With “Friends” coming to an end on May 6, Jennifer Aniston, the show’s most popular and glamorous star, is expected to make a simple leap to major movie stardom.
It may not be simple at all, though.
On the face of it, Aniston is well-poised to join actresses Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz and Renee Zellweger on Hollywood’s A-list. She could even make a charge on Julia Roberts’ turf as America’s highest-earning female star.
Aniston boosted her standing last month with the box-office hit “Along Came Polly.” Her fee of around $5 million per movie now seems set to double.
But as Aniston tries to make the permanent transition from TV to movies, she faces a hill that’s proved too steep for some.
If all it took to be a contender for Roberts’ box-office throne were beauty and talent, then hundreds of winsome waitresses would be throwing off their aprons and hiring agents. Aniston has unique qualities that position her to become one of those few actresses who can “open” movies on the strength of their name alone.
Her early attempts to “carry” movies such as “Picture Perfect” and “The Object of My Affection” failed. But Aniston holds her own opposite Ben Stiller in “Along Came Polly.” She also has judiciously sprinkled her movie career with the splashy (“Bruce Almighty”), the serious (“The Good Girl”) and the offbeat (“Office Space”), as if anticipating that one day she’d need to cover many bases as a Hollywood leading lady.
Aniston also has what it takes in ways that no resume can convey. She has the girl-next-door freshness of Sandra Bullock and the sophisticated comedy instincts of Carole Lombard.
Aniston was good as the depressed, married store clerk who has an affair with a stock boy in “The Good Girl.” Director Miguel Arteta got Aniston to tone down her physical comedy and deflate her hair.
Aniston could find it a greater stretch to play a cynic, a bitch or a femme fatale.
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Edited by Cara Dipasquale ([email protected]) and Kris Karnopp ([email protected])
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