About a year ago right now, Jennifer Aniston had just come off screening Cake at TIFF. No one bought the film at the festival but she figured out a way to get it distributed and then hired an Oscar strategist to help secure a nomination. She ended up at the Golden Globes and even the SAG Awards but the Academy still wasn’t interested.
Jen handled it very well – click here for a refresher. Then she went low for a few months and, in August, pulled off a surprise wedding. Now the focus is back on work. In the last two weeks or so, Jen’s quietly confirmed several new projects. And, surprisingly, none of them are zany romantic comedies involving Adam Sandler or Gerard Butler.
Earlier this week, Deadline confirmed that Jen will join the cast of The Yellow Birds with Jack Huston. The film is based on the book of the same name by Kevin Powers about two soldiers. One of the soldiers is older and he promises to look after his younger friend. Jen will play the mother of the younger soldier in a supporting role. Tye Sheridan, 18, will play her son.
It was also reported earlier this week that Jen will star in the film adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot. The book opens on 29 year old woman who’s about to give birth. Then suddenly we flash to her at 39 and her marriage is over, she’s struggling to raise 3 kids, and all her relationships have gone to sh-t.
And finally, Taylor Hackford is directing Robert De Niro in a film called The Comedian which is not a comedy but a drama about an aging insult comic coming to terms with all the people he’s pushed away over the course of his career, including Jen, although it’s not known yet exactly what her role will be.
These are some serious moves, non? Serious moves. Serious movies. Oscar told her she couldn’t one-shot her way to a nomination. But she got close enough to make her want to keep trying.
Here’s Jen in New York yesterday after lunch with a friend.
Thanks Robynn!
