Jennifer Aniston Rockstar: Up Close & Personal with Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston
"Rock Star"

Q: Did you go to a lot of rock concerts when you were younger or in preparation for this film?

A: No, I can't say I did. I've seen a couple of shows in my life, but I didn't do the rock scene very much. It kind of scares me (laugh).

Q: You said, it scares you, but was there any temptation when there was an audience full of people to just run out there and have people scream for you?

A: No, (laugh) no way. Let them have that. Crowds are frightening.

Q: Do you have a favorite rock group that you liked or that you would like to meet?

A: I don't have one favorite. I mean I love so many different bands and different kinds of music. Aerosmith has always been a favorite. Led Zeppelin has always been a favorite. Radiohead is a favorite. There's just a lot of stuff I like.

Q: Speaking of Aerosmith, you made an interesting comment about lead singer Steven Tyler in "Vanity Fair", would you care to comment?

A: Yes. (laugh) I wish I never said it. It was a joke in passing between me and my loved one about how much I love him. I think Tyler's just phenomenal and (laugh) and very, very, very beautiful. It was just a silly little thing (laugh).

Q: Steven Herek said that your character in "Rock Star" shows how when you're the significant other of somebody who becomes famous you wind up fading into the background. Is that something that you can personally identify with as a celebrity who has been involved in romance mingled with fame?

A: I think it depends on the individual and the situation. We've seen and know of many couples where one person becomes very famous and the wife or the husband no longer fits in the picture, but there are also people that can handle it, and can see fame for what it is and take it for what it is. It is just a big old fun game that's not real. It's all just for the moment. To get caught up in that sort of hoopla and the fame and the glamour, is pretty silly.

Q: But fame is also a very real issue to contend with, don't you think?

A: Yeah, for some people it is absolutely real. I don't mean it's not real, because it does exist. The industry exists, but this idea that it's some glamorous fantastic existence all the time is not what I've found to be true. Most of the time it's like a nine to five job. You go and get your coffee in the morning and you go to work. Then you come home and you have to feed the dog. If you choose to go out and partake and live in that Hollywood scene it might be different. We just don't do that so much.

Q: How did you end up in Rock Star? Wasn't Brad originally attached to the project?

A: Well, it was weird. They were working on the film for awhile and then it went away. Then about a year later I got the call from my manager, and she said do you remember Rock Star? I said, yes. And she said, Mark Wahlberg's doing it, how would you feel about playing the love interest? At the time I remembered there not being much of a part, so I said no, but she explained that they were writing it in. They'd create it and put it together. So I said, sure, that sounds great.

Q: What did you like about the script?

A: Well, I liked the story because it was about a fun period of the '80s. I also liked the story about this guy's rise to fame, what happens to him, how he adjusts to it, and how he handles it. I thought that was just kind of fun. It's all about fun, ultimately.

Q: In the film, do you think your character handles her boyfriend's fame well?

A: I think it's that she knows that he has to do this. They have a real love and respect for each other. She knows that he has to experience this, whatever it is. She also knows that there's no place for her and it's not enough for her. I think they both have a lot of faith in who they are, and she has a lot of integrity to follow what it is that makes her happy.

Q: People see you as a pretty big star in Hollywood, what is your reasoning for taking a supporting role instead of a leading role?

A. It's too much responsibility (laugh). I don't know. I think there just hasn't been a lead role that's appealed to me. I've made some choices in the past and I haven't regretted anything. When you get offered a good role, that in and of itself is flattering. You think, "Wow, they're offering it to me?" Then you just take the role without any thought of what it is or how it will benefit you. This role in this film just happened to be interesting to me. It fit into my schedule, and gave me free time at the end of the summer so I could breathe a little bit before going back to "Friends," which is always important to me.

Q: Does that mean you're actually considering the elements of your personal life when you book jobs over the year?

A: Yes, how you choose to pass your time is very important to the quality of your life. Just this past season I had just finished doing a film as I was wrapping up the last season of "Friends." I was doing double duty, and it was so exhausting. I felt like something was going to suffer eventually. I'm not a workaholic. I admire people that can do so much work, like George Clooney. He was doing "E.R." and "Batman." I mean he was a superhero (laugh) I don't know how he did it. It's amazing to me.

Q: Can you tell us about your next film "The Good Girl?"

A: "The Good Girl," is an independent movie that Miguel Arteta directed. Mike White, who wrote "Chuck And Buck," is the writer. It's a pretty dark little slice of life movie (laugh). I play the "Good Girl." She is a wife who's working at the retail rodeo in Texas, and she's pretty much fed up with her life and being the good girl, and kind of makes some choices that don't throw her into the greatest situations and certainly change her reputation as the good girl. It was an amazing experience. It came at a time where if I had read one more bad romantic comedy script...I just couldn't handle it. I thought if I'm going to take a chance, and if I want to try something different then I may as well do it now and see if I can do it, and if I can get away with it, and if people will accept it. I don't want to do the same type of role forever. As much as I love it, there are other things I can do, and I thought, I'm going to have to take a chance and prove it. Then I got the part and the offer to do this movie, and it was perfect. At first I thought they made a mistake, that they called the wrong person.

Q: How Friends-like are the scripts you're sent?

A: There are similarities in that you often find the spoiled rich girl looking for love. But that's pretty much the formula for most romantic comedies. There are only a certain number of ways that you can tell a love story, so it's more about finding the writer that will make it interesting.

Q: How do you overcome being type-cast?

A: I think you have to go in and prove yourself by auditioning. I never have an ego about auditioning. I don't expect someone to think I can do something that they haven't seen me do yet. If I've never played the bad girl part, I don't know if I can do it (laugh). I feel you either go in and audition and show them what you can do, or you get a job somewhere that can prove you are able to do it, so you have a piece to show a side of you that they have not seen before. You have to prove it to them.

Q: How did you enjoy working with Mark Wahlberg?

A: Oh, it was amazing, I love him. First of all, he's so talented, and makes such amazing, seamless transitions from character to character. He's good at what he does and he becomes that character. He put on those leather pants, and that was pretty much all he had to do. There was no Marky Mark anywhere to be seen.

Q: I understand that you want to work with your husband. I'm just wondering how easy would it be for you to work together.

A: Well truthfully, it's hard when you think about how much of the microscope you'll be under. We couldn't just go out and do a movie, it has to be right and it has to be good. Maybe we'll wait 15 years (laugh) because right now there are so many silly little media circuses happening. Why add to them.

Q: That will never end though will it?

A: Oh, I'm sure they'll get bored and they'll move onto somebody else...the next flavor of the month. I think it's like anything. There's an ebb and flow, and it's something to talk about. Eventually they will need to fill their pages with something else.