Jennifer Aniston: 'Life gets more exciting after 50 ... look at rock star goddess Helen Mirren'

The former Friends star is embracing the next decade of her life 
Looking forward: Jennifer Aniston is looking forward to her 50s
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
David Gardner24 August 2017
The Weekender

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Jennifer Aniston has spoken out about Hollywood’s bias against older women — and said she was looking forward to life getting “more and more exciting” after 50.

“Just because you can’t bounce a penny off your tummy anymore, because you’re not 22 or 32, doesn’t mean that should quantify what makes you relevant and interesting,” said the 48-year-old former Friends star.

“We have a generation of actors who were up-and-coming before the internet existed. We’re all still here, and we’re doing just fine,” Aniston told Glamour magazine.

“So maybe we’ll, hopefully, be setting the example of ‘this is what it looks like’. Look at Helen Mirren: rock star, gorgeous, goddess. Meryl Streep, stunning, a rock star, gorgeous, goddess. All of the stories, there’s so many stories that are there to be told.

'Goddess': Jennifer Aniston praised Helen Mirren
Getty Images

“I think we have to change our perspective. I don’t think life stops after 50 — if anything, it gets more and more exciting.

“For some reason, we don’t honour or pay respect to ageing. It’s something that we look at as a negative, and yet every single person on this planet does it.

"I don’t understand why it’s not something that’s celebrated, why there’s some sort of an expiration date on who you are as a person worth watching and a story being told about you. It makes absolutely no sense.”

The actress said that it was not just Hollywood that objectified women.

“Right now, women’s worth is being quantified by how they look and their Instagrams and likes,” she said.

“That’s all so self-created, so why are we trying to add to that? It’s hard enough to be a young woman, or man, growing up and trying to find your identity, rather than having a whole internet of people weighing in on it.”

She also admitted she is “sensitive” to the relentless speculation in the media over her weight and whether she is pregnant.

“If your body is in a normal moment of having had a bite or two, or you’re having a moment of bloat, then there’s arrows circled around your stomach, telling you that you’re pregnant,” she said. “And it’s like, actually no, it’s just my body.”

The Horrible Bosses star, who is married to actor Justin Theroux, went on: “No one knows what’s going on beyond the four walls of your home, of these people who are having or not having children. It’s a very sensitive area to go to, especially. It’s sensitive to me.

“Everybody likes to get into each other’s panty drawers. Stay in your own backyard and let everybody live their lives.”

Aniston added: “I’ve been a very fortunate woman in that I have a group of girlfriends that are about as deep and conscious and mindful as they come. That to me is what beauty is. It’s being as full and complete of a human being as you possibly can be.”

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