Million-Dollar Secret Behind Jennifer Aniston’s Movie Career After Becoming Only Friends Star With Most Success in Hollywood
- Jennifer Aniston refused to give up on her movie career even if her films did not do too well.
- She continued to make movies and is now one of the most acclaimed leading actresses in Hollywood.
- Her FRIENDS co-stars have also worked in movies, but none of them have been able to achieve the same status as her.
Jennifer Aniston rose to fame as a TV star with her role on FRIENDS, but she refused to let her star status be limited to TV. Instead, she did everything in her power to maintain her stardom in Hollywood. As one can imagine it is not half as easy for women to achieve this in an industry that is so competitive and unpredictable.
Although the industry threw her curveballs in the form of some box-office failures, Aniston was determined. Such things usually affect people, but not her. She has found a way to stay immune and it is a secret she kept from the world for the longest time. It was not until she sat down in a conversation with her friend that she revealed it.
Jennifer Aniston revealed the secret to her success in Hollywood
Jennifer Aniston was destined to be a star considering both her parents are actors. She grew an interest in acting when she was 11 and by the time she was 18, she began working as a professional actress in Broadway productions. Her film debut came with an uncredited role in 1988’s Mac and Me.
Aniston did not get her first big movie role until the early 1990s when she starred in 1993’s Leprechaun. The very next year, she was thrust into the spotlight for her role as Rachel Green in FRIENDS. The role not only earned her worldwide recognition and critical appreciation but also made her one of the highest-paid actresses in the history of television.
After starring in FRIENDS for a whole decade, she went on a 15-year-long hiatus from TV save for some guest roles. Although she continued to appear in movies even while working on the show, it was not until 2003’s Bruce Almighty that a movie caught people’s attention. It earned almost $485 million on a budget of $81 million (via Box Office Mojo).
This brings us to question how Aniston kept her chin up even when her movies were not doing all that well. In a conversation with her friend Sandra Bullock for Interview magazine, she said:
I’ve never been that person pacing around on opening night saying, “What is the box-office?” I try to put it away when it’s done.
She explained that it is a “hit or miss” for her and she does not mind that. She emphasized that her movies failing to fit in the definition of a hit was not going to stop her from doing what she wanted and that must be why she remains invincible in the industry to this day.
Have Jennifer Aniston’s FRIENDS co-stars achieved the same kind of success in Hollywood?
According to The Numbers, Aniston has 23 film acting credits to her name and is one of the top-grossing lead stars with her films having grossed $1.66 billion at the worldwide box office. She ranks at 155 on the list of the highest-grossing actors worldwide.
Her co-stars, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow have 23 and 18 film acting credits to their names, respectively according to the same website. While Cox has been a member of the ensemble cast of the Scream franchise, Kudrow is well known for her role in The Opposite of Sex and the cult comedy film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
David Schwimmer has the most number of film acting credits at 18 and while his movies have grossed the most out of all his co-stars at $2.29 billion (via The Numbers), he does not have the leading star status in the film industry. Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc have 10 and 2 film acting credits respectively. So, it can be said that although all of Aniston’s movies have not done that well, her consistency has earned her the leading star status in films.
