Days of Our Lives' John Aniston's Early Acting Advice to Daughter Jennifer: “Don’t Do It. Become a Doctor. Become a Lawyer.”
Leave it to a worried daddy to try to protect his little girl. In a new chat up with The Hollywood Reporter, TV legend-turned-bona fide movie starlet Jennifer Aniston shared what her father, Days of Our Lives star John Aniston (Victor), said to her when he found out she wanted to follow him into acting:
THR: Your father, John Aniston, has been a longtime castmember on NBC’s Days of Our Lives. Has he, or anyone else in the industry, given you career advice that has really stuck with you?
Aniston: My dad’s advice has always been: “Don’t do it. Become a doctor. Become a lawyer.” He didn’t want me to be heartbroken because he knew it was a tough business. It compelled me to go for it even harder. Do what keeps you happy, and don’t ever let people box you in. There was a period when I was on Friends where The Good Girl came to me, or [2006’s] Friends With Money came to me. I thought, I’ve got to go for it now and try to not just be Rachel Green so I can get out of the Fruity Pebbles section at the grocery and explore the organic food. It’s a terrible analogy, but I had to get out there and do something different so they could see that I’m an actor, so I didn’t forget that I could do other things. I was lucky that happened.
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Looks like this was one of those times when even a loving father clearly didn't know best, considering Aniston went on to become one of the stars of NBC's megahit Friends and has carved out quite a career for herself on the big screen, in such blockbuster hits as Horrible Bosses, The Break-Up and Bruce Almighty, not to mention indie turns in The Good Girl and Friends With Money.
Aniston recently nabbed a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her much-buzzed about new comedy Wanderlust—featuring Paul Rudd, Aniston's real-life beau Justin Theroux and plenty of nude scenes—hits theaters Friday!
