Jeanner: The Friends cast hasn't always been successful on the big screen -- take The Pallbearer or Ed, for example. Some members of the press have speculated about a "Friends curse." What do you make of this?
Jennifer: It's sort of a bizarre thing that happened, that these people are out there sort of just sharpening their knives just sort of waiting to see, you know, who's gonna flop. They get some satisfaction out of that for some reason. Which is a bizarre thing, 'cause all of a sudden, you know, just as we were sort of getting used to and appreciating the fact that our show was doing so well and people were loving it so much and it became this great thing that everybody related to and loved and just at the time we were going, "Wow, isn't this great! This is unbelievable!" Because it takes a while to sort of become aware of that. Next thing you knew, you were turning around and people were just, like, hating it and or whatever. Bad things were being said, and we didn't know what we had done wrong, basically, when we were just going to work and doing the same thing that we had been doing all along, that we were loving it and thought everybody else was, too. So I guess it's just that thing, you know -- I've been told that that's what happened. They love to do that, have this wonderful buildup and we love you and you're on a pedestal and then we're going to, you know, just have a blast knocking you down or whatever, you know. It'll go in a wave and I'm sure it'll come around again because we really haven't stopped doing the show. It hasn't stopped us from loving it and committing to it and making it as good as it can be.
Jeanner: You've had supporting roles in movies, but in Picture Perfect, you're the star. How is it different?
Jennifer: How is it different? Well, it's different just because of that. I think it's, like, there's a huge responsibility. It's a terrifying position to be in. It's like anything. It's even like a TV show, being called, you know, Coach or The Nanny or whatever. If it doesn't do well, you don't have a bunch of other people to kind of rest on. It's sort of a reflection of you and that's a very huge responsibility, especially coming, you know, off of Friends and, you know, knowing that people are just sort of waiting to see how it does.
Jeanner: We've heard that you idolize Kevin Bacon. Did that make it hard to work with him?
Jennifer: I was petrified. The first three days I couldn't speak, I couldn't act, I couldn't be normal. I was, like, completely at a loss for words and just, you know... Once I allowed myself to get past the fact that Kevin Bacon was sitting here and talking to me, I was able to sort of relax and enjoy him, 'cause he's such a nice, down-to-earth -- and that's always such a pleasure because when you idolize someone and you think someone's great -- same with Olympia Dukakis [who plays Aniston's mom in the film] -- and you just think they're wonderful, and then when you meet them they're as charming and as humble as you would hope they would be, it just sort of is, like, "Oh, that's great."
Jeanner: Your character in Picture Perfect doesn't always feel beautiful, but she has her moments. What about you?
Jennifer: When do I feel beautiful? There's times when you look in the mirror and you go, "OK, we're having a good day." And then there's times when you go, "Oh, my God." I just -- you know, you just don't feel great. It's sort of, like, everybody goes through those moments of hating things about themselves and not having positive reinforcement as a kid or whatever, wherever it comes from, you know. There are times, though, when you feel like you look good, and then there are times when you just don't.
Jeanner: What was it like to appear nude on the cover of Rolling Stone?
Jennifer: At the time it was, like, "Oh, my God, how could they do that? That is awful." And, you know, I was shocked and my mother was shocked and everybody was just shocked and, you know... but the fact is, when I'm 60 years old I can look back at that and go, "See? I was -- it was there!"
Jeanner: You've been dating Tate Donovan for over a year. How hard is it to have a successful relationship, given all the media attention?
Jennifer: It's weird. It's a very bizarre, surreal experience to sort of lose your anonymity, but, you know, it comes with the dinner and it just becomes part of you. You have to really surrender to it and accept it, though, as part of your life -- otherwise you'll always be very angry and bitter and resent those people that follow you or the things that are written about you or whatever. You have to be able to take everything with a grain of salt, you know. And it's hard to do sometimes, but you know, now you get to the point where you laugh at the tabloids. You're wondering who they're going to fix you up with next. Who's she dating, who's she breaking up with, who's proposing and all these things and, you know...
Jeanner: Could you give us a hint about what's going to happen on Friends next season?
Jennifer: They don't tell us anything 'cause they know that we're gonna just yap it all over the place, so they don't tell us. I don't think they know, honestly, where they want it to go yet. I think by now they do but they have not told us. I would love for Ross and Rachel to get back together 'cause I don't think they ended the way they should end. I mean, they ended in a prideful row, you know. It was sort of like -- it wasn't a real reason to end because they weren't right for each other. It was out of a heated, passionate, you know, kind of fight, which is not the way to end anything, really.
Interview by Jeanne Wolf, copy by Susan Campbell Beachy. Photo credit: Jennifer Aniston by Len Irish for TV Guide
Interview available on RealAudio at http://www.tvgen.com/tv/watch/ww073197.htm.