weathers an extended period apart. 

Amongst an anatomy of rumors the couple say, "Break-up? No Way!"
Vaughn has been in London and will reportedly stay there through December; Aniston has been at home in Los Angeles. "We are fine despite the distance," she said, "don't believe the hype." So was there any truth to the rumors of trouble in paradise? "I will confirm that we did experience a "cooling off" period late last summer over where we should take our relationship," said Aniston. Something that the former Friends star character, Rachel Green, called "taking a break". Still, they are now making it clear that they're hanging in, and aren't thrilled by the rumors about the so-called "mystery blonde" Vaughn was photographed with embracing in London October 8. "British tabloids spun the snapshot into an indiscretion," said Vaughn, "all I was doing was giving a goodbye peck on the check - to happily married might I mention - Kate Pakenham, the producer of 24 Hour Plays." "To suggest that he was having a passionate embrace and kiss, or has even been unfaithful to Ms. Aniston is false," said Vaughn's attorney. That sorted, Vince and Jennifer are keeping busy while apart. He served as the life of the party during the after party for 24 Hours of Play. She enjoyed dinner with friends at a restaurant bash for Room 10, the short film Aniston co-directed with close friend Andrea Buchanan. As engagement reports gain momentum, Aniston sets the record straight telling reporters, "I'm not engaged."  

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2007: A Well Deserved Career Hiatus
Dirt Season 1 episode "Ita Missa Est"
[March 27, 2007] - The 38-year old actress guest stars as Tina Herrod season 1 episode "Ita Missa Est" on the FX drama television series 'Dirt'. This marks Jennifer's first television series appearance since the season 10 finale episode of 'Friends' in 2004. "Ita Missa Est" is the season finale episode of season one airing to a total of 2.4 million viewers tuning into see Don Konkey's; actor Ian Hart's character, mental disorder worsen as he wonders into the desert. While out there he is haunted by a vision of Holt McLaren; actor Josh Stewart's character, Kira Klay; actress Shannyn Sossamon's character, and his own evil self urging him to kill Lucy; actress Courteney Cox's character, the shows main protagonist. Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, California, Lucy feels her job is in jeopardy once Tina; Aniston's character, a rival tabloid magazine editor, arrives wanting to apply for her job. Willa McPherson; actress Alex Breckenridge's character, investigates the death of a fashion model during a high profile runaway show. Brent Barrow; actor Jeffry Nordling's character, finally decides to move on beginning to focus his attention on another sexual conquest: Lucy. Elsewhere, Holt moves out of Julia's; actress Laura Allen's character, house while she finally learns about his romantic involvement with Lucy leading the unbalanced Julia to take matters into her own hands. Lucy's stalker is finally revealed.

Jennifer at the 18th Annual GLAAD Media awards
[April 14, 2007] - Jennifer attends the 18th Annual GLAAD Media awards where she is awarded the Vanguard award in honor of Special recognition for being a member of the entertainment community making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT people. The ceremony took place in Los Angeles, California held at the Kodak Theater. The GLAAD Media award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as well as the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television the award also recognizes achievements in other branches of the media arts including theater, music, journalism and advertising. Other GLAAD Media award Special recognition award recipients include singer Patti LaBelle awarded the Excellence in Media award, fashion designer Tom Ford awarded the Vito Russo award, professional tennis player Martina Navratilova awarded the Stephen K. Kolzak award, writer/journalist Jaime Bayly awarded the Visibilidad award, actor Robert Gant awarded the Davidson/Vanlentini award, stand-up comedienne Kate Cliton, activists Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin awarded the Pioneer award, and late night talk show 'The Colbert Report' received the Secial Recognition award. GLAAD Media award winning films include comedy film 'Little Miss Sunshine' and drama film 'Quinceanera'. 'Little Miss Sunshine' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Film of the Year - Wide Release, and 'Quinceanera' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Film of the Year - Limited Release.

GLAAD Media award - Vanguard award
GLAAD Media award winning television programs include ABC's drama series 'Brothers & Sisters', ABC's comedy series 'Ugly Betty', ABC's medical drama/romance series 'Grey's Anatomy', Lifetime's television movie 'A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story', HBO's documentary 'All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise', Bravo's reality television comeptition series 'Project Runway', ABC's daytime soap opera series 'All My Children', ABC's daytime talk show 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', ABC's late night news series 'Nightline', and MTV's journalism television series 'MTV News: The Amazing Break'. 'Brothers & Sisters' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Drama Series of the Year awarded to series creator Jon Robin Baitz. 'Ugly Betty' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Comedy Series of the Year awarded to series creator Silvio Horta. 'Grey's Anatomy' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Individual Episode of the Year (in a series without a regular gay character) for the episode "Where the Boys Are" awarded to director Daniel Minahan. 'A Girl LIke Me: The Gwen Araujo Story' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Television Movie or Mini-Series of the Year awarded to director Agnieszka Holland. 'All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Documentary of the Year awarded to director  Shari Cookson. 'Project Runway' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Reality Program of the Year awarded to series creator Eli Holzman. 'All My Children' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Daily Drama of the Year awarded to series creator Agnes Nixon. 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Talk Show Episode of the Year for the episode "Wives Confess They are Gay" awarded to series creator Oprah Winfrey. 'Nightline' received the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Television Journalism - Newsmagazine of the Year for the episode "Forbidden Love" awarded to series creator Roone Arledge. 'MTV News: The Amazing Break' receieved the GLAAD Media award for Outstanding Television Journalism - News segment for the episode "The Equality Ride".

People magazine: Jen's New Guy
[June 18, 2007] -  Jennifer appears on the cover of PEOPLE magazine headlining Jen's New Guy. In this exclusive interview meet the dashing Brit who's stepping out with the actress. Her new mystery man's identity has been revealed as model/former boxer Paul Sculfor who shares Jennifer's love of the beach and eating Mexican food. Jennifer talks about how they met, what he's like, and why they hit it off.

article by: Jennifer Wulff

PEOPLE magazine Vol. 67 - No. 24
"Note to single girls: You just never know when you might meet a nice eligible man. For Jennifer Aniston it happened a couple of months ago during a night out with her pal actress Courteney Cox at one of their favorite Los Angeles, California haunts, the Italian restaurant II Sole. The pair ran into another friend, who happened to be dining with a tall tanned and seriously handsome stranger. That would be Paul Sculfor, (then age 36) Englishman and male model who had recently relocated to southern California. Since then, Aniston and Sculfor have been spending time together, and it's easy to see why. "He's a lovely guy," said Aniston. "A gentlemen. Simple things, like opening doors, he does all that. He thinks of the woman before himself." Aniston, who has been happily single since splitting with actor/comedian Vince Vaughn last December - seems to be enjoying herself. Over the Memorial Day holiday, she and Sculfor shared a romantic three-hour dinner at One Pico, a restaurant in Shutters Hotel on the Beach in Santa Monica, California. "While waiting for a table, Sculfor caressed her back, and they were holding hands after they sat down," says an eyewitness.

Meet Jen's New Man - British model Paul Sculfor.
During the three-day weekend, the couple hung out in Malibu. A few days earlier, they were spotted enjoying dinner poolside at L.A.'s Sunset Tower Hotel, where they were later joined by Cox. "They were clearly enjoying themselves," says an onlooker. Jennifer noted, "He's totally gorgeoys!" According to Jen she says, "Paul is a guy who likes to surf, work out, and like me - enjoys Mexican food." She says of her boyfriend, "He's the most ridiculously handsome man on the planet," in an earlier interview. Aniston says he's more than just a pretty face: "He has a great sense of humor and is just a genuinely nice guy." Sculfor said during an earlier interview with The Mirror, "It's hard to keep a girlfriend in this business - you end up conducting your relationship on the phone." Many things have changed since he left Britain for L.A. in order to pursue an acting career. "It's funny," he said, "I was living there for a bit, then I came back to London, and I just decided to move back." Of course some reasoning behind his move could be because of the sun and surf, or just maybe it's a certain California blonde - Jennifer Aniston. "He sounds very happy," says a source close to Sculfor, "I think they'll be quite good together." Paul will be the first to admit that he isn't one to normally go for blondes, "I go for girls with dark hair," he said in an earlier interview with The Mirror. Before hooking up with Aniston, Sculfor's previous dating record includes: British model Lisa Snowdon, and It-Girl Lady Victoria Hervey."

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2008: Back to Work with Marley & Me
30 Rock Season 3 episode "The One with the Cast of Night Court"
[November 13, 2008] - The 39-year old actress guest stars as Claire Harper season 3 episode "The One with the Cast of Night Court" on the NBC sitcom television series '30 Rock'. This marks Jennifer's second television series appearance since the season 10 finale episode of 'Friends' in 2004. "The One with the Cast of Night Court" aired to a total of 7.5 million viewers tuning in to see Liz Lemon; actress/comedienne Tina Fey's character, and Jenna Maroney; actress Jane Krakowski's character, awaiting the arrival of their old Chicago roommate Claire Harper; Aniston's character. The two are not thrilled with her visit as they find her exhausting to be around. Immediately, their boss Jack Donaghy; actor Alec Baldwin's character, is attracted to Claire, but Liz tells him not to get involved with her. Jack however reveals to Liz that they two have already slept together. At a General Electric formal function, Claire surprises Jack by singing "Happy Birthday" to him. He informs her that she needs to leave, but this upsets her causing Claire to loudly announce she is going to threaten to kill herself. Liz persuades Claire to abandon her plans with Jack and instead go out nightclubbing with her and Jenna. While at the club, Claire doesn't show up, which prompts Liz to call Jack warning him about potential danger. Later he finds Claire inside of his apartment and the two end up sleeping together for a second time. When asked to choose between Liz and herself, Jack chooses Claire, but she thins that the relationship has gotten boring causing her to turn on Jack. In efforts of her performance Jennifer was nominated for Best Guest Actress of the Year in a Comedy Series at the Online Film & Television Association awards and the Primetime Emmy awards.

Vogue magazine: Jennifer's Prime Time
[December 1, 2008] - Jennifer appears on the cover of Vogue magazine headlining Jennifer's Prime Time. In this exclusive article the actress talks about what actress Angelina Jolie did being uncool in regards to Jennifer divorce from film actor Brad Pitt.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: This is not the full article. We felt that the full-page article was too long to incorporate into our blog. If you desire to read the full story "Click" on the link.

Link: http://www.vogue.com/3043253/jennifer-aniston-prime-time/

article by: Jonathan Van Meter

VOGUE magazine
"With two great new roles; comedy/family film Marley & Me currently in theaters and upcoming romantic/comedy He's Just Not That Into You, and a body that won't quit Jennifer Aniston is reinventing what it means to be 40 and female in Hollywood. It is hard to think that her new home serves as a turning page for the actress as a symbol of a brighter shinier future. In a sense Aniston is literally rebuilding herself a new life, but "There are something's," she said, "about me that may never change." She is in reference towards the paparazzi craze currently taking place outside of her home while this interview is happening. "About ten cars followed me up here today," she explained, "and I'm like, 'Really? At this point?' today they're basically going to see me go into my office and then come out of my office. Eventually this picture's going to buy you what? Lunch? A pack of smokes? Maybe not even that anymore." This is her sense of humor, of course, a joke with a bit of mock humility. Or perhaps it's just Aniston wishful thinking. "If anything," she adds, "the photographs of the comings and goings of me, are worth more than ever," said the actress. The post-Brad Aniston is one of the biggest tabloid stars in the world, and Jennifer's image moves a lot of magazines. Partly because she took two years off from making films, she has been almost entirely defined lately by the tabloids as, "A Woman Who Dates Younger Men," and "Spends Her Days Lolling Around The Pool In Cabo". Thoughtful people don't take the tabloids seriously. They're basically a form of entertainment. Aniston, all to aware of the fact says, "It still feels like a cross to bear. You basically watch my life," she explains, "it happens in front of you, and I can protect it. I try to control things only to a certain extent. I think what I'm doing now is learning to let go of the reins a little big saying to myself, 'It is what it is.' ", but she protest, "there is more to be than just a tabloid girl. This whole 'Poor Lonely Jen' thing, this idea that I'm so unlucky in love? I actually feel I've been unbelievably lucky in love." 

Her past flames since her split from Brad include: actor/comedian Vince Vaughn, model Paul Sculfor, and currently musician/singer John Mayer. "Just because at this stage in my life doesn't have the traditional framework to it - the husband, the two kids and the house in Connecticut - doesn't mean it isn't mine. It's mine. It's my experience, and if you don't like the way it looks then stop looking at it because I feel good. I don't feel like I'm supposed to be any further along or somewhere that I'm not. I'm right where I'm supposed to be." Luckily for Aniston, she has two surprisingly entertaining movies opening in succession - one on Christmas Day and the other in early February  - that ought to change the conversation by reminding everyone how wonderfully funny, moving, and real she can be on-screen give the right material. The first, Marley & Me, Aniston co-stars with actor/comedian Owen Wilson, and the two of them do some of their best work ever. Perhaps because they both have a high-strung hippie vibe to them, which explains their chemistry being so lovely to behold. "They are so captivating," said director David Frankel, "and it was apparent from the first second that I saw them together." The film begins with the Grogan couple; John and Jenny - Wilson and Aniston's character, getting Marley a Labrador retriever as a puppy ending with the dog's untimely death. To come about the casting of Aniston, the studio first suggested her to Frankel. "I was nervous," he admitted, "to meet her, frankly because the character had to age from 22 to 40, and Jen is in her late 30s. I kind of felt that was a stretch," he explained, "but she came down the stairs, and all of my anxiety went out of the window. Within five minutes I said to Jennifer about the part of Jenny, 'It's yours if you want to do it' ". The movie is at times very funny, but let the dog-loving buyer beware: There are some heart wrenching scenes: particularly when Aniston's character discovers she's had a miscarriage. As Frankel said of the scene: "She had no words. All the heartbreak of that moment, which any woman would feel going through it, was magnified when you watched Jennifer. You know how much she does want a family and children summed up in that one look. My wife said to me, 'It's the most wistful movie she has ever seen.' 

"I agree," said Aniston, "because it's about the things we wanted in life and didn't get, and yet we still have the desire to celebrate what we do have. I think that really applies to me. I've gotten more than my fair share of happiness and success, and yet I think the reason my personal story continues to captivate everyone beyond all reason is that there is a very accessible yearning in me for something more, something intimate, something lasting." The actress resists comparing any comparisons to her real life, especially when it comes to wanting children. When asked point blank she grows visibly irritated, "I've said it so many times: I'm going to have children I just know it." What did you draw off of for inspiration for your character? "That is so funny," said the actress, " just mimicked my mother; Nancy Dow. That woman, when she got made, was scary. I don't know if I ever really get made in real life. It's what my shrink was saying to me all those years: 'You need to get mad!' I think rage is so ugly," said Aniston, "I just think there's a way to be made and discuss it." Aniston's feelings about her other new film, He's Just Not That Into You, are how to put it - a little more complicated. The film is based on the notoriously brutal advice book featuring a stellar ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Bradley Cooper. The source material itself could've easily developed into Hollywood slop, but the script as well as the performances lift if up into something unusual: well-paced, oddball romantic-comedy with interesting things to say about how as well as why men and women behave the way they do in relationships. Aniston is opposite of Affleck playing a couple who have lived together unmarried for several years. The two were so natural off-screen it had people thinking, 'Were they ever a couple?' In fact, "We barely knew each other before this project," admitted Aniston. "When I first met Ben he told me, 'I jumped at the chance to work with you', he said. "She always stuck me as an extremely smart, kind, and funny woman - whose talent is evident to all," said Affleck. 

"I liked my storyline," she said but, "I don't know. I don't like girls whining, and complaining I want a man!," said the actress. "That's why I never like Sex and the City," she admitted, "I have nothing against Sarah Jessica Parker's acting, but the storyline is the kind of thing where women only feel empowered once they find a man. It is just not up my alley. I don't believe in it. There is nothing you can control about love. Somebody once told me, 'Everything you want in the world is just right outside of your comfort zone.' "When asked about her relationship with Vince Vaughn she replies, "I call Vince my defibrillator," she says with genuine affection. "He literally brought me back to life. My first gasp of air was a big laugh. It was great. I love him. He was lovely, fun, and perfect for the time we had together. He was exactly what I needed." When asked why it ended she answered, "It sort of ran its course." Most recently she's been linked to musician/singer John Mayer, who she met last February at an Oscar Party. "I barely knew his music," she admitted, "and then we ran into each other a week later and that was that." Once the two began dating Aniston joined Mayer for his tour in London; and took a well-documented vacation to Miami. "The thing that pissed me off though," she said, "was the fact people questioned by judgment because of a nine year age difference between me and John. People need to mind their own business! Love isn't designed. Love just shows up and you go, 'Oh, wow, this going to be a hayride and a half' ". When I ask about their on-again-off-again relationship she replies, "He had to put that out there that he broke-up with me. Especially because it's me and not just some girl he's dating. I get it," she explained. "We're human, but I feel seriously protective of him and us. Trust me, you'll never see that happen again from that man, and it doesn't take away from the fact that John is a wonderful guy. We care about each other. It's funny when you hit a place in a relationship and you both realize, 'We maybe need to d something else', but you still really love each other. It's painful. There was no malicious intent. I deeply, care about him; we talk we adore one another, and that's where it is." There is no doubt Aniston is noticeably more confident even in prospecting turning 40 in February in ageist Hollywood doesn't seem to faze her. "I'm not saying I'm 40. I'm 30-10. I don't feel 40. I don't know what it means. I just know that all of a sudden it's something that's in print next to my name. It almost feels like some sort of badge of honor in a weird way," explained Aniston. "Whatever happens next one thing is certain people will still want to watch my life," she said."

Entertainment Weekly magazine: Jen's Fresh Start
[December 12, 2008] - Jennifer appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine headlining Jen's Fresh Start. In this exclusive interview the actress talks with candid confidence about being so over the gossip, and movie on. Next on her career play her sure fine hit comedy/family film 'Marley & Me'.

article by: Josh Rottenberg

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY magazine Vol. 1025 - No. 2
"For now, Aniston would love nothing more than to keep the thunder focused on her upcoming Christmas Day release, Marley & Me. A three-hankie adaption of author John Grogan's best-selling memoir, in which Aniston stars opposite actor/comedian Owen Wilson, and an unruly Labrador retriever. It's been two and a half years since her last film, the romantic/comedy The Break-Up, a period which during aside being overshadowed by Aniston, the tabloid icon, Marley & Me, with its built in fan base, and a cute-as-a-puppy holiday appeal, represents her best bet to get her own wobbly movie career back on solid footing. "Sometimes you're not always so thrilled about the movie you're pushing," she admits, whistling past her graveyard of clunkers like (2005) romantic comedy Rumor Has It and (2005) drama/thriller Derailed, "but this is a good one." "When you're an actress whose personal life has fed an entire media industry, though, the focus can all too easily drift away from your work, and sometimes in a big way," she said. Last month excerpts from a Vogue profile of Aniston exploded across the internet, and, with a single quote on the cover - "What Angelina Did Was Very Uncool" - a nation that had been fixated on presidential politics suddenly switched the channel back to the soap opera starring Aniston, and Bradjolina. The tabloids let loose a barrage of four-alarm headlines: Furious Brad Pitt: Shut Up, Jen!, and How Angelina Tortures Jen

"Election night was just so moving, so unbelievable," said Aniston, "and now what do people do? Read my crap! Everything comes to a halt: 'What did she say?' ". How do you react to what tabloids say about you? "Good God, you have to laugh at it all at the end of the day." Still, Aniston clearly feels stung by the flap and insists the "uncool" quote - which referred to comments actress Angelina Jolie made last year about falling for actor Brad Pitt while on set of action/comedy film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, when he was still married to Jennifer - was taken out of context. "I was just surprised that Vogue magazine would go so tabloid," she said, "I was bummed, but you almost expect it. Big deal. Done. Next." "As I approach my 40's I've never been happier, and never felt better. I don't know if I'm just a late bloomer, but I feel like everything is just the beginning," said the actress. At the same time there is a certain weariness in her eyes, an occasional flash of indignation - a sense that, as the Friends theme song goes, no one told her life was gonna be this way. After nearly a decade and a half of massive fame, Aniston has become something more than just an actress. She's become a walking inkblot test [due to tabloids], and, depending on your perspective, you could see her as a "Wounded, jilted victim", or a "Strong, independent woman", an "Actress who's best suited to the small screen," or "One whose great charisma and natural comedic gifts are perpetually underappreciated." However you see or label her the weight of all of that scrutiny is clearly a lot to carry on ones shoulders. "Everyone projects their thoughts on you," she says. "Everyone's got an opinion. I wish they didn't I've gotten to the point where, if I focus on all of that stuff, I won't make a move, you know?" Originally Aniston passed on Marley & Me the first time it came around, assuming that it would be a cloying, gauzy dog movie - the cinematic equivalent of one of those inspirational posters showing a kitten clinging to a tree branch. "My dad, soap opera actor John Aniston of Days of Our Lives, and a couple of other people gave me the book, but I didn't give it a second glance," she says. "I thought, 'A book about a dog?' it's like one of those little books you might see in a basket in a bathroom." The idea of playing a mother also gave her some pause. 

"Jen had some anxieties about preparing," said director David Frankel. "There are different levels of anxiety: you have cry babies, the kinks and stresses of being a young, exhausted mom - a lot of stuff she hadn't been through personally or acted before." In the end Aniston embraced the challenge: "I feel like that's my future, and I'm on the verge of it in some way - or it's something I long for. So it was great to sort of dip your toe in it." What drew you to the role of Jenny Grogan? "Ultimately, though, it was the chance to explore the ups and downs of married life," she said, "that drew me into the movie. I feel that aspect turned the movie into something more personal than it first appeared. What was interesting was the story of these two people, how it doesn't always look so pretty," she says. "You have your ideas, and your dreams when you start out, and you're sort of wide-eyed, and bushy tailed as a young married couple. Then life unfolds finding it doesn't always take you in the direction you hope it will." Still, big, shiny romantic/comedy projects come thudding onto Aniston's doorstep on a daily basis. Nearly all of them elicit an automatic, "No." "I've played enough girlfriends to last me an entire lifetime," said the actress. What's your greatest creative fulfillment? "Those have come from my least expected roles," she explains, "the sullen, soulful, retail clerk in (2002) The Good Girl; the aimless, pot-smoking maid in (2006) Friends with Money. The girl trying to get the guy - those movies just don't interest me these days," Aniston says. "I'd be so bored just doing that." She is ready to take her final bow when it comes to the gossip world that titled the actress Queen Of Pain. "It's my history," she says, "It's my memory. [in reference towards her public split from ex-husband Brad, along with her not-so private pain]. That's all it is for me: something that happened, something that was really quite poignant, and good in the long run." After all of this vigilance, when it is pointed out that Marley & Me is opening the say day as Pitt's new movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Aniston winces, as if she's been concerned. "Oh, you had to go there! I thought we were out of the wood," she says with a sigh, "I' want his movie to do great. In fact I've seen it. It's amazing. Amazing!"

(2008) Marley & Me
[December 25, 2008] - Jennifer lands the supporting role of Jenny Grogan in the novel-based comedy/family film 'Marley & Me'. The film focuses on two journalists John and Jenny Grogan; actor/comedian Owen Wilson and Aniston's characters, soon after their wedding relocate to a cottage in South Florida in hopes of escaping the brutal Michigan winters. Each are hired as reports at competing newspapers: John is hired by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel; where he finds himself writing what he considers mundane pieces about obituaries, and two-paragraph articles like a fire at the local garbage dump, while Jenny is hired at The Palm Beach Post; where she receives immediate prominent front-page in-depth assignments. The two find themselves enjoying life in their new house, until he hears his wife comment about killing another plant exclaiming, "Damn, killed another one. How can I expect to have a kid if I can't even keep a plant alive." The next day at work John confides his thoughts about Jenny's comment with his friend and co-worker Sebastian Tunney; actor Eric Dane's character, who suggests that he buy a dog. Sebastian explains to John, "When you have a baby you become a father, but when you own a dog you become a master. Plus it will stop her biological clock for a while." As an early birthday present John takes Jenny to pick out a puppy selected from a littler newborn Labrador retrievers. They pick what they call "clearance puppy" later naming it Marley one in the same name as the Reggae singer Bob Marley. Once home Marley proves to be incorrigible: he ate half of a seat belt in the car, and now he's tearing through a bag of kibble. This causes John to wonder how Marley is still eating. Night falls with John placing Marley in a cardboard box out in the garage, but it's a restless-sleepless night due to Marley's constant howling. Up to his wits end John allows Marley to sleep with him on the bed. Come morning John awakes to Marley licking his face surrounded by feathers from the bed pillow Marley destroyed. John puts Marley in the garage while he heads to the airport to pick up Jenny, and it begins thundering and raining. After they arrive home Jenny hears Marley crying from inside the garage. To their horror, and amazement Marley has destroyed their entire garage: he ate through the dry wall, knocked over numerous things, and strewed stuff everywhere. Jenny goes to pick Marley up and as she holds him she can feel him trembling causing her to suspect he doesn't like thunderstorms. As Marley grows from a puppy to a full grow dog they find it harder to train him. They couple take him to obedient school where he is trained by Ms. Kornblut; actress Kathleen Turner's character.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer on set of 'Marley & Me'
She firmly believes that Marley can be trained, but while demonstrating a simple walk Marley breaks loose refusing to obey her commands ending with him humping her leg. John pulls Marley off of her explaining that maybe it was her hair because Marley is attracted to poodles. Ms. Kornblut kicks Marley out of the obedience classes explaining that Marley has been led to believe he is the alpha male as well as humping being a virus. Once it one of the dogs starts it spreads like an epidemic. Sometime later Arnie Klein; actor Alan Arkin's character, John's editor offers him a twice-weekly column in which he can discuss the fun and foibles of everyday living. Suffering from writers block, John finds himself writing most of his pieces about the misadventures of his dog Marley. Arnie reads Johns first piece allowing John to be a full-time columnist. Marley continues to wreak havoc on the household providing John with a wealth of material to write about, which becomes a hit with readers as well as increasing the newspaper's circulation. After receiving a call from Jenny John comes home from walking Marley. Jenny tells him she is pregnant and the couple is ecstatic. During a doctors appointment Jenny learns that she miscarried with doctor explaining he isn't sure why or how these sorts of things happen, but she is liable to try again later. Such news makes for a quiet car ride home for the Grogans as John drives while Jenny stares blankly out of the passenger window. Later she cries with Marley's head on her lap and John lovingly holding her telling her they can try again whenever she feels up to it. Months later she and John decide to travel to Ireland for their belated honeymoon leaving Marley in the care of Debbie; actress Haley Hudson's character, a dog sitter who offered to dog-sit Marley while the Grogans are away. Haley find's Marley impossible: she attempts to shower, but Marley intervenes tearing the shower curtain, she tries to shove pills down his throat as instructed to keep him calm during the thunderstorms, but he refuses, and he eats the living room sofa.

Jennifer & Owen at the 'Marley & Me' premiere
While in Ireland the Jenny allows John to try again since her miscarriage with hopes that the luck of the Irish will prevail. The Grogans return home to an upset Debbie exclaiming their dog is the worst dog on the planet; there were seven thunderstorms while they were away, and inform them Marley isn't a dog - he's evil with the face of a dog. Jenny discovers she is pregnant delivering a healthy baby boy, Patrick. Upon the arrival of their second child a son, Connor, she opts to give up her job to become a stay at home mom protesting that she doesn't want to become one of those parents who only sees their kids for a couple of hours during the night. This prompts John to take on a daily column for a pay increase. Due to the crime rate, the couple moves to a safer house in Boca Raton shortly after Jenny gives birth to a daughter, Coleen. John notices a change in his wife suggesting she may be suffering from postpartum depression which most mothers due after the birth of their children. Denying all accusations; despite exhibiting all of the symptoms, Jenny tells John it's not her it's Marley advising him to get ride of the dog. Sebastian agrees to take care of Marley, but only for a few days because he is moving due to him accepting a job for The New York Times. Jenny later regrets her decision of wanting to get rid of Marley realizing he has become a major part of their family. Upon celebrating his 40th birthday Jenny gives him her blessing to take the job offer as a report with the Philadelphia Inquirer, resulting in the Grogan family moving the Pennsylvania. During a short period of time working for the Inquirer John realizes he is a better columnist than reporter pitching the column idea to his editor who disagrees. Life for the Grogans is idyllic until an aging Marley begins to show signs of arthritis and deafness. An attack of gastric dilatation volvulus almost kills him, but he manages to recover after John takes him to the vet. Dr. Platt; actress Ann Dowd's character, explains that Marley's stomach flipped unsure if it was caused by him eating too fast. After a second episode of gastric dilatation volvulus occurs Marley isn't strong enough to survive the surgery resulting in the Grogan family having to bury their beloved family pet. The film ends with the family paying their last respects to Marley where as John covers the last of the plot under the tree in their front yard with dirt he narrates, "How many people can make you feel unique or special? All a dog needs its for you to give him your heart and he'll give you yours." The film is directed by David Frankel grossing $242,717,113 in box office generating positive reviews from film critic's scoring a 64% liking from audiences. A general film critics consensus states, "Pet owners should love it, but 'Marley & Me' is only sporadically successful in wringing drama and laughs from its scenario." Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film, "A cheerful family movie. Wilson and Aniston demonstrate why they are gifted comic actors. They have a relationship that's not too sitcomish, not too sentimental, and mostly smart and realistic." In efforts of her performance Jennifer was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kid's Choice award for Favorite Movie Actress of the Year, and a Teen Choice award for Best Lead Actress of the Year in a Comedy.

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2009: He's Just Not That Into You
GQ magazine Is It Just Us or is Jennifer Getting Hotter?
[January 28, 2009] - Jennifer appears on the cover of GQ Men's magazine headlining Is It Just Us or is Jennifer Aniston Getting Hotter? In this exclusive article she talks about her upcoming film 'He's Just Not That Into You', her on-again-off-again relationship with singer/musician John Mayer, and the swirling rumors regarding her and ex-husband Brad Pitt and new media rival Angelina Jolie.

article by: Mark Kirby

GQ magazine
"There's an edge to the way Aniston jokes about the public's obsession with her life, especially when she describes the ill will she harbors for the anonymous parasites who chronicle the burgers she eats, the gas she pumps, and the trash she takes out. She has barely talked to the press for two years and is one of the most sought-after women, until now. When asked the precise same sort of series of questions - 'Is this thing with musician/singer John Mayer going to last?', 'Are you truly over your divorce from Brad Pitt', and 'Don't you just f*cking HATE Angelina Jolie?' She replies, "Huh. I guess we could talk about that or something else, but isn't the tabloid stuff ALL anyone REALLY wants to know?" she asked. She's been really famous since Friends when 25 million viewers tuned in to see her and even after years of quirky Rachel Green character - esque roles, it'd be impossible to see her as anything but merely cute, or that if America's Sweetheart did seem sexy, it 'd be a Mrs. Robinson thing. Not so. In regards to her age the actress comments, "I still can't wrap my head around how old I'm going to be," she said adding, "I feel MORE comfortable today than I EVER did in my twenties or early thirties. I'm healthier. I'm more at peace in my mind, and with my body." When asked how she felt regarding her GQ photo shoot Jen replies, "There is a moment when you walk in and see the wardrobe - it's basically a tie - and you think, 'Where's the underwear?' " she replied with a laugh continuing with, "but it felt REALLY good to be that comfortable with myself - and to lie on men as furniture." She talks about a film project she seems most excited about. Jennifer describes it as, "It's the female version of Wedding Crashers. I hope to star with actress Elizabeth Banks and the title of the film project is Pumas." She continues describing the plot, "It's these two girls who are aspiring cougars. It is so a comment on the sexual double standard - and what's been ironic is how hard it's been to get this movie made. Studios want it, but they're afraid of Middle America. They'd want to change it; they're saying, 'Oh you can't do that, people just can't imagine you..." Jennifer is of course in reference towards the alluding here to Hollywood's formula for romantic comedies and her default character within - offbeat, likable, and unlucky in love characters. As she continues describing Pumas she strays off topic changing to her relationship status stating, "I feel a little hemmed in by the tabloid ber-narritive that frames my life - the one in which my failure to remarry and procreate is a cause of deep and lasting sadness - especially when that false story line gets in the way of my career."

The actress added, "Look, I think all women at some level just want to rage against the machine," she said adding, "there are just too many movies out there that don't empower women - movies in which their only way of being happy is finding a man. And you know, that's not my favorite theme." Right. Jen, Brad, Angelina - the "insane Bermuda Triangle," as Jen calls it. "I spend about twenty minutes a day swirling around in this vortex, but before you follow us [herself, Brad and Angelina] in, I should warn you: You may never make it out." When asked if she has any theories on why four years after her separation from Pitt, the story keeps selling magazines, She responds swiftly, "The funny thing is that people don't realize we [herself, Brad and Angelina] all go away to the Hamptons on the weekends," she said laughing. When asked is such a claim is true she answers, "No, but can you imagine? That'd be hysterical: I've got Zahara on my hip, and Knox". When asked to describe her relationship with Pitt she replies, "We do NOT talk. When there's something to congratulate or celebrate, there's always an exchange, but there's no charge on it." When asked if she ever speaks to Jolie she replies, " No. Nuh-uh." When asked about some recent tabloid headlines regarding Angelina Stabbing Jennifer in the Heart and whether Jennifer truly was surprised when Jolie said she can't wait to show her kids Mr. & Mrs. Smith because not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love, Jennifer replies, "Well, you know, that was definitely a confirmation for me of something that wasn't quite confirmed at the time, but listen...you sit there and you...No. No daggers through the heart. I laugh. Am I surprised? Well, how do I say this? Considering the source, nothing surprises me." Jen spends a good deal of time talking about how hard she's finding it to talk about Jolie after years of silence, this despite having given her now infamous "That was really uncool" comment to Vogue magazine a few weeks earlier. When asked so what to make of The One Where Jen Lashes Out for the Second Time in the Six Weeks Leading Up to Her New Film headlines, she responds, "Well, for starters, consider that what I really think is a commodity worth millions n pre-opening box-office publicity. To believe that I will be in any way cavalier about how I dole it out is to deny me the credit I deserve. Of course I'm aware that this 'considering the source' jab will be all over the tabloids. Of course I know that when I answer a question like, ' Would I ever sell my baby photos to People magazine' I'm thinking, 'No way, that's just no something...no' ".

Her calculation and sincerity aren't mutually exclusive, and she has not doubt that her answers are genuine. "How I feel about Angelina is pretty much exactly how you'd think I feel. Now can we please discuss work?" She has two big movies coming out soon: He's Just Not That Into You, and ensemble comedy about women struggling to find love that's due out, depressingly, around Valentine's Day, and this month's Marley & Me, in which she stars with actor/comedian Owen Wilson - a surprisingly touching movie about a family, their yellow Lab, and mortality. "I just loved the portrait of a marriage, seeing this couple over a span of fifteen years," she says of Marley & Me. "You have expectations - it's all exciting when you're young and your dreams are big and everything's ahead of you, and then things don't always happen the way you expect then to happen it's painful." When explaining how her films always seem to off to the critic's as well as her viewers she replies, "They always seek to come at the right time. If this role had come to me a couple of years ago, I don't think I would've been able to do it." When asked if she is comfortable enough with talking about John Mayer she replies, "Of course," in a cheerful voice adding, "I'll discuss certain things about my private life to a point, but other things are just nobody's business." When asked what the deal is with her and Mayer she replies, "We care deeply for each other, and we're just trying to figure it out." When asked if she's having his baby she replies, " I am NOT having his baby nor has he popped the question." When asked if she was a fan of Mayer's music before she started dating him she replies, "Honestly, I did not know much about him before I met him. I'd heard...you know, uh 'Your Body'...that song, but what I can say is that I had NO idea what an extraordinary musician he is. It's just great to sit and be witness to that. It's king of like, 'Whoa!' ". In August, when Aniston and Mayer took some time off, there was widespread speculation that the split was, in part, because he had been too loose-lipped about their relationship. He's a blogger and prone to speaking directly to paparazzi and gossip reporters, which is something Jen avoids. "There are rumors that one of conditions," said Jennifer, "of the two of us getting back together is that he cuts back on the public proclamations." When asked to the photos of her and the half naked dudes described as sort of a cougar thing and what gives she replies, "No. Not at all," in regards to being a cougar, "First of all, you need to be 40. It's not like we're saying, 'Oh, you shagged yourself a young one.' Look I don't think there's anything wrong with living by your own rules - you know, whatever blows your hair back." 

(2009) He's Just Not That Into You
[February 6, 2009] - Jennifer lands the supporting role of Beth Murphy in the novel-based ensemble cast romantic/comedy film 'He's Just Not That Into You'. The film revolves around nine Baltimore, Maryland people all tied to Gigi Philips; actress Ginnifer Goodwin's character, the films main protagonist, who navigate their way through their respective problems and challenges of their complicated relationships by reading and misreading their significant others signals of their desired chosen partners.

Gigi, Conor, & Alex
Gigi Philips; actress Ginnifer Goodwin's character, is a single woman who repeatedly misreads mundane actions and comments from her dates as indication they are romantically interested in her. She then becomes paranoid after the guy doesn't call her back. Gigi works with Janine Gunders; actress Jennifer Connelly character, and Beth Murphy; Aniston's character, at an office job. One evening Gigi is set up on a blind date with Conor Barry; actor Kevin Connolly's character, a real estate agent. The two have drinks, talk, and Gigi feels that it went well calling her best friend Janine to inform her of such news.

Ginnifer Goodwin & Kevin Connolly on set of He's Just Not That Into You
However, Conor is the least bit interested in Gigi and already has a girlfriend. She wonders why she didn't set them up before, and hangs up thinking Conor is trying to leave a message for her. The next day at Janine's house she asks her why she set her up with Conor. Janine informs her all she knows is that he's the one who sold them her house. Gigi becomes paranoid over the fact that Conor hasn't called her back yet after their date waiting anxiously by her home phone and her cell phone. Out of an act of desperation she calls up Janine telling her she plans on making a casual run in with Conor at his favorite meeting spot, and if going through with it as a good idea. Janine doesn't pick up the phone resulting in Gigi going through with her hair brained-idea. She gets dressed up, heads to the restaurant, and once there the hostess Kelli Ann; actress Busy Phillips character, asks if she'll be joining them for dinner. Gigi tells Kelli Ann she is there to meet a friend taking a seat at the bar, which is Conor's usual spot. After hours of waiting the bartender Alex; actor Justin Long's character, informs her he isn't coming, but he could call him because he knows Conor's number. Gigi refuses saying she is to return Conor's pen because it is his favorite. Alex catches her in her lie exclaiming that isn't his pen - a logo of a dentist is on it - and Conor's dentist if Alex's dad.

Justin Long & Ginnifer on set of He's Just Not That Into You
A mortified Gigi tries to go home, but instead Alex lets her have a drink on the house and he shares relationship advice with her: such as if a guy wants to call you; he'll call you. Over the course of the film Gigi and Alex become close he tries to set her up on a blind date with his friend Bill; he stands her up due to work, causing Gigi to think Alex made Bill up so he could go out with her himself. Sometime later Alex invites Gigi to a house party. She is unsure if she was invited as a guest or as his date. While Alex steps out he puts her in charge of refilling the snack bowls, and Gigi discovers another girl is doing the same thing. Once all of the party guest leave Gigi stays to clean up then once she is finish rather than leaving to head home she joins Alex on the couch. He thanks her for helping clean up then tells her he's going to bed. Gigi mistakes this as an invitation hurdling herself across the couch planting one on him. After he pulls away she exclaims her happiness announcing that she knew that the best relationships come out of friendship. Alex sets the record straight informing her they are merely friends and nothing more. A heartbroken and confused Gigi tells him off while leaving, "I might put myself out there too much, and do a lot of dumb sh*t, but I know I'm a whole lot closer to finding love than you are." At the ending of the film the two reconcile with Alex telling Gigi she is the exception not the rule.

Conor, Anna, & Ben
Scarlett Johansson & Bradley Cooper on set of He's Just Not That Into You
After his blind date with Gigi, Conor calls his girlfriend Anna Marks; actress Scarlett Johansson's character, a yoga instructor/jazz singer. She tells him she has to call him back because she is at the market trying to checkout. A customer in front of her Ben Gunders; actor Bradley Cooper's character, a businessman, allows her to cut in front of him in the checkout line. While doing so Anna becomes the one hundredth customer winning the contest with the prize being a cooler. She is ecstatic sharing her enthusiasm by embracing in a hug with Ben. The two carry out their conversation in the parking lot of the market, but he explains to her that he is a married man. Anna writes her number down for him on a business card telling him married people are allowed to have friends. Ben and Anna begin an affair doing yoga, sleeping together, and sneaking around. One day he invites her to his office informing her he has a business friend who can help skyrocket her singing career. He is unable to locate his friend's business card, but swears that he didn't lure her under falls pretenses. The two engage in fore play with the intentions of having office sex, but are interrupted by who Ben thinks is his assistant Donna back from lunch. He tells Donna that he'll have the paper work on her desk later, but to his horror it's his wife Janine; actress Jennifer Connelly's character. Ben informs Anna to hide in his office closet, straightens the place up, and lets Janine in lying to her that the door was stuck rather than locked for privacy. She wonders why he even bothers locking it and Ben tells her if he doesn't he can't get any work done due to constant interruptions.

Scarlett & Kevin on set of He's Just Not That Into You
He sits down at his desk and Janine approaches him sitting on his lap. He questions her actions with Janine exclaiming it as a last stitch effort of saving their marriage. The two have sex with Anna listening through the closet door, and as Janine leaves she bursts out of the closet half dressed telling Ben she never wants to see him again. Conor calls Anna inviting her to his place because he would like some answers. Once she arrives she addresses him as sweetie, and he asks her why. Anna explains that they always call each other that. He points out other things in their relationship: they call each other; but the conversation doesn't end with, "I love you", they sleep together; but then she leaves, and he concludes with telling her he feels like he's in a relationship, but then again not. Anna spends the night at Conor's place, but by the look on her face she isn't satisfied. The two play a game where you categories a person based on looks: Cute and Sex and personality: Smart and Funny. Anna gives the example of actress Sarah Jessica Parker would be under: Cute and Funny. Conor replies Anna would be cute and sexy, but she objects telling him you don't want to be under all of one category. While showing an apartment to Anna he informs her the people who bought it are a young couple and the boyfriend is waiting for his girlfriends approval. Anna catches on realizing that the young couple Conor's in reference towards is them. This scares her that their relationship is becoming so serious so fast and she rejects his offer of moving in together telling him what he's offering her is exactly what every girl wants. He exclaims yeah, but you don't wan it with me. The two embrace in a hug with him wondering if things can't go back to the way that they were when they just slept together.

Mary & Conor
Drew Barrymore on set of He's Just Not That Into You
Mary Harris; actress Drew Barrymore's character, is an advertising executive who is best friends with Anna Marks; actress Scarlett Johansson's character. The two hang out together sharing gossip as well as exchanging relationship advice. While still having an affair with Ben, Anna asks Mary what she should do. Mary tells her the story of a gentleman her father use to work with: He was a happily married man, but one day fell in love with another woman. He divorced his for her the other woman not wanting to pass up what he felt was the opportunity on true love. Ending with imagine being with someone else, but never knowing if they're the right person - because that person could still be out there. Anna takes Mary's advice perceiving it as the go ahead to continue her affair. Mary is fed up with being rejected by different forms of technology: E-mail, pager, cell phone, home phone, answering machine, and My Space, explaining that you have to go around checking all these devices just to find out that the relationship is going no where.

Drew & Kevin on set of He's Just Not That Into You
Anna asks her about the My Space guy and Mary replies that she likes him and feels things are going well. One day while at work Mary views her My Space guys profile identified as Joel. She reads the quote posted by his profile picture which reads, "All I need is my guitar, three chords, and the truth" a quote by Jon Bon Jovi. She checks her messages left on her work phone with her co-workers huddled around her as she plays the message, a voice sings to her "Oh, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary." She is ecstatic giggling and smiling from ear to ear. "Hey Mary, it's Joel. I really enjoyed our date last night," the message ends. She talks amongst her co-workers who are just as happy as she is. Another message plays, but this time Joel sings a different girls name causing Mary to end the message and delete it. While at lunch Conor phones Mary complaining about the newspaper ad questioning why she put it in the men's section of the phone book. She informs him it will be great for business leading him to want to appeal more to his gay clientele. They each look up spotting each other with Mary recognizing him from the ads. He invites her to join him happy that her voice doesn't match her voice explaining that he meant that in a good way. She tells him his voice doesn't match his voice either and the two enjoy one another's company becoming a couple.

Ben & Janine
Jennifer Connelly & Bradley on set of He's Just Not That Into You
Ben; actor Bradley Coopers character, and Janine; actress Jennifer Connelly's character, Gunders have been married since college, but have known each other longer than that because they were also high school sweet hearts. The Gunders are making renovations on their new apartment whom the bought from Conor Barry; actor Kevin Connolly's character, their real estate agent. Janine hopes to start a family asking Ben what would be a good color to paint their spare room. She suggests the color yellow because it's neutral explaining it could be an office, or a gym, or a nursery. At first Ben laughs at the thought of her last suggestion regarding it being a babies room, but he turns to look at his wife realizing she is serious. She asks if he's been smoking, but he denies his accusations. Janine tells Ben he gets jumpy when he smokes. One day while observing their renovated home Janine discovers a makeshift ash tray on the steps outside. She confronts Javier; actor/comedian Luis Guzman's character, their contractor asking if any of his men smoke. Javier informs her reassuringly seeing she is upset answering honestly that none of his men smoke. Janine let's the issue go asking Javier is they're good.

Jennifer & Bradley on set of He's Just Not That Into You
Ben calls Anna; actress Scarlett Johansson's character, not liking the way things ended between them, but she ignores his phone calls. While out shopping at the Home Depot for wood swatches Ben presents two different ones to Janine and she can't tell the difference between the fake wood and the real wood. She explains to Ben that she would like to go with the real wood because she doesn't like how the other is pretending to be wood. He puts the swatches back blurting out to Janine that he slept with someone. This stops Janine frozen in her tracks, and Ben thinking his wife didn't hear him begins to repeat himself, but she stops her husband acknowledging that she heard what he said. She causes a scene by shouting at him for cheating on her asking him point blank if he is also the one who's been smoking. Ben denies his wife's accusations and she storms off down the aisle. Janine begins moving her and Ben's belongings into their newly renovated house and as she moves a pile of his laundry from the bed a pack of cigarettes falls out of his cloths. Janine is furious and while bursting out into a fit of rage she flings his cloths from the closet down the hall while repeatedly screaming, "Lying sack of sh*t". To top off her rage she angrily smashes a mirror then fetches a broom and dustpan to clean up the mess. Ben returns come from work to find his things stacked neatly on the staircase with a case of cigarettes atop it all with a note written by his wife attacked saying, "I want a divorce. P.S. Smoke up."

Beth & Neil
Ben Affleck & Jennifer Aniston on set of He's Just Not That Into You
Beth Murphy; Aniston's character and Neil; actor Ben Affleck's character, are a couple who've been together for seven year, but aren't married. While home alone she announces to Neil that her younger sister is getting married and she is initially shocked by his response. He tells her that she is happy for her sister, and she questions him. Neil answers honestly informing her marriage is a shame and all that the couples who get married are doing is lying to themselves are well as everybody else. He explains that if you love someone you shouldn't have to make a big deal about or throw a street parade. Neil compares marriage to friends ship exclaiming that Beth has been friends with Janine for quite sometime, but you don't see her going out and getting a certificate of friendship. Beth appears understanding of her boyfriend's points dropping the subject all together. While being fitted for their bridesmaids dresses Beth's sisters point out that people who get married are in love. Her other sister's accused their younger sister of marrying because she is pregnant, but the youngest sister protests she is marrying because she is in love. Beth is taken aback by her sister's comment taking it as implying that she and Neil have been together for seven years and they're never getting married. In order to cheer up Beth one of her sister's points out that actor Al Pacino has never been married and he is happy as a clam.

Ben ajd Jennifer on set of He's Just Not That Into You
In an attempt to understand her sister's euphemism she thinks that she is Al Pacino. Sometime later Beth comes home from work upset telling Neil to stop what he's doing; he's getting around to hanging a picture that she told him to hang a while back. Thinking he wants her to place it elsewhere he stops what he's doing. Beth explains to him that she wants him to stop doing anything nice for her unless he is going to marry her. Neil tells her that he feels as if what she is saying to him is a trap. He then asks her where all of these accusations are coming from. Beth explains that it's coming from a place where she didn't want to seem too clingy, possessive, or crazy like most girlfriends tend to get over a period of time. She kicks him out of the house resulting in him living on his boat. Ben comes to visit Neil asking how things are going between him and Beth. Neil tells Ben he hopes it's just a phase and she'll let him come home soon. Ben blurts out that Neil should never get married because it ruins everything. Neil wonders what made Ben said that, but he doesn't have an explanation. On the eve of the rehearsal dinner for her sisters wedding people takes turns toasting to the happy couple. As one of the guests make their toasts he ends with a comment about Beth still being on the market, but guys had better be fast because she is about to be high mileage implying she is almost past her prime. Mortified by the toasts Beth excuses herself from the table. Her father Rod; actor Kris Kristofferson's character, chases after her. Beth's father tells her to pay no mind to the comments that were made. Rob reassures Beth that she is a beautiful young woman and reveals to her that she is his favorite daughter.

Jennifer at the He's Just Not That Into You premiere
Just as they are about to head back to the table he tells her he isn't afraid to announce it to the whole room either, but Beth doesn't allow him say so. During the wedding reception Beth is seated at a table alone later joined by Dan; actor/comedian John Ross Bowie's character, who seats himself beside her explaining that he is a Wiccan. She is the least bit interested in the conversation taking place between her and him. While dancing with her cousin Dominic her father has a heart attack. She cares for him while he is on bed rest finding that the task is not an easy one: the dishes pile up, and she needs to run to the market to get more food. Beth tells her sister's husbands to help out, but they are too preoccupied by watching the game on television. She throws a fit informing them to turn the volume down. To her surprise Neil is standing in the kitchen doing the dishes as well as went to the market. The two embrace in a hug as she tells Neil he is a more a husband to her than any of her sisters husbands are to them. Meanwhile days later she visits Neil on his boat informing him he can movie back in with her with conditions: he has to snake the drain because her hair clogs it, and he can't wear the awful cargo pants. He agrees to her conditions and as she does up laundry she discovers the pants she specifically told him he couldn't have anymore. Neil tells her to check the pants pockets before she throws them out. Beth discovers a box that contains a wedding ring and as she turns around Neil is on one knee asking her to marry him. This proves he has changed his mind about marriage. The two end up getting married on his boat making for a lovely ceremony. The film is directed by Ken Kwapis grossing $178,846,899 in box office generating mixed reviews from film critic's scoring a 40% liking from audiences. A general film critic's consensus states, "Despite the best efforts of a talented cast, 'He'st Just Not That Into You' devotes too little time to each of its protagonists, thus reducing them to stereotypes." Film critic Matt Stevens of E! Online says, "Sometime shooting from the hip, sometimes aiming for the heart, 'He's Just Not That Into You' - like a nearsighted Cupit - hits and misses." Film critic Pete Hammond of Hollywood.com says, "The title and cast are sure to lure women in by the droves - but surprisingly there's something to like here for the guys, too." In efforts of her performance Jennifer was nominated a People's Choice award for Favorite Movie Actress of the Year, and a Teen Choice award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy.

Jennifer & John Mayer at the 81st Annual Academy awards
[February 22, 2009] - She attends the 81st Annual Academy awards as a presenter accompanied by singer/musician John Mayer on the red carpet. The ceremony is hosted by actor Hugh Jackman held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Jennifer co-presents two Oscars with actor/comedian Jack Black and the pair introduce the Animation 2008 montage. They present Best Animated Short Film of the Year and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Best Animated Short Film of the Year is awarded to director Kunio Kato for the animated short film 'La Maison en Petits Cubes'. Best Animated Feature of the Year is awarded to director Andrew Stanton for the animated movie 'WALL-E'. Academy award winning films include drama/musical film 'Slumdog Millionaire', novel-based drama film 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', superhero film 'The Dark Knight', biographical film 'Milk', romantic-drama film 'The Reader', and comedy-drama film 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. 'Slumdog Millionaire' received eight of its ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture of the Year awarded to producer Christian Colson, Best Director of the Year awarded to director Danny Boyle, Best Adapted Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, Best Original Score of the Year awarded to composer A.R. Rahman, Best Original Song of the Year "Jai Ho" awarded to songwriter Gulzar, Best Sound Mixing of the Year awarded to re-recording artists Resuf Pookkultty, Richard Pryka and Ian Tapp, Best Cinematography of the year awared to cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, and Best Film Editing of the Year awarded to film editor Chris Dickens.

Jennifer & Jack Black presenting two Oscars
'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' received three of its thirteen Oscar nominations including Best Art Direction of the Year awarded to art director Donald Graham Burt and set director Victor J. Zolfo, Best Makeup of the Year awarded to makeup artist Greg Cannom, and Best Visual Effects of the Year awardd to visual effects artists Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron. 'The Dark Knight' received two of its eight Oscar nominations including Best Supporting Actor of the Year posthumously awarded to actor Heath Ledger for his performance as The Joker, and Best Sound Editing of the Year awarded to sound editor Richard King. 'Milk' received two of its eight Oscar nominations including Best Lead Actor of the Year awarded to actor Sean Penn for his performance as Harvey Milk, and Best Original Screenplay of the Year awarded to screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. 'The Reader' received one of its five Oscar nominations including Best Lead Actress of the Year awarded to actress Kate Winslet for her performance as Hanna Schmitz. 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress of the Year awarded to actress Penelope Cruz for her performance as Maria Elena. Other Oscar winning films include drama film 'Departures', biographical/documentary film 'Man on Wire', documentary film 'Smile Pinki', short film 'Toyland', and drama film 'The Dutchess'. 'Departures' won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year awarded to director Yojiro Takita. 'Man on Wire' won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature of the Year awarded to director James Marsh and producer Simon Chinn. 'Smile Pinki' won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject awardedto director Megan Mylan. 'Toyland' won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film awarded to direcor Jochen Alexander Freydank. 'The Dutchess' received on of its two Oscar nominations including Best Cosutmde Design of the Year awarded to costume designer Michael O'Connor.

Left: "We Made You" music video and Right: John Mayer & Jennifer
[April 7, 2009] - Rapper Eminem releases his second single "We Made You" from his sixth studio album Relapse. The music video features several celebrities who make guest appearances as themselves as well as look-a-likes all who portray spoof versions of themselves. A verse in the song talks about Jennifer being with John and the music video shows Eminem dressed as John Mayer with an acoustic guitar while sitting on a stool singing into a microphone to a Jennifer Aniston look-a-like: "Forget about them other men [Jennifer's romantic interests], girl [Jennifer] pay them little atten-tion, A little did I mention, that Jennifer's in love with me [Eminem dress as John Mayer] John Mayer so sit on the bench, Man I swear them other guys [Jennifer's other love interests] you give 'em an inch, they take a mile, they got style, but it isn't Slim [Eminem suggesting he would be better to and for her than the previous men Jennifer's been with]." This causes us to wonder if the actress even knows she is mentioned in a song. Whether she is aware of it or not we think it's sweet that a rapper such as Eminem has the time to keep track of her love life and suggests that he'd be a better beau for her than the so-called creeps she's been with. Neither Jennifer nor her management or representative have released any comments or statements about her being mentioned in the song. As Jennifer Aniston fans we like that "Slim" Eminem didn't diss the actress. Eminem if you're reading this, "Thank You!".

(2009) Management
[September 7, 2009] - The 40-year old actress lands the supporting role of Sue Claussen in the comedy film 'Management'. The film revolves around Mike Flux; actor/comedian Steve Zahn's character, who works at his parents motel The Kingman Motor Inn as the night manager. One day a young woman Sue Claussen; Aniston's character, checks in planning to stay for the entire weekend and Mike develops a crush on Sue the moment he lays eyes on her. Later that evening he rummages through the motel decorations stumbling upon an old bottle of wine. He shows up at Sue's motel room announcing himself as management lying that with each guest's first stay they get a complimentary bottle of wine. Sue answers the door unsure of what to make of his approach, but allows him in anyhow. Mike struggles to uncork the bottle while Sue fetches two plastic cups from atop of the sink. He asks her what she does for a living and she replies she is a traveling art sales woman who sells motel art. Out of politeness Sue allows Mike to join her in drinking the wine, but once they finish their first glass she sends him on his way. Still unsure of how to confess his feelings for Sue, Mike repeats similar actions that occurred the other night, but this time with a bottle of champagne. Sue allows Mike in her room once more because she's beginning to catch on that he likes her allowing him to cop a feel of her butt with hopes it will satisfy his crush. She sends him on his way explaining that she has a big presentation and must leave to head home tomorrow. The next morning Sue checks out of the motel then has a change of heart as she is driving down the road. She turns around, heads back to motel, and pursues Mike. She finds him in the motel laundry room and the two have sex then she heads back home. Realizing he has feelings for her Mike purchases a one way plane ticket to Baltimore, Maryland where Sue lives with hopes of tracking her down to confess his feelings. He shows up at her office waiting for her in the lobby to get off work. Sue's initially reaction is that of shock, but out of courtesy she allows him to stay with her at her apartment until morning when he can go back home. Mike and Sue spending time together playing soccer, spend a day at the docks, and feed the homeless Burger King. When night falls Sue tells Mike that the sleeping arrangement includes him sleeping on the floor while she sleeps in her bed.

Steve Zahn and Jennifer on set of 'Management'
Come morning he disobeys the rule by sneaking into bed next to Sue. Soon after Mike returns home with Sue who stays for a second time at the motel. During a day of fun Mike decides to drop by and visit his gravely ill mother Trish Flux; actress Margo Martindale's character. He introduces Sue to his mom who pulls Mike aside informing him that she approves of her, and tells her son he should find happiness in his life. Sue heads back home and shortly after Mike's mother passes away. Mike and his father Jerry Flux; actor Fred Ward's character, attend Trish's memorial service later spreading her ashes over a field as she requested. After a heart-to-heart talk with his father Mike decides to make a change in his life by going after Sue once more. Once he arrives in Baltimore he learns that Sue has gotten back together with her old boyfriend Jango; actor Woody Harrelson's character, a former punk rocker turned successful businessman in Aberdeen, Washington. Feeling down hearted Mike eats at a Chinese restaurant where he is offered a job by the owner's son Al; actor James Hiroyuki Liao's character, whom Mike befriends and allows him to stay in the basement of the restaurant. With the help of Al, Mike goes to extreme lengths to get Sue's attention: including skydiving out of a plane landing into Jango's pool. Unsure who trespassed onto the property Sue cries out for Jango's help who arms himself with a BB gun shooting Mike several times in defense. Once Sue identifies the stranger as Mike she orders Jango to stop shooting helping Mike out of the pool. The next day Mike awakes in the hospital with Sue at his bed side explaining that Jango feels terrible for shooting him and would like to have him over for dinner.

Jennifer & Steve Zahn at the Management premiere
Mike invites Al to come along for dinner where they feel intimidated by Jango who threatens them aware that Mike has feelings for Sue. Regardless of the threat Mike accompanied by Al sing a song for Sue outside of her window later that night with odd musical stylings. The next day at work Mike is visited by Sue who informs him she and Jango are to be married because she is pregnant explaining to Mike that she'd rather be with someone who is in control of their life. In anger given light of recent events after everything Mike's worked for to be with her, he tells Sue to leave. During Sue and Jango's wedding day Mike and Al stake it out watching the ceremony from afar with binoculars. Mike decides to join a Buddhist monastery and after four months he returns home to the motel. The Kingman Motor Inn is now being run by his father, but once he arrives Jerry hands Mike the deed telling him it's his headache now. Mike kept in mind a comment Sue made earlier regarding what she would do deciding to turn the motel into a homeless shelter. Mike calls Sue at home to inform her of the good news, but instead Jango answers. While talking with Jango, Mike exclaims that he realizes he is the last person Jango probably wants to talk to. Jango interrupts Mike informing him that Sue left him and is now staying at her mothers. Mike seeks out Sue's mother's home with the intentions of asking Sue to help him run the homeless shelter. Sue's mother answers the door and Sue is ultimately happy to see Mike. She sets the records straight explaining that she is the one who messed things up with Jango. The film ends with Mike finally confessing his true feelings for Sue explaining that he only wants to take care of her and her baby. The film is directed by Stephen Belber grossing $2,401,743 making it a box office bomb generating mixed reviews from film critic's scoring a 46% liking from audiences. A general film consensus states, "Clever and often beguiling performances by Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston can't revive this sweetly misguided stalker romance." Film critic Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times says, "Though it doesn't  always work, it's an idea with it's heart in the right place, and paired with nonshock comedy, it's a nice change of pace." Film critic Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post says, "Steve Zahn is the single biggest reason why 'Management' is a delightfully screwball romantic-comediy and NOT a crazed-stalker film."

(2009) Love Happens
[September 18, 2009] - Jennifer lands the supporting role of Eloise Chandler in the romance/drama film 'Love Happens'. The film revolves around Burke Ryan; actor Aaron Eckhart's character, a successful Ph.D. turned author. He writes a self-help novel inspired by the death of wife, titled A-Okay that gives advice about coping with the loss of a loved one. While in Seattle as a part of his book tour with the help of his manager Lane Marshall; actor Dan Fogler's character, seminar's, workshops and other events are held at the hotel convention center. After one of his seminar's a gentleman approaches Burke shaking hands sarcastically replying that he enjoyed Burke's speech and his daughter would've enjoyed it as well except she's deceased meanwhile, their son-in-law is reaping all of the benefits. It is later revealed that the sarcastic elder gentlemen is Burke's father-in-law; actor Martin Sheen's character. In the hall of the hotel Burke has a run in with a young woman, but the two don't speak with each other. He learns that she is the hotel florist; Aniston's character and tries to ask her out on a date, but she gives him the false impression that she is deaf. Eloise visits her boyfriend Tyler's house; actor Joe Anderson, a musician who had a female client over angering Eloise causing her to leave and break-up with him. Later Burke catches Eloise in her lie about being deaf telling her off, but afterwards regretting he did so. Eloise chases after Burke who is in the men's restroom and she tells him off. After arguing the two reconcile and he invites her out to dinner. While at work Eloise's friend Marty; actress Judy Greer's character, tells her jumping into the dating work after having just broke-up with someone is a bad idea. Eloise ignores her friend's advice deciding to go through with her date with Burke. During dinner Burke explains to Eloise that this is his first date in a long time, and it shows because their dinner conversation mostly pertains to small talk. After the date is over Burke confesses about the truth about his wife that she didn't leave him she died. Eloise is understanding of Burke's situation questioning why he wasn't just honest with her in the first place. The two continue seeing each other: They attend Eloise's friend Marty's poetry slam, have a night out for fun, and are interrupted by Lane who hunts Burke down. He pulls Burke aside explaining that three businessmen are offering him product endorsement: weight loss supplement, frisbee's, and other products, but due to his actions it could cost them the deal.

Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer on set of 'Love Happens'
Burke tells Lane to reschedule with the businessmen promising he'll show. The next day a seminar attendee Walter; actor John Carroll Lynch's character, is unsatisfied with the seminar wanting to resign from the program. Burke intervenes asking Walter what the problem is wondering what he can do to help. Walter explains that his sister made him attend thinking it would be beneficial for him to deal with the loss of his loved one. Burke asks about Walter's lost love one replying his son Stephen, who died by falling off of a building scaffold killing him instantly resulting in snapping his son's spin. Walter shows Burke a picture of his son and Burke encourages him to continue with the workshops, but understands if Walter wants to quit. Throughout the rest of the workshops Walter proves to be incorrigible when it comes to progress. During an exercise that involves stepping across a bed of hot coals to over come fear Burke demonstrates being fearless by standing on the coals for a considerable amount of time in hopes that Walter will walk across. Instead Walter walks off resulting in Burke burning through a couple of layers of flesh off of his feet. Lane explains to Burke that he can't do the work for each of his clients all he can do is encourage them. The next day Eloise takes Burke out for a drive explaining that she has a surprise for him, but she needs to stop by her mother's house to pick something up first. As she is exiting the vehicle in a gesture of politeness she offers Burke to come inside to meet her mother, and he takes her up on her offer. Eloise picks up the items she needs, but instead of getting in her delivery van she takes her mom's neighbor's vehicle instead. Burke wonder's where Eloise is taking him and she replies it's a surprise. Once they arrive Eloise hoists them into the cherry picker truck where they over look the city as well as a concert taking place in the park.

Jennifer & Aaron Eckhart at the Love Happens preimere
Over the course of the film Burke begins letting his emotions get the better of him affecting his seminars as well as his relationship Eloise: out of anger Burke goes off on Walter whom he is angry at for not participating, and tells off Eloise regarding butting into people's business. Earlier Eloise assisted Burke in killing two birds with one stone by confronting his father-in-law as well as agreeing to make good on a promise he made his wife to release her cockatoo Rocky into the wild. Burke manages to pull his act together towards the end of his run in Seattle. Before Burke's final seminar Lane arranges a meeting for Burke who thinks it's with the businessmen for the product endorsements. Once they arrive to the meeting room it turns out to be Eloise. She tells Burke that Lane explained everything to her and that she thinks that Burke doesn't deserve what he puts himself through such as being so hard on himself. While on stage giving a final speech Burke confesses to the audience that he hasn't been taking his own advice in regards to coping with the loss of his loved one, his wife. He tells the story of his wife's death: They were driving home from dinner one night arguing over paint swatches because they were going to repaint their kitchen. A dog stood before them in the middle of the road in the pouring rain. The vehicle swerved out of control hitting into a light pole and upon impact killing his wife instantly. He then reveals that he was the one driving his car not his wife and he's been blaming himself all of these years for her death. Burke's father-in-law intrudes on the seminar, but sits in the back hearing what his son-in-law has to say and at the end of Burke's speech he tells him he and his wife never blamed Burke for their daughter's death. All that they wanted from Burke was to grieve with him and the two men reconcile embracing in a hug. The film ends with Burke going to Eloise's flower shop to further reconcile with her. He confesses that the last few days she has spent getting to know him has been the part of him that was not available. Burke asks her if she would be interested in getting to know the part of him that is available and the two embrace in a hug. The film is directed by Brandon Camp grossing $36,122,028 in box office making it a box office bomb generating positive reviews from film critic's scoring a 16% liking from audiences. A general film consensus states, " 'Love Happens' is a dull, chemistry-free affair that under-utilizes its appealing leads." Film critic Thomas Leupp of Hollywood.com says, "Love does indeed happen, though it sure takes its sweet time, in this meandering drama." Film critic Ted Fry of the Seattle Times says, "For a sparkly star vehicle with aspirations no greater than highlighting the perfect bone structure of its featured players, 'Love Happens' makes a good case for the three-act formula of a skillfully crafted Hollywood romance." In efforts of her performance Jennifer won a Yoga award for Worst Foreign Actress of the Year.

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