Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career. She has played the female protagonist in dozens of romantic comedy films. Her greatest box office hits include Bruce Almighty (2003), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Just Go with It (2011), Horrible Bosses (2011) and We're the Millers (2013), all of which have grossed over $200 million in the United States. One of her most critically acclaimed roles was in The Good Girl (2002), for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She is the co-founder of the production company Echo Films. ContentsEarly life![]() Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, where Aniston trained to be an actress. As a child, Aniston lived in Greece for a year with her family. They moved to Eddystone, Pennsylvania, then to New York City. Despite her father's television career, Aniston was discouraged from watching TV, though she found ways around the prohibition. When she was six, Aniston began attending the Rudolf Steiner School, a Waldorf educational school that applied the Rudolf Steiner philosophy. During that time, Aniston's father and mother split when she was nine years old. Meanwhile, after discovering acting at eleven while attending Rudolf Steiner, Aniston enrolled and graduated at Manhattan's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she joined the school's drama society. Career1989–1993: Career beginningsAniston worked in Off Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave, and supported herself with several part-time jobs, which included working as a telemarketer, waitress, and bike messenger. In 1989, Aniston appeared on The Howard Stern Show, as a spokesmodel for Nutrisystem. That year, Aniston moved back to Los Angeles.Aniston was cast in her first television role in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy. She then co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and like Molloy also quickly canceled. Aniston then appeared in two more failed television comedy series, The Edge and Muddling Through. Other roles included the 1993 horror film Leprechaun, the TV movie Camp Cucamonga, and guest roles on Quantum Leap, Herman's Head, and Burke's Law. 1994–2002: Television breakthrough and rising film careerDepressed over her four unsuccessful television shows, Aniston approached Warren Littlefield at a Los Angeles gas station asking for reassurance about her career. The head of NBC entertainment encouraged Aniston to continue acting, and a few months later helped cast her for Friends, a sitcom that was set to debut on NBC's 1994–1995 fall lineup. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller, but Courteney Cox was considered to be better suited to the role. Thus, Aniston was cast as Rachel Green. She was also offered a spot as a featured player on Saturday Night Live, but turned it down to do Friends. She played the character of Rachel from 1994 until the show ended in 2004. The program was successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained world-wide reputation among television viewers. Aniston received a salary of $1 million per episode for the last two seasons of Friends, as well as five Emmy nominations (two for Supporting Actress, three for Lead Actress), including a win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She was also nominated for two Golden Globe Award and won, in 2003, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. According to the Guinness World Book of Records (2005), Aniston (along with her female costars) became the highest paid TV actress of all time with her $1 million-per-episode paycheck for the tenth season of Friends.Following a four-year hiatus from cinema, Aniston returned to film work in 1996, when she performed in the ensemble cast of the independent films Dream for an Insomniac alongside Ione Skye and Seymour Cassel and She's the One alongside Edward Burns, Cameron Diaz, John Mahoney, Leslie Mann, Amanda Peet and Malachy McCourt, also produced by Robert Redford. Aniston's first starring vehicle was the film Picture Perfect (1997), in which she starred opposite Kevin Bacon, Jay Mohr, Olympia Dukakis and Illeana Douglas. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston's performance was more warmly received, with many critics suggesting that she had screen presence. This same year, she play a supporting role in 'Til There Was You, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christine Ebersole, Michael Tucker, Karen Allen, Ken Olin and Nina Foch. In 1998, she play Clove in The Thin Pink Line, starring also Margaret Cho, David Cross, Tate Donovan, Illeana Douglas, Will Ferrell, Janeane Garofalo, Phil LaMarr, Anne Meara, Joel Murray, Mike Myers, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Andy Richter, David Schwimmer, Molly Shannon and Tuc Watkins. She also appeared as herself in the short Waiting for Woody, directed by Grant Heslov. In 1999, she starred in the cult film Office Space for director Mike Judge, with Ron Livingston, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Diedrich Bader, John C. McGinley, Orlando Jones and Alexandra Wentworth. She also make her debut in the animation movie, with The Iron Giant in which she give her voice to Annie Hughes. The other actors of the cast are Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh and Cloris Leachman. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in The Object of My Affection (1998), a comedy-drama about a woman who falls for a gay man, played by Paul Rudd, with also Allison Janney, Alan Alda, Tim Daly, Joan Copeland, Steve Zahn and Nigel Hawthorne and in the low-budget 2002 film The Good Girl, playing an unglamorous cashier who cheats on her husband, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschanel and Mike White. The latter film opened in relatively few theaters – under 700 in total – taking $14M in the U.S. box office. She also starred in 2001 in the musical drama film Rock Star, with Mark Wahlberg, Timothy Olyphant, Jason Flemyng, Timothy Spall, Dominic West and Beth Grant, produced by George Clooney. 2003–2009: Film career boomAniston's biggest box office success to date was her appearance in 2003's Bruce Almighty, in which she played the girlfriend of Jim Carrey's title character. Aniston then starred in the 2004 film Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller. In late 2005, Aniston appeared in two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It.... In 2006, Aniston appeared in the low-budget drama Friends with Money, which was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival and received a limited release. Aniston's next film, The Break-Up, which was released on June 2, grossed approximately $39.17 million during its opening weekend, despite lukewarm reviews. In 2006, Aniston directed a hospital emergency room-set short film called Room 10, starring Robin Wright and Kris Kristofferson as part of Glamour's Reel Moments film series. Aniston noted that she was inspired to direct by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who also directed a short film in 2006.In 2007, Aniston guest starred in an episode of Courteney Cox Arquette's series Dirt, playing Arquette's rival, Tina Harrod. She appeared in the third episode of Season 3 of NBC's 30 Rock playing Liz Lemon's old college roommate who stalks Jack Donaghy. On December 25, 2008, Marley & Me, in which Aniston starred alongside Owen Wilson, was released. It set a record for the largest Christmas Day box office ever with $14.75 million in ticket sales. It earned a total of $51.7 million over the four-day weekend and placed number one at the box office, a position it maintained for two weeks. The total worldwide gross was $242,717,113. Her next film in wide release, He's Just Not That Into You, where she starred opposite Ben Affleck, opened in February 2009. The movie made $178,390,243 globally and ranked at number one at the United States box office for its opening weekend. While the film received mixed reviews, Aniston, along with Affleck, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Jennifer Connelly, were often praised by critics as being the stand-outs in the film. On July 16, 2009, Aniston received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on 30 Rock. Aniston was a guest star on the season 2 premiere of ABC's sitcom Cougar Town, playing a psychiatrist. 2010–present: Enduring film successIn March 2010, Aniston appeared in The Bounty Hunter, which costarred Gerard Butler. While the film received scathing reviews from critics, it was a modest box office success, garnering over $130 million worldwide. A lukewarm box-office reception greeted her next film, The Switch, in which she co-starred with Jason Bateman. The film's opening weekend drew what The Hollywood Reporter dubbed "a dispiriting $8.4 million". The film received generally mixed reviews, with review site Metacritic showing 13 out of 30 critics delivering a positive verdict.![]() Aniston at the London premiere of Horrible Bosses in February 2011 In 2012, Aniston appeared in Wanderlust with Paul Rudd, with whom she co-starred in the 1998 movie The Object of My Affection and also Friends. The script for Wonderland, bought by Universal Pictures, was written by Rudd, Ken Marino, and David Wain, with the latter also directing the film, and was produced by Judd Apatow. The movie was about a married couple who join a commune after losing their money and deciding modern life is not for them. Aniston starred with Jason Sudeikis in EUE/Screen Gems Productions' We're the Millers, filmed in summer 2012 in Wilmington, North Carolina and in the state of New Mexico. The film, a comedy about a drug dealer with a fake family, was released on August 7, 2013, receiving mixed reviews from critics. We're the Millers was a financial success grossing $269 million against a budget of $37 million. Other work
Aniston has appeared in various commercials and music videos throughout her career. In 1996, she was in Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers music video for "Walls". In 2001, Aniston was in Melissa Etheridge's music video for "I Want To Be In Love". She was cast in a Heineken commercial which was later banned in the U.S. due to branding issues. Aniston has also been in commercials for L'Oreal hair products. In 1995, Aniston and her Friends co-star Matthew Perry shot a 60-minute instructional video for the release of Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system. Along with Brad Pitt and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Aniston founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although she and Grey withdrew in 2005. In 2008, she and Kristin Hahn formed the production company Echo Films.![]() Aniston at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival In August 2006, Aniston denied rumors she was engaged to Vaughn or that the actor had proposed. By October 2006, the couple had broken up. In April 2008, it was reported that singer John Mayer and Aniston were an item. They broke up in August 2008 but got back together in October, with Aniston confirming on Oprah that she was again dating John Mayer. In March 2009, People reported Aniston and Mayer had broken up for the second time. Aniston has been having a relationship with actor Justin Theroux since May 2011. In January 2012, Aniston and Theroux purchased a home in Los Angeles's Bel-Air neighborhood for roughly $22 million. On August 12, 2012, Aniston and Theroux announced their engagement. In 2013, The Huffington Post described Aniston as "a long-time yoga practitioner" and quoted her as saying, "If I don't do it then my spirit sort of goes." In 2014 Aniston spoke of her Transcendental Meditation practice: "When asked what the number one thing which has kept her looking so amazing is, Jennifer replied: 'I'd say a little over a year ago I started doing TM and that's really changed everything. Starting your day off with that and ending with that is pretty powerful.'" In the mediaWealthIn 2007, Forbes rated Aniston as one of the top 10 richest women in entertainment and estimated her net worth to be about $110 million. Aniston was also included in the annual Star Salary Top 10 of trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter for 2006. According to Forbes, in October 2007, Aniston was the top-selling celebrity face of the entertainment industry. She was also Hollywood's most profitable actress. Aniston has been on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, based on "earnings and fame", every year since 2001, topping the list in 2003. For the year of 2008, Forbes listed Aniston's earnings as $27 million.Public image![]() Aniston at the He's Just Not That Into You premiere in 2009 Although Aniston disliked the hairstyle she wore during her first two years on Friends, "The Rachel" became and remains very popular among women. Aniston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 22, 2012. The star is located at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of The W Hollywood Hotel. It is recognized as STAR 2,462nd. On Forbes' list of the 100 Most Powerful Actresses in Hollywood, Aniston was ranked number 8 in 2009, number 2 in both 2011 and 2012, and number 3 in 2013. Awards and nominationsMain article: List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Aniston FilmographyMain article: Jennifer Aniston filmography |