She’s here, and Hollywood.com’s got her: Jennifer Aniston talks about her new film The Break-Up, her real-life breakup and the temptation to call in a butt double.
Hollywood.com: You got to spend a lot of time shooting in Chicago. How did you enjoy that city?
Jennifer Aniston: Chicago is my kind of town. It really was. I just had a ball there. There’s something about the people—they’re kind and respectful. It’s a feeling, it’s an energy when you walk through the streets of Chicago. It’s great. The architecture, the theatres, the museums–yeah, I actually love it.
HW: You even got to film at Wrigley Field—what was that like for you?
JA: It was a crowd rush, It was a thousand degrees, we were in sweaters. It was fun, just being in Wrigley Field, having heard so much about it.
HW: In the film, you met Vince Vaughn’s character at a baseball game, where he used some wannabe-clever pickup lines. What was the funniest or weirdest pick up line a guy has ever used on you?
JA: One guy came up to me and he told me he liked my salad. And I didn’t know what that meant, so I said, “What do you mean, my salad?” and he said, “You know, your salad—Your hair, your makeup…I like your salad.”
HW: How was your professional experience working with Vince?
JA: Working with Vince is like working with a pro tennis player, if you’re a tennis player. He’s such a professional, he so good at his job, he’s so funny, and he’s such a great actor, aside from being comedic. You get those moments very rarely. You can kind of tell pretty quickly whether it’s going to be easy or a tough one. He asks questions, he listens, he’s interested in other people. It’s not just about him.
HW: Can you talk about the irony of playing a breakup while also going through one in your personal life?
JA: It’s pretty ironic. At the time it was something I thought about. I kind of couldn’t believe when I got the call that a movie called The Break-Up was coming out. I kinda laughed and thought, “That’s funny.” I kind of found it like a sign or something to do it. In a way it was a cathartic thing. I felt very lucky, in a way. If it came to me at any other time in my life, I don’t know if I would have been able to really get it for myself on the level that I would have wanted to as an actor.
HW: Do you think closure is important when you end a relationship?
JA: I would think so. For any relationship—romantic, friendship, anything—there should always be a sense of closure and clarity as to why it happened so that you can sort of move cleanly into your next phase.
HW: Are you at all like your character in the film?
JA: Oh yeah. I’m a little crazy about doing dishes. I definitely like a clean kitchen before I go to bed. Doesn’t everybody? No I don’t ask for help. I probably should ask for more help. I’d like someone to just offer. Who wouldn’t?
HW: Do you think women do too much for their men as girlfriends and wives?
JA: Yeah, I think it’s instinctual to be the caretaker of the home. It’s only your own fault in the way that you train somebody. You can’t blame somebody for not knowing what their job should be if you don’t ask for it right off the bat.
HW: What is the secret of successful relationships?
JA: I think just talking about it. Saying what you need, saying what you want. So it’s not a threat to the other person. That it’s something that you’re simply saying—this matters to me. People expect people to read minds sometimes, and when your mind doesn’t get read you get pissed off.
HW: Were you nervous doing the nude scene, and were you tempted to use a body double?
JA: Luckily I had been hitting the gym before that. You don’t panic about your physical shape—you panic that you have to be naked, period. You don’t want to have a butt double!
HW: Did the filmmakers, including Vince, ask you to help with the story’s female voice?
JA: Yes. In a way of like, “We’re dudes. We don’t know how the female side would respond.” They were very great about it. It made it so much fun. It’s universal—everybody can relate to these. You go back to all relationships in your life and remember funny moments.
HW: How hard is it to find scripts that allow you to be this funny?
JA: It’s really hard. There’s jut not a lot out there. Men are one act shows most of the time. The equal male-female funny roles don’t come around that often.
HW: In the film you say that you don’t like flowers, but what kind of a girl are you in real life? Flowers, chocolates…?
JA: Don’t like chocolate, love flowers. Always love good peonies. They’re beautiful. Peonies and orchids.
HW: What’s your cocktail of choice?
JA: I’m a creature of habit. If I do have a cocktail it’ll be a straight dirty martini.
HW: Okay, the film tries to play fair between the guy and the girl, but break it down for us: Who was the good guy, and who was the bad guy?
JA: They didn’t know who was really the bad guy. They’re both flawed. They both fall short and that’s the problem. They failed to finally communicate. Let’s face it–“She was the good guy,” she said jokingly.
