Before Jennifer Aniston became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces, her actor dad tried to steer her away from the business.
The “Friends” star is the daughter of John Aniston, best known for his role on the NBC drama series “Days of Our Lives,” where he portrayed Victor Kiriakis on and off for 37 years.
Despite acting up until he died in 2022, her father didn’t want her following in his footsteps.
“My dad was telling me, ‘Please don’t do this, you’re just going to suffer rejection,'” Aniston told hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on Monday’s episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast.
“‘Just go get a job. Like, get a real job.’ All the cliché things,” Aniston said, recalling her father’s words.
Aniston decided to ignore his warning and pursue acting anyway.
“Whatever drives you, if you find passion in something and you love it, go do it,” Aniston said.
That perspective has also shaped how she views the “nepo baby” discourse in Hollywood.
“I mean, look at all the law firms. Blanky Blank Blanky and Blanky Blank. I mean, all right, isn’t that a version of it’s all in the family? It’s all in the family,” Aniston said. “So, maybe you got into into a door because you’re so-and-so’s kid, but if you suck, guess what? You’re not going to continue to do it.”
During the two-and-a-half-hour podcast, Aniston also said she “would have given anything” for her father’s attention after her parents divorced when she was nine.
Aniston saw her fame skyrocket as one of the core cast members on the long-running sitcom “Friends,” and won a Primetime Emmy in 2002 for her role. She’s also had a successful career in movies, and has appeared in films like “Marley and Me” and “We’re The Millers.”
In August 2019, Forbes listed Aniston as the world’s fifth highest-paid actress, estimating that she made $28 million before taxes between June 2018 and June 2019.
Since November 2019, Aniston has starred in and produced the AppleTV drama, “The Morning Show.”
Aniston has previously spoken about her father’s influence on her career.
In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Aniston said her dad’s attempts to discourage her from acting only strengthened her resolve to succeed.
“He didn’t want me to be heartbroken because he knew it was a tough business. It compelled me to go for it even harder,” she said.
In August, she told Vanity Fair that she had hoped her career success would impress him.
“Always wanting to get Pop’s approval — it was the thing that drove me and was also my biggest heartbreak: trying to impress and prove your value to a man who’s only capable of so much,” Aniston said. She added she believed if she had established herself as an actor, “then he will love me as much as I love him.”
A representative for Aniston did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
Aniston’s father isn’t the only parent who’s warned their children against doing what they did themselves.
In April, Phoebe Gates said her father, Bill Gates, wouldn’t let her drop out of college to start a business like he did.
“They were very much like, ‘You need to finish your degree; you don’t just get to like drop out and do a company.’ Which is so funny because my dad literally did that, and that’s, like, the reason I’m able to go to Stanford or have my tuition paid,” Gates said.
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