Jennifer Aniston and her boyfriend, hypnotherapist Jim Curtis, were seen out for a casual dinner on August 4 in New York City, sharing the evening with her longtime friends Jason Bateman and his wife Amanda Anka. This cozy gathering unfolded in the West Village, where the group enjoyed a three-hour meal before returning to their hotel.
At 56, Aniston chose a relaxed yet elegant look for the dinner, wearing a long white dress paired with sandals and a crossbody bag, while Curtis dressed in white jeans with a blue button-up shirt over a black T-shirt, walking with a cane as they arrived. The outing marks one of several recent public appearances for the couple alongside Bateman and Anka, who were also seen together during a yacht party over the Fourth of July weekend in Spain.
Though the actors and Curtis have not confirmed their relationship publicly, Aniston has spoken previously about her experience with hypnosis to manage her anxiety around flying, hinting at a connection to her partner’s professional expertise. Curtis is a neuro-linguistic programming practitioner specializing in helping clients shift away from past patterns toward healthier realities.
Jennifer Aniston’s Connection to Hypnosis and Jim Curtis’ Influence
Aniston has openly discussed her fear of flying and revealed that hypnosis has helped her overcome this phobia. In an April interview with Travel + Leisure, she detailed,
I have an extreme fear of flying,
and described how she used to rely on superstitious habits like tapping the plane with her right hand and stepping on board with her right foot. She added,
But I have been doing some hypnosis lately, and one of the requirements is to remove all of those superstitions.
The change has been remarkable, as she shared,
I have not been doing the right hand, right foot—and now it’s shockingly good!
Although she did not explicitly state that Curtis was the hypnotist helping her, his professional website highlights his focus on guiding people to
break free from their past and patterns to create an entirely new reality full of connection, community and love.
Their relationship, both romantic and professional, appears to have blossomed amid this shared interest in hypnosis and self-improvement.
Fans have noticed Aniston’s appreciation for Curtis’ work, as she shared a photo of his book titled Shift: Quantum Manifestation Guide: A Workbook for Coding a New Consciousness on Instagram in May, signaling her support and fascination with his teachings.
Jennifer Aniston’s Early Life, Family, and Career Beginnings
Born on February 11, 1969, in Sherman Oaks, California, Jennifer Aniston comes from an acting family; her parents John Aniston and Nancy Dow were both actors. Her godfather was the late actor Telly Savalas, a close friend of her father. The family’s original Greek surname was Anastassakis before it was changed following immigration to the United States.
Despite belonging to a show business family, Aniston faced several personal challenges early on, such as struggling with dyslexia, which was only diagnosed in her twenties. She reflected on this in a 2015 interview, stating,
I thought I wasn’t smart. I just couldn’t retain anything,
highlighting the academic difficulties she encountered before pursuing acting.
Her school years also included experiences with bullying. In 2018, during a conversation with Molly McNearney, Aniston revealed,
I was one of those kids who got sort of bullied, and I don’t know why,
adding,
I was one of the kids who the others would decide to make fun of. It was an odd period of time during fifth, sixth, seventh grades. I was a little on the chubby side, so I was just that kid.
Before achieving fame, Aniston held less glamorous jobs, including cleaning toilets to earn her allowance and working as a waitress. She humorously recounted,
I made my allowance as a kid cleaning toilets. I’m actually pretty good at it,
and later,
I dropped more than one Alpine burger in customers’ laps, and you just do not want all of that Swiss cheese and mushrooms in your pants,
explaining her early career struggles with charm balancing out her waitressing skills.
Education, Friendships, and Early Acting Roles
Jennifer attended the renowned LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she was active in the drama department and also played volleyball and basketball. During her school years, she formed friendships with several classmates, including Chaz Bono, Cher‘s son. Aniston shared in a 2011 interview,
Every day a group of us would go to Chaz’s house after school,
illustrating her early bond with peers within the performing arts community.
Though later known for her laidback, California style, Aniston experienced a goth phase in high school. She admitted to People,
Just not well-informed. You know, you’re experimenting. It was the ’80s and I looked like a goth nightmare. I wasn’t going for most beautiful. It was, ‘How can I be the most rebelliously unattractive?’
Her first credited acting role came in 1988 with a small part in the movie Mac and Me, and before landing the iconic role of Rachel Green on Friends, she appeared briefly as Ferris Bueller’s younger sister in the TV series adaptation and starred in the cult horror film Leprechaun (1993).
Complex Relationship with Her Mother and Early Challenges in Hollywood
Aniston’s relationship with her mother, Nancy Dow, was fraught with difficulty. She described their dynamic in a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
She was critical. She was very critical of me,
adding,
Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning. I wasn’t. I never was. I honestly still don’t think of myself in that sort of light, which is fine. She was also very unforgiving. She would hold grudges that I just found so petty.
Therapy helped Aniston come to terms with her mother’s behavior. She told WHO magazine,
It takes a lot of therapy, but you do absolutely get over it. That was her projection. It had nothing to do with me.
Sadly, before Dow’s death in 2016, mother and daughter lived many years estranged, with Dow publicly criticizing Aniston and authoring a tell-all book in 1999. Aniston notably did not invite her mother to her wedding with Brad Pitt in 2000.
Reflecting on their relationship in 2018, the actress acknowledged her mother was struggling in her own right:
She was missing what was [actually] important,
continuing,
I think she was just holding on and doing the best she could, struggling financially and dealing with a husband who was no longer there. Being a single mom in the ’80s I’m sure was pretty crappy.
The Iconic Role of Rachel Green and Co-Stars’ Connections
Jennifer Aniston’s breakthrough came with the character of Rachel Green on NBC’s Friends, which aired from 1994 to 2004. The role was highly competitive, with other contenders including Jane Krakowski, Tea Leoni, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkeley, and her eventual best friend Courtney Cox. As Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman revealed,
We originally offered Rachel to Courteney Cox,
but she preferred to play Monica.
Cox and Aniston forged a close friendship, with Aniston becoming godmother to Cox’s daughter, Coco. On set, the two often shared meals with Lisa Kudrow; Cox once revealed during an NBC special,
And we ate the same food: a Jennifer salad.
Delving into details, Cox described the salad as a customized Cobb salad with turkey bacon and garbanzo beans.
Career Choices Before and Beyond Friends
Before committing fully to Friends, Aniston turned down a chance to join Saturday Night Live, explaining on The Howard Stern Show in 2019 that she did not envision herself fitting into the comedic environment. However, she eventually hosted SNL in 1999 and 2004 and made a cameo appearance in 2016.
The hairstyle known as “The Rachel” became a cultural sensation, yet Aniston admitted to Glamour magazine that she found the cut
the ugliest haircut I’ve ever seen.
Her hairstylist and close friend Chris McMillan revealed he was under the influence when he gave her the style.
During the final seasons of Friends, Aniston and her co-stars earned $1 million per episode, making them some of the highest-paid TV actors. She admitted to grappling with the decision to return for the last season, saying,
I had a couple issues that I was dealing with,
and wondering,
How much more of Rachel do I have in me?
Fortunately for fans, she stayed on until the end.
Friends’ Series Finale and Personal Milestones
Brad Pitt, Aniston’s husband at the time, was absent from the Friends series finale taping, choosing instead to watch the episode when it aired. One of the show‘s wrap parties was hosted at their home and included vintage Bordeaux wines collected during the first season. Meanwhile, during the show’s run, Aniston also landed a significant role in the cult comedy Office Space, where her role expanded due to the storyline involving mandatory workplace “flair.”
Her journeys off-screen included continued transformations, such as legally changing her name to Pitt after marrying Brad in 2000 and reverting to Aniston after their 2005 divorce, an event which became tabloid fodder due to the widely publicized love triangle involving Angelina Jolie.
Jennifer Aniston’s Public Image and Media Challenges
Aniston has frequently dealt with intense media scrutiny, particularly regarding her relationships and personal life. At the peak of her split from Pitt, fan merchandise like “Team Aniston” and “Team Jolie” t-shirts sold briskly, with Aniston’s merchandise outselling Jolie’s by a large margin.
She has actively secured her privacy through legal action, suing magazines for publishing unauthorized topless photographs. Aniston described the emotional toll of these invasions in legal documents, citing
shame, mortification, hurt feelings, emotional distress, anger, embarrassment, humiliation, feeling of being violated and injury to her privacy and peace of mind.
Romantic Relationships and Industry Reputation
Among Aniston’s high-profile relationships was her 2010 breakup with musician John Mayer, who admitted in Rolling Stone,
I’ve never really gotten over it,
lamenting,
It was one of the worst times of my life…I’ll always be sorry that it didn’t last. In some ways I wish I could be with her.
Despite constant media attention and rumors, Aniston once penned a heartfelt op-ed addressing the inaccurate portrayals of her life, particularly around pregnancy speculation. She wrote,
For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up,
and called out the daily
sport-like scrutiny and body shaming
endured under the guise of celebrity journalism. She stressed women’s right to self-define happiness:
We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.
Jennifer Aniston’s Favorite Pastimes and Friendships
Aniston frequently vacations in Cabo San Lucas, particularly at the One & Only Palmilla resort, often joined by celebrity friends such as Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Courtney Cox, and Jason Bateman with his wife Amanda Anka. She has expressed an affinity for Mexican cuisine, telling Harper‘s Bazaar,
I always love a good Mexican dish, like fluffy crispy tortilla chips with guac,
and confided her go-to cocktail choice to Yahoo! Beauty, citing a margarita with
pure tequila, lime juice, a squinch of Cointreau. It’s delicious.
Fitness is a priority for Aniston, who has described her workout routine as a triathlon of sorts, combining biking, elliptical, and running, supplemented by yoga and barre exercises. She explained to Yahoo!,
Usually, my love is running. I like to do a good trifecta, where I do the bike for 15 minutes, elliptical for 15, and then I run for 15. On the elliptical I kind of do sprints for 90 seconds, take it back to a jog for 30 seconds, and do intervals for the last minutes. Then I mix a day of yoga,
but added that injury has limited her lately to barre workouts, which
really hurts and kicks your butt.
Boxing serves as both physical activity and catharsis for Aniston, who remarked in InStyle,
Boxing is a great way to get aggression out. You get a mental release of all this crap you’re taking into your ears and eyes every day and have little fantasy moments imagining who you’re actually punching,
finishing with,
I’m just grateful it’s not actually the person, even though there’s one person. You know what I mean. It’s all good.
Public Image, Endorsements, and Social Media Presence
Aniston’s public profile includes endorsements with brands like Aveeno, Smartwater, and Eyelove, with Forbes estimating her income through endorsements at over $10 million annually. She emphasizes the importance of hydration as a key to her appearance:
I can never stress enough to my friends that they must do as I do…hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Drink lots of water, get enough sleep, exercise, and eat a clean healthy diet, whenever possible,
as she shared with The Cut.
Despite initially vowing never to join social media, Aniston debuted on Instagram in 2019 with such impact that her account temporarily overwhelmed the platform. Prior to launching her page, she admitted to sometimes looking up other people’s Instagram profiles and shared with Access Hollywood her discipline in email management:
When I go to clear out the box in the morning, I answer my emails and give everybody the answers they need and that’s it.
Relationships with Co-Stars and Celebrity Acquaintances
Aniston’s friendships with fellow actors have been long-lasting. She has frequently collaborated with Adam Sandler, most recently in 2023’s Murder Mystery 2. Her decades-long friendship with George Clooney, sparked by a Friends–E.R. crossover, continues strong; she visited Clooney and his family in Italy during the summer. Reflecting on Clooney, Aniston told Ellen DeGeneres in 2018,
It’s amazing to see him with children,
adding,
That’s what we talked about, that anything can happen.
Challenges and Triumphs in Hollywood Culture
Early in her career, Aniston was advised by her agent to lose 30 pounds to improve her casting prospects. She recounted in a 1996 Rolling Stone interview,
My agent said, ‘Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,’
calling it,
The nicest thing he ever did…the disgusting thing of Hollywood—I wasn’t getting lots of jobs ’cause I was too heavy.
She successfully lost weight with the NutriSystem program and publicly praised the results.
Two decades later, Aniston has openly criticized society’s narrow beauty standards, declaring in a 2018 interview with InStyle,
It’s time to just stop thinking beauty is in the shape of a size 4 and the right butt size and the right waist size and the right measurements,
and concluded,
It’s just old. We’ve done it. We’ve been there. Let’s move on.
She has shared experiences of workplace harassment in the industry but noted she has never faced abuse from someone with power. Instead, she revealed some difficulties with female colleagues:
I’ve definitely had some sloppy moves made on me by other actors, and I handled it by walking away,
and explained,
I’ve never had anyone in a position of power make me feel uncomfortable and leverage that over me. In my personal experience I’ve been treated worse verbally and energetically by some women in this industry.
Ongoing Fear of Flying and Role as Social Connector
Despite extensive travel for work, Aniston continues to manage a deep fear of flying that began in her twenties following a traumatic experience. She described the anxiety as consuming and irrational:
It started in my 20s. It was a weird, scary flight. Afterward I began noticing the stories on the news about plane crashes, and I became all-consumed with the idea of dying on an airplane,
later admitting,
It was so out of control in my brain. So, yeah, that’s something I’d like to get rid of. It’s so irrational.
Among her social circle, Aniston serves as the organizer and “social glue.” Her close friend Kristin Hahn told Elle,
When she’s not in town, we almost don’t know what to do with ourselves.
Personal Perspectives on Marriage, Motherhood, and Legacy
Having been divorced twice, Aniston views her marriages not as failures but as choices made in pursuit of happiness. She reflected to Elle,
My marriages, they’ve been very successful, in [my] personal opinion. And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness didn’t exist within that arrangement anymore.
She has spoken candidly about the concept of motherhood, expressing some apprehension:
Some people are just built to be wives and have babies. I don’t know how naturally that comes to me. Who knows what the future holds in terms of a child and a partnership—how that child comes in…or doesn’t? And now with science and miracles, we can do things at different times than we used to be able to.
Remembering Matthew Perry
Jennifer Aniston was deeply affected by the passing of her Friends co-star Matthew Perry on October 28, 2023. She revealed to Variety that she had been texting with him the same morning, describing Perry as his usual “funny Matty.” She assured fans, He was not in pain, and He wasn’t struggling. In tribute, Aniston shared a screenshot of a message from Perry,
Making you laugh just made my day. It just made my day.
