“Once you figure out who you are and what you love about yourself, I think it all kinda falls into place.” —Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston became a household name after her iconic role of Rachel on the TV series Friends. She is one of the most successful actresses of all time, and continues to star in comedy movies year after year. Here are 46 facts about the influential actress.
46. Born To Do It
Aniston was born in 1969 in Sherman Oaks, California. Both of her parents were actors in Los Angeles. Her father, John Aniston, starred in the soap opera Days of Our Lives. Aniston's mother, Nancy Dow, was in a few minor roles on TV shows, including one episode of The Beverly Hillbillies.
45. Jet Setter
Aniston's heritage is Greek, Scottish, and English. She grew up living in both Greece and New York City.
44. Thanks, Dad!
When she was a young girl, Aniston got a part as an extra in one of the soap operas her dad was working on. She got to be an ice skater.
43. Child Prodigy
When Aniston was only 11 years old, she painted a picture that ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
42. After School
Aniston knew from a young age that she wanted to be an actress. She went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, and focused all her efforts on drama club.
41. Court Jester
When she was in high school, Aniston was the class clown.
40. Are You Ready To Order?
When Aniston was young, she worked at a few different part-time jobs, including working as a waitress. However, she quit because she wasn’t very good at the job. Funnily enough, a lot of Aniston's roles have her as a waitress.
38. Save Ferris
When she was a teenager, Aniston landed the role of Jeanie Bueller in the TV version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The show, however, didn’t do very well, and was canceled mid-season.
37. Riding in Style
When Aniston got her first paycheck as a professional actress, she went out and bought a vintage Mercedes.
36. A Whole New Family
After Aniston's parents divorced, her father married actress Sherry Rooney in 1984. Rooney played Mrs. Plenn on the TV show Doogie Howser, MD.
35. Lucky Break
In the 90s, Aniston got leading roles in two TV shows at once: Muddling Through and Friends Like Us, which was the original title for Friends. Luckily, Muddling Through didn't make it, and Aniston was free to film Friends.
34. Big Bucks
In the last three seasons of Friends, Aniston was making $1 million per episode.
33. Cover Girl
Aniston has been named People's Most Beautiful Woman twice.
32. Wax On, Wax Off
Her Friends co-star Courteney Cox earned a brown belt in karate, which inspired Aniston to start taking karate classes too.
31. Alternate Universe
If she wasn’t an actress, Aniston would have loved to work as a psychologist. As Aniston explained it in a 2017 interview with Chelsea Handler, she is always the go-to friend who people seek for advice, and she really enjoys understanding how people think.
30. Number One Fan
In 1999, Aniston was on Saturday Night Live satirizing Brad Pitt's real-life stalker Athena Marie Rolando. Aniston was dating Pitt at the time. This was all part of an effort to promote Pitt's starring role in Fight Club.
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29. Dream Wedding
In 2000, Pitt and Aniston got married in Malibu. The wedding was complete with 4 live bands, fireworks, and 200 guests. Overall, the power couple's wedding cost $1 million.
28. Committed
Many actresses choose to keep their own names when they get married, but Aniston legally changed her name to Jennifer Pitt after her marriage; she still used her maiden name professionally.
27. Betrayal
Because Aniston's mother, Nancy Dow, made some hurtful comments about Jennifer to a tabloid, she wasn't invited to the Aniston-Pitt wedding.
26. Dream Home
The Pitts' first home was a 14,000-square foot mansion in Beverly Hills, California. It cost them over $1.7 million to purchase.
25. Getting Serious
In 2002, Aniston took the lead role in The Good Girl, which proved that she had skills as a dramatic film actress, not just as a sitcom TV star.
24. All That Glitters
In 2002, Damiani International Jewelers started selling “Brad and Jennifer” wedding rings that were exact copies of Aniston’s custom ring. The celebrity couple took the company to court; the two sides eventually reached a settlement.
23. Set In Stone
In 2012, Aniston was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
22. Together Forever
In 2004, the Madame Tussauds museum created wax figures of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston together—the couple separated only a few months later.
21. Goodbye
In 2005, Aniston and Pitt divorced. Pitt had already begun a relationship with actress Angelina Jolie for several months before the official divorce—Pitt would later marry Jolie.
20. Director’s Chair
In 2006, Aniston co-directed the movie Room 10 with Andrea Buchanan. Aniston was inspired to get into directing after learning that fellow actress Gwyneth Paltrow had directed a short film too.
19. Trend Setter
Aniston's hairstyle on Friends, nicknamed "The Rachel," became massively popular in the 1990s and early 2000s.
18. Stuck Together
Aniston has been quoted as saying that signing up to work on a new TV show is scarier than getting married, because there is a 5-year contract that locks you in. Even if you hate the it, there is no way to divorce the show.
16. In This Together
Aniston has said that if one actor had left the cast of Friends, the rest of them would have walked out, too. Thankfully, that never happened; the cast remain close friends with each other to this day.
15. Recognition
In 2002, Aniston won an Emmy for Best Actress, and in 2003 she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series.
14. What A Pain
Even though she always looks great on the red carpet, Aniston has said that she doesn’t enjoy the fashion culture of Los Angeles, where wearing the same outfit twice can be social suicide.
12. Hair Style
Aniston co-owns the hair product company Living Proof. The brand is very successful, and sells at Ulta Beauty for around $20 per bottle for their shampoos, conditioners, and styling products.
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11. Beachy Keen
Aniston has her own line of perfumes, including the scent "Beachscape," available for purchase at Kohl's.
10. Fake News
Tabloid magazines always love to speculate that Aniston is pregnant. “I have been pregnant so many times, it’s ridiculous,” she has said. She once compared the rumors to seeing claims of alien sightings.
9. Laugh Track
After the end of Friends in 2004, Aniston began to focus on starring in comedy movies. She has been in Office Space, Bruce Almighty, Office Christmas Party, and Bad Bosses, to name just a few of her films.
8. Comedy Crew
Aniston is friends with many comedic actors, including Paul Rudd, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Ellen Degeneres, Portia de Rossi, Isla Fisher, and Chelsea Handler.
7. Puppers
The actress has two dogs: Norman, a corgi-terrier mix, and Dolly, a German Shepherd.
6. Homage
A Finnish musician named Anssi Kela wrote a song called “Jennifer Aniston,” although the lyrics have nothing to do with her. Kela had dreams about Aniston every night while he was working on the song, so he decided to name it after her.
Wikimedia Commons, SilverBullitt
5. New Love
In 2012, Jennifer Aniston married Justin Theroux. Instead of having a massive wedding, they decided to have a small private ceremony in their home.
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4. Flying In Style
In 2015, Aniston signed an endorsement deal with Emirates Airline that earned her $5 million. Ironically, she has a fear of flying.
3. Swanky Pads
Aniston’s new home in Beverly Hills was custom designed, and took two years to complete. She also has an apartment in Manhattan as well other California homes.
2. Ruthless
In 2002, paparrazi used a long-lens camera from an 8-story building to capture pictures of Jennifer sunbathing topless in her own backyard. The photos ended up in multiple magazines, and Aniston again went to court over the issue with both the photographer and magazines; in 2003, the photographer paid Aniston $550,000 in damages.
1. Leading Lady
Forbes dubbed Aniston one of the 10 Most Powerful Actresses in the world.
