Newsgroup: it.fan.tv.friends
Titolo: [LONG] JA si racconta in un bell'articolo scritto per Esquire

JENNIFER ANISTON - IN THE MORNING 
By Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston reflects on Greek relatives, the power of Shaun
Cassidy, her short-lived turn as a belly dancer, and of course, that
TV show of hers.
I'm at this restaurant and the friend who I'm eating with gets up to
go to the bathroom. At a nearby table, a woman is eying me, and I know
she is just waiting for the right moment to swoop in for the kill.
This happens all the time. People feel a certain level of comfort with
you when you're in their living room; they feel your approachable. And
the truth is I like to feel that way. When a kid comes up to you at a
restaurant with a beautiful sketch he's just made of you and says he
wants you to have it, it's a real tearjerker. And I'm a leaker. But as
this woman's heading over, I can tell she's had a few.
"I don't understand your life," she says.
"Neither do I," I laugh.
"What's the big deal?"
"Beats me."
"Look at you. You're normal. You're a bunch of nuthin', aren't you?"
"I'm like, "What did you think? That I'm something? I never claimed to
be something. I just do my job." 
Her face is crinkling up like a kid who's trying to figure out a
puzzle and getting more and more fustrated because she can't. Just
then, my friend returns. He gives the woman the old laser eye and she
leaves. We sort of joke about it. "Well, I guess we'll go back to our
nuthin' meal." But tell me: What was I supposed to say to that woman?
"Sit down and I'll try to figure it out with you?"
My dad had this laugh that made you want to laugh. Still does. Same
with my mom. When one would start, the other would folllow. My mom's
face would get red, her eyes would start watering and her vocal cords
would close up, and it would be so funny that you'd be swept up in it
and then you couldn't stop. There's nothing better than contagious
laughter. It's the most peaceful feeling in the world.
My best times as a kid came right after my dad (actor John Aniston)
got a job on a soap opera and we moved to New York. I can remember
this one party we had: Maybe fifteen of my parents' friends were over.
Scotch in their glasses, or Sherry. I'm not too sure if I belly danced
for everyone that night, but I used to cut a real mean one for my
Greek relatives. I used to sing too-in the car, in front of the
mirror, anywhere. I was about seven and absolutely fearless. I
remember laying charades with the grown-ups that night, and al the
laughter. Then it was time for me to go to bed, but you could never
put me down when there was a good time to be had. Again and again, I
tried to sneak out of my bedroom toward the happy sounds, but they
kept making me go back-until I was exhausted and fell asleep.
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 anyting your parents tell you not to do. Plus,
Dad had left. How could I connect with him? He was on the television!
One day, my dad got me on Search For Tomorrow as an extra. I must've
been thirteen. I can still see this little yellow ice-skating dress
that I was psyched to be in that morning. At that age, it was
thrilling to just sit in the makeup chair.
In the middle of the scene, someone came over and asked me to swap
places with another girl. It was very quick, and I didn't think
anything of it. On the way home, Dad mentioned how I would've been
picked up by the camera if our places hadn't been switched. I felt
terrible, absolutely mortified and humilated that the poor girl got
bumped because of me, the daughter of the soap star. I still remember
walking down Broadway in silence after he told me. I didn't have that
kind of ambition. You know how there are some people who burn with
this feeling of "I'm going to make it"? I never had that.
Yeah, I want to prove that I can do it. But I'm ashamed to want it.
It's a paradox-which I guess I am at times. Maybe that's why I love
Friends. It's an ensamble. Even the recent Emmy nomination-it's not
about me. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for those other five
people. That nomination is theirs, too, weither they like it or not.
But there was another thing I learned that day as an extra. In order
for me to get what I'd wanted, something was compromised. What you
want always comes with a price.
When I was in school, I think there was a Teachers Who Hate Jennifer
Aniston Anonymous group, and I'll bet Mr. Piening never missed a
meeting. there were these two palm trees in his English class in
junior high. I don't remember exactly what I did, but this one day Mr.
Piening got so mad at me, he shouted in his German accent: "Jennifer!
I want to tie a palm tree to each of your feet and throw you out the
window!" When I got in trouble, my mom and dad would have to meet at
the principal's office. There was that little manipulation for a
while. But it didn't work. It's hard to impress your dad when your in
the principal's office for being stupid.
It was the school part of high school that I really had a problem
with. Otherwise there were some great times. At one point, my hair was
shaved about an inch above the ear. I had the short hair and the big
black outfits and the black liquid eyeliner that made me look like a
vampire, with all sorts of pins sticking out of my body parts. I
actually invented an excuse in high school so that I didn't have to
sing in a play. I doodled the answers to my SATs. I'd go a, a, b, a.
Let's see, haven't had a c in a while...
When my high school threatened to kick me out, I had to focus and get
the schoolwork done. Only time I ever got A's.
One of the first jobs I was pretty psyched about was at the Public
Theater. This was off-Broadway. It was that time of your life when you
don't know any better to know that you're acting in the worst play of
your life. Anyway, there is this scene where I sit up, look at the
audience, and say this one line, and it always got a laugh. One night
as I'm doing it, I realize that I'm staring straight into this huge,
gaping cavern that is the mouth of Al Pacino. He's sitting in the
audience next to Diane Keaton-and he's really laughing. I couldn't
believe it. I made Al Pacino laugh. It was one of the greatest moments
I'd ever had. A moment like that can carry you for a year or two.
I'd done about seven hundred failed shows before Friends, and there
was no reason to believe that Friends would be any different. Right
before it aired, the director, Jimmy Burrows - or Papa, as I call him
- flew the six of us to Las Vegas. He took us out to dinner and said,
"You don't know what your about to embark on. You better take care of
each other." We had no idea what he was talkng about. Then he gave us
each $500 and said, "Enjoy it. This is the last time you'll be able to
walk through a casino without being bothered."
Papa is one psychic Jew. That first year, we shot to number one in
summer reruns. People came over to me at a drugstore one day and said,
"We've been following you for blocks and just wanted to know if it was
you, and could we have your autograph?" I'm standing there with toilet
paper under one arm and tampons under the other and I say, "Sure."
You know, I can remember waking up at five in the morning when I was a
teenager to go to a record store signing by Duran Duran. My
girlfriends and I had every one of their albums, including those rare
albums from Europe with two songs that have never been heard. We had
every video. Videos of the making of the videos. Anyway, I got up at
the crack of dawn and went with a red rose to the video store where
they were doing the signing. There was already a line around the
block. I waited all day with that red rose. Finally, I work my way to
fifth in line. All of a sudden, they lock the doors and everybody in
line goes crazy. And I'm standing there with this bent rose from
battling all these animals. Of course I was bummed. But looking back,
I wonder: What did I want? What was I expecting? I don't understand it
even now. I know that the real person isn't worthy of the adoration of
innocent girls. And yet, those girls are allowed to have that, aren't
they? I've been on both sides now, but that doesn't make it any easier
to understand.
Then it was success at the speed of a stealth bomber. I'd try to go
out on a date and there would be video cameras waiting. And before
there was a second date, I'd read that I was engaged to the guy. That
guy wasn't calling back! Say goodbye to him!
The six of us at Friends would be saying to each other: "You all
right? You okay? Jeez! this is intense!"
Then comes the inevitable backlash. I guess a group of young actors
getting a lot of money is going to piss some people off. Now some of
the media's saying we're spoiled brats. But it was more than that.
"Cast members of Friends trying to act in movies? Hey, keep your day
job!" And so when it comes time to step out and try something
different, to challenge yourself, you can't help but feel this fear.
It's like you're not supposed to jeopardize your success by trying
anything else. The compromise starts getting the best of you.
Something that you've loved from the time you were a kid starts to get
lost.
Nine years have passed, and the six of us did take care of each other.
No matter what problem any of us had, there was always Lisa Kudrow's
laugh. She has one of the all-time greats, like a roller coaster going
up -tick, tick, tick- before the big drop. There she goes! Then she
can't speak. She cries. And we all lose it and can't do any shooting
for two hours. What's that saying? Friends are the family we choose.
The dark side never overpowers the light side. But sometimes it feels
like there's no sanctuary. Lord knows, I wish I had a different
situation with my mom. You know something, lots of daughters have
difficult relationships with their mothers. Only when your under a
microscope, it gets played out in public like it's some kind of court
trial. You walk out of your therapist's office - he works out of his
house in a quiet neighborhood - and there are four vans with lenses
popping out. They say you're an actor and it comes with the territory.
But can somebody please tell me when I signed up for that? Whether
you're a ditchdigger or you're on a movie screen, shouldn't you have
the right to sunbathe without worrying that some Peeping Tom is going
to scale the wall to your backyard and take pictures of you? I'll
gladly go by the rules if somebody would just tell me what they are.
Hey, I subscribed to Teen Beat when I was a kid. I'll admit it. Out
loud. I was once the girl who wanted to know everything about Shaun
Cassidy. I know people want to know about me and Brad. But I don't
want to go into the details of our marriage, because it's best not to.
That's what helps keep it normal. Besides, there's enough false
information out there to last you a lifetime. But seeing there's a
theme here, I will say one thing. I'll tell you about Brad's laugh. I
don't know how to explain it except it sounds like a twelve-year-old
boy who just threw a water balloon down on somebody. Just the other
night, he was watching the Robin Williams HBO special while I was
sending out e-mails in another room, and he bursts that great
mischievous laugh. I just looked up and giggled.
When I got the script to this movie, The Good Girl, I read it in an
hour. The writer, Mike White, has an ability to create characters that
are so creepy and dysfunctional and human, with this duality that
makes people feel empathy for them at the same time. My first thought
was: Was this sent to the right person? I called my agent. "Are they
sure? Let's say yes before they realize they've sent it to the wrong
person!"
On the first day of shooting, we started in the middle of the movie.
Right at the center of my character's arc. where she's losing her mind
and she's got to get rid of her illicit lover and she doesn't know
what to do, but she's got to get rid of him, so she buys these
blackberries. I don't want to give away too much. But I had to do this
really tense scene with the blackberries on the very first day, and
this fear welled up in me, and the next thing I knew I'm asking Miguel
Arteta, the director, if maybe we could move the location and start
with another scene. I'll never forget what he said: "The way I look at
it, you might as well jump chest first into the empty pool."
I jumped, and I'm glad I did. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to
belly dance again. You know, I still can't even sing karaoke. A while
back I went to a karaoke bar with a bunch of friends. courteney cox
got up on that little stage and just sang her heart out. So did all
the other friends around me. They're all hollerin' at me, "Go on up!"
and I'm slinkin' in the back just looking for a place to hide. Every
time they tried to pass me the microphone, I was wishing I had a paint
gun in each hand.
You know what I'm hoping? One of these days there will be a moment
when I can get up on that karaoke stage and sing. Let's face it, if I
make a living making people laugh, why stop here?
-- 
j./All opinions expressed herein are solely those of my friend, Buck 
the squirrel.
Still alive (very alive) on Friday at 20:13:19 - 
http://www.iftf.it

[CUT]
Bene, bene....
Non mi ha nemmeno nominato....
Pfui, le donne!
Mirko/e io che la portavo su un piedistallo d'oro!
"Tutti gli animali ad eccezione dell'uomo sanno che lo scopo principale
della vita č godersi la vita"
Samuel Butler, inserita da Dan Millman nel suo libro "Le dodici porte"
- 
mirkofor...@tiscalinet.it
 - ICQ# 16355872