It’s tempting to imagine Jennifer Aniston had a beautiful upbringing given her achievements.
The 54-year-old is beautiful, talented, and genetically gifted; her father is John Aniston, who played Days of Our Lives gangster Victor Kiriakis. However, her childhood was difficult.
The Morning Show star discussed how she overcame unpleasant prior experiences, including a strained connection with her late mother.
Aniston writes, “thank you for showing me what never to be.” She emphasizes letting go of “toxic” rage.
As Aniston grew up, her mother’s beauty criticisms intensified. She recalled, “She was from this world of, ‘Honey, take better care of yourself,’ or ‘Honey, put your face on,’ or all of those odd sound bites that I can remember from my childhood.”
John Aniston and Nancy Dow, married from 1965 to 1980, had Jennifer Aniston on February 11, 1969.
John, who died at 89 in 2022, was best remembered for his 37-year stint on Days of Our Lives. Her mother, who died at 79 in 2016, was a minor actor in The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West.
After her parents divorced when she was nine, Aniston said “it really screwed up” her mom. However, Aniston “was thrilled to get out” of the old New York City family home that “was not a fun house to live in.”
In 2020, Aniston told her friend Sandra Bullock that “growing up in a household that was destabilized and felt unsafe” helped her handle life’s curveballs.
Watching adults be mean to each other and seeing human behavior made me think, ‘I don’t want to do that. Better not be that. I don’t want this feeling in my body. I never want anyone I meet to feel that.”
“I guess I have my parents to thank,” the Just Go With It star said. You can be angry, a martyr, or say, “You have lemons?” Let’s make lemonade.”
It was hard outside the family too. “I was one of those kids who got sort of bullied, and I don’t know why,” Aniston added.
“I was one of the kids the other kids teased. There was something weird about fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. I was chubby, so I was that kid.”
A lot of the time, it felt like her mom was tossing lemons at her.
“I have had to do personal work that was long overdue, parts of me that hadn’t healed from the time I was a little kid,” Aniston admitted.
“She had a temper. I can’t tolerate that. If I feel offended, I will discuss [things]. I will never scream and get hysterical like that.” Aniston, completely unaware of her staggering beauty.
“She was critical. She was really critical of me. Because she was a model, she was attractive, breathtaking. I wasn’t. I never was. I still don’t see myself that way, which is fine. She was unforgiving. I thought her grudges were petty.”
The Horrible Bosses star told the Hollywood Reporter that she never met Dow’s expectations and they didn’t talk for years.
Aniston adds, “I did not come out the model child she’d hoped for, and it was something that really resonated with me, this little girl just wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved by a mum who was too occupied with things that didn’t quite matter.”
Aniston stopped speaking to Dow after her mom wrote the 1999 tell-all book, “From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir.” The celebrity was allegedly outraged that her mother had breached her privacy.
Aniston was so upset that she didn’t invite her mother to her 2000 wedding to Brad Pitt, but they reconciled after the divorce.
However, she hadn’t seen her mother in years before Dow’s stroke-related death.
Her dad and she had a different relationship.
“He thought I was going down the road of absolute destruction and heartache,” she said of pursuing his career in acting. “And then I kind of got a whole different relationship with him once he had something to talk to me about. “Oh, you’re an actor.” I act.”
Aniston goes beyond acting.
Aniston is one of the highest-paid actors in the industry, has a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, has been named one of the world’s most beautiful women, and runs LolaVie, a haircare company. She founded Echo Films, which produces films she stars in like The Switch, Dumplin’, and Murder Mystery 2.
In a pre-recorded segment, his daughter presented John with a Daytime Emmy lifetime achievement award in June 2022, praising his decades-long acting career.
After his death, the comic posted a sweet photo of him holding her as a baby on Instagram with a touching message. “Sweet papa,” writes the Friends star. John Anthony Aniston, You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain… I’ll love you till the end of time. Don’t forget to visit.”
She also reconciled with her mother before her death.
“I forgave my mom. I forgave my father. I’ve forgiven my family,” she says, adding that it’s about honoring all moments, good and bad.
“It’s important… It’s toxic to have that resentment, that anger. I learned that by watching my mom never let go of it. I remember saying, ‘Thank you for showing me what never to be.’ So that’s what I mean about taking the darker things that happen in our lives, the not-so-happy moments, and trying to find places to honor them because of what they have given to us,” she said.
Jennifer Aniston is such a humble and impressive talent! It’s always interesting to learn about a star’s history and see them as average human beings. Still, it’s sad to hear that Aniston had such a strained relationship with her mother and we hope she’s found some peace.