Jennifer Aniston has opened up about what it felt like to film The Morning Show and how it was like taking part in ’20 years worth of therapy’.
Starring on the show as Alex Levy, Aniston revealed that her experience playing a character who is under constant scrutiny as a national celebrity hit close to home for her.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Aniston admitted how “[The Morning Show] was 20 years of therapy wrapped into 10 episodes”.
“There were times when I would read a scene and feel like a whole manhole cover was taken off my back.”
Aniston went on to explain how going through a myriad of emotions in her role was “cathartic, yes, and also interesting for me to look at how I always have tried to normalise being fine and ‘everything’s great, you know, this is all normal,’ and then there are moments when you have your private breakdown or your ‘Calgon, take me away’ moments.”
“To actually look at it from an actor brain observing it and acknowledging it, I had to look at it as opposed to pretending it doesn’t exist.”
The actress also reflected on an emotional performance in episode two of The Morning Show, that helped her see the similarities between her character’s fame and her own.
“There have been moments—not to that level of hysteria—but moments of ‘I don’t want to f**king go here,’ ‘I don’t want to walk out onto the carpet,’ ‘I don’t want to be seen,’ ‘I don’t want to be looked at and everyone’s going to be talking about me and judging me’…that’s real,” Aniston said.
“I just loved being able to walk into it and lean into it and not be ashamed of it.”
The Morning Show stars Aniston, Steve Carell and Reese Witherspoon. Aniston and Witherspoon also serve as executive producers.
For her role on the show, Aniston not only won a Screen Actors Guild Award for ‘Best Actress In A Drama’ but she’s also been nominated for an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series’.
Aniston’s latest project will see her starring alongside ex-husband Brad Pitt for a live virtual table reading of Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
