Jennifer Aniston is a name synonymous with Hollywood royalty as she has had a long, storied career in movies and especially television. Primarily known as Rachel Green in one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, Friends, Jennifer Aniston took the entertainment industry by storm in the mid-90s primarily due to that role. Alongside Friends, she has also appeared in several other TV shows, but her most prominent newer project is The Morning Show on Apple TV+.
Jennifer Aniston’s first major film role came in Leprechaun, the darkly funny horror comedy. After that, Anistion had a number of roles in major films throughout her entire career, including Office Space, The Iron Giant, Bruce Almighty, He’s Just Not That Into You, and Horrible Bosses. Aniston has routinely been in romantic comedies, several with Adam Sandler. Her biggest upcoming project is The Morning Show season 4.
5 Horrible Bosses (2011)
A wickedly funny early 2010s comedy, Horrible Bosses revolves around three friends who decide to murder their abusive and overbearing bosses. The film embraces its silly premise, and the performances by both the employees and the bosses truly shine, elevating the entire thing. The jokes are rapid and absurd but consistently hit, making it one of the funniest comedies of its era, with a nasty edge to it that really isn’t seen much anymore.
Jennifer Aniston is easily one of the highlights of Horrible Bosses, playing Dr. Julia Harris, boss of Charlie Day’s Dale Arbus. With a terrific performance against the typical characters Aniston plays, she does an incredible job of playing the sexually aggressive boss to her employees. Although it is a subject that can be difficult to pull off on screen, the committed performance by Aniston makes it one of the best in the movie.
4 The Good Girl (2002)
Written by Mike White (The White Lotus), The Good Girl is a fantastic dramedy about a 30-year-old working at a discount store, disgusted by her lazy, pot-smoking husband. Always the “good girl”, she forges a connection with the cute new cashier just a few registers away. The film explores the characters’ relationship through their qualms with their small town and what they want out of life. It’s poignant and honest, showing the dissatisfaction many people have with where they are in life.
Jennifer Aniston is remarkable in The Good Girl as Justine Last, the film’s central character. She wants more in her life, and she isn’t going to get it anytime soon with her husband and the dead-end job that she works, but her new relationship seems to spark something in her. Aniston perfectly explores her character as she begins to explore what she actually wants out of life, and she nails it from beginning to end.
3 The Iron Giant (1999)
One of the greatest animated movies of all time, The Iron Giant is a remarkable achievement with stunning 2-D animation and one of the most emotionally affecting stories in animation history. The film explores the friendship between a young boy named Hogart Hughes (Eli Marienthal) and the giant alien robot he discovers (Vin Diesel). Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, Hogart finds a friend and protector, and it is almost impossible not to be reduced to a flood of tears when the Iron Giant simply says, “Superman” and smiles.
Jennifer Aniston was the only casting suggestion by Warner Bros. that director Brad Bird personally really liked and supported.
Jennifer Aniston doesn’t do a ton of voice acting, but she is always great when she actually does, and her performance in The Iron Giant is easily the best voice role of her career. She plays Annie Hughes, mother of Hogart, the widow of a military pilot, and a waitress. Compared to the larger-than-life plot going on, Annie is relatively low-key, just trying to do what is best to provide for her son, struggling to work through the grief of losing her husband and Hogart losing his father.
2 Office Space (1999)
One of the best films about the pressing monotony of corporate life, Office Space is a hilarious satire of white-collar America and how it affects those who hate participating in it. The movie follows a handful of individuals but really focuses in on Ron Livingston’s Peter Gibbons, who is frustrated and unmotivated with his job, stuck in the perpetual ennui he feels while also failing to stand up to his overcritical girlfriend, secretly in love with the waitress who works at a restaurant near his work.
Jennifer Aniston is fantastic in Office Space, as Joanna, a waitress at a Chotchkie’s restaurant, who begins dating Peter Gibbons after he breaks up with his girlfriend. She is hassled by her boss for only wearing the minimum required amount of “flair” on her work uniform instead of going above and beyond, contrasting the same absurd expectations placed on her and the expectations placed on Peter.
1 Friends (1994-2004)
It’s impossible to overstate just how monumental Friends was in television history. It is one of the most popular shows ever made, and helped shape sitcoms forever as it ran for 10 seasons. Friends follows a group of six friends who experience love, loss, friendship, and life in New York City. It’s immensely enjoyable from start to finish, with one of the best casts of characters in television history, turning each actor into a massive cultural icons.
Throughout Friends’ latter nine seasons, many new characters are introduced who are funny, memorable, or narratively important, making them the best.
Jennifer Aniston plays Rachel Green in Friends, which was not only her big breakout role but the one that would go on to define the entire rest of her career. It’s impossible not to think of Rachel Green and Friends when hearing Aniston’s name, a testament to how great she played the character, who turns from rich “daddy’s girl” into a strong, highly successful woman. It’s the most popular and important role in Jennifer Aniston’s career.
