One of America's most iconic sweethearts Jennifer Aniston almost gave up acting less than two years ago. Aniston has had a lengthy acting career. She got her big break playing Rachel on Friends from 1994-2004. Since then, she has been the leading lady in a wide array of film genres, including comedies, dramas, and romance movies such as Cake, We're the Millers, and He's Just Not That Into You.
She has returned to TV for her most recent role on Apple TV+'s The Morning Show. The Morning Show stars Aniston as a seasoned morning talk show host Alex Levy. After 15 years of working alongside co-anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), Kessler is fired for sexual conduct. A rivalry forms when field reporter Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) replaces Kessler, and Levy has to fight to retain her spot as number one news anchor. While the show received mixed reviews from critics, Aniston won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Oustanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.
According to People, Aniston revealed that before booking The Morning Show, Aniston heavily debated quitting acting for good. She appeared on the podcast "SmartLess" hosted by fellow actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett and revealed that she was working on an undisclosed project that never ended up seeing the light of day when the thought crossed her mind. Aniston explained that the project "sucked the life out of" her, which made her wonder if it was worth pursuing a career that made her feel this way. She also shared that if she had decided to leave acting, she would've become an interior designer.
"I would have to say the last two years that [quitting acting] has crossed my mind, which it never did before...I was like ‘Woah that sucked the life out of me’ and I don't know if this is what interests me."
Fortunately, The Morning Show helped revive her love of acting. While reflecting on her past gigs during the podcast, she revealed that Friends held a special place in her heart as her favorite project. She is reportedly excited to reunite with the cast of Friends to revive her famous role for the HBO Max reunion. She revealed working on Just Go With It with Adam Sandler was a close second as well as Cake. Aniston has proved she can cover a wide range of characters and genres.
Aniston has earned her spot as one of Hollywood's top A-list actors. It would've been a shame if she gave up that spot while she still has plenty of years left in her career. She has proved her range and ability are what has given her career longevity. Hopefully, Aniston has plenty of projects up her sleeve to wow the world.
Source: People