Jennifer Aniston Opens up About Finding Relationships ‘Challenging’ After Parents Divorce at an Early Age

Jennifer Aniston recently opened up about the kind of impact her parent's divorce had on her intimate relationships. Being the daughter of famed actor, parents Nancy Dow and John Aniston, Jennifer had to face the trauma of seeing them getting divorced at the age of nine. In an all-exclusive with WSJ, Magazine Fall Women’s Fashion issue, the Friends alum revealed, "It was always a little bit difficult for me in relationships, I think, because I really was kind of alone. It's still a challenge for me in a relationship. I'm really good at every other job I have, and that's sort of the one area that's a little." The Just Go With It actress was married to Brad Pitt from 2000–2005 and later to Justin Theroux from 2015–2018. 

"My parents, watching my family’s relationship, didn’t make me kind of go, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do that,'" the Murder Mystery actress admitted of her late parents. “I didn’t like the idea of sacrificing who you were or what you needed, so I didn’t really know how to do that. So it was almost easier to just be kind of solo. So I didn’t have any real training in that give-and-take,” she continued to explain. Aniston further shared that she is right now focused only on her goals and ambitions, "It’s just about not being afraid to say what you need and what you want." In 2020, The Break-Up actress revealed that she grew up in a 'destabilized' and 'unsafe' environment at home, per People, speaking to Sandra Bullock for Interview Magazine, asked Bullock, “What is it that allows you to stay buoyant and keep from getting discouraged when things don’t go the right way?”

Aniston replied, “First of all, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Aniston said. “I think that it comes from growing up in a household that was destabilized and felt unsafe, watching adults being unkind to each other, and witnessing certain things about human behavior that made me think: ‘I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be that. I don’t want to experience this feeling I’m having in my body right now. I don’t want anyone else that I ever come in contact with ever to feel that.'” She continued, “So I guess I have my parents to thank. You can either be angry or be a martyr, or you can say, ‘You’ve got lemons? Let’s make lemonade.'” 

Her late father, John is best known for essaying the role of Victor Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, while her mother who passed away in 2016 is well known for appearing on shows like - The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West. Her father passed away in 2022 due to COVID, speaking about her connection with him she said, "I feel closer to him now than I did almost when he was alive. I feel like he's everywhere. I really do." However, Aniston did not share an easy dynamic with her mother, as per People. In 2018, she revealed their complex relationship saying, “She was a model and she was all about presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like,” Aniston continued. “I did not come out the model child she’d hoped for and it was something that really resonated with me, this little girl just wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved by a mum who was too occupied with things that didn’t quite matter." The Morning Show star continued. “She was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was gorgeous and stunning. I wasn’t. I never was. I honestly still don’t think of myself in that sort of light, which is fine.”