Jennifer Aniston Watch

Hot on the heels of her Vogue interview, Jen appears on the cover of New York Times Magazine in today’s issue. She appears on the cover of the “Screens issue” - the issue covers media on screens as small as a PDA and as large as a cinema screen. As a star of both television and film, Jen is a fitting cover girl, even though she did not watch much TV as a child:

Q: Did you ever watch your father on TV?

A: I went to the Rudolf Steiner School in New York, and you’re not allowed to watch TV. But I saw my dad on “That Girl” when I was home sick one day. I wanted to tell my mom, but I had to keep it to myself.

Nevertheless, she does say that as she was growing up, “TV seemed cool.” And indeed, she got her start as an actress in the medium - even though Friends brought her fame and fortune, it was not her first foray on the small screen:

Q: Did you make a lot of pilots before “Friends”?

A: Oh, yes — I have my sitcom graveyard. Before I even moved to L.A., I was cast in a show called “Malloy.” I played the spoiled little sister of the lead character. “Malloy” lasted six episodes. And then I was cast as Jeanie Bueller, the bratty sister in the TV version of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” That lasted almost a season.

Lately, Jen has been focused on film, and she goes on to discuss her latest roles. She also tells the magazine about her own technological prowess - or lack thereof:

Q: Another screen that has gained in prominence since “Friends” is the computer screen. Has Internet stardom become oppressive to you?

A: Here’s where I luck out: I’m really computer illiterate. When I see people on their BlackBerrys, working them like some girls work a hair dryer, I’m just stunned. People have sent me clips from FunnyOrDie.com or YouTube, but I never seek it out. I did love that little girl in the Will Ferrell landlord clip on FunnyOrDie, but I’m content with just checking my e-mail.

Scans of the full interview are below - enjoy!

The December issue of Vogue has hit stands and with that, I have the scans! Jen looks gorgeous in the photos and comes off beautifully in the interview. Thumbnails are below:

Speaking of interviews, our cover girl is also featured in New York Times magazine “screens issue,” focused on media - not just on the cinema screen, but on television and computer screens as well. As someone who has had success in both television and film, Jen is ideally suited to the issue, and indeed, she talks about both - including a rather strange facet of her father’s television fame:

Q: Do you find TV-screen fame different from movie-screen fame?

A: TV fame is weird because you’re in the audience’s home. With film, they feel they can’t touch you. But there’s an intimacy to television. And it’s especially powerful with soap operas. My dad is a villain, Victor Kiriakis, on “Days of Our Lives.” He has had women come up to him to tell him a thing or two about a thing or two.

The article is accompanied by a very quirky, expressive photoshoot; the full article can be found on the magazine’s website, and it can be found in print this weekend!

Then and now: Jen with her dad in 1975, and in 2006

Jen is famously close with her dad, Days of Our Lives star John Aniston. Born Ioannis Anastassakis in Greece, he arrived in the States as a boy, and he eventually pursued an acting career after studying theater at Pennsylvania State University and serving in the military. He married Nancy Dow, and as we know, they welcomed a baby girl in 1969. The family (John, Nancy, Jennifer, and Nancy’s son Johnny) moved to Greece in the mid-’70’s, as John had grown frustrated with acting and decided to attend medical school. However, he was eventually tapped for a role on the series Love of Live, and the family returned to the U.S.

In 1978, John and Nancy divorced, and Jen didn’t see much of her dad in the years that followed. As Jen told Esquire in 2002:

As the years passed, tension came between my mom and dad, and I’d do funny things to try to bring back the laughter. It’s hard to recall now what those things were. Maybe I’ve blocked them out. I guess I’ve learned to make a living doing what I did to try to heal myself as a kid.

When I was about nine, I came home from a friend’s party and my dad wasn’t there. Divorce happens in a lot of families, and I don’t want to break out the violins. But that was that.

I was enrolled at the Rudolf Steiner School, which recommends that children don’t watch TV. I’d sneak it all the time, of course. You become obsessed with anything your parents tell you not to do. Plus,Dad had left. How could I connect with him? He was on the television!

When Jen found her own passion for acting, John discouraged her at first, knowing that it isn’t always an easy profession to make a living at. However, she persevered, and John became one of her biggest supporters. John eventually remarried; he and his wife Sherry have a son named Alexander (more on remarriage and fatherhood at All About Fatherhood). In adulthood, Jen has become very close to her dad; notably, at the time of his recent heart attack, Jen was a constant presence at his bedside. Thankfully, it seems that John has recovered nicely from the scare. Today, he plays Victor Kiriakis on DOOL, and it is evident that Jen is not the only bright talent in her family.

Jennifer Aniston, John Aniston, Days Of Our Lives, fatherhood