BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ. That’s all that is surrounding Oscar hopeful Jennifer Aniston who just snagged a SAG Award for her winning performance in CAKE.
Aniston spoke with Indiewire’s Managing Editor Nigel Smith about the buzz surrounding Cake, and about why she was more than ready for the challenge.
“I needed to challenge myself and I needed to challenge my work and who I was as an actor. I know what I’m capable of, but after years and years of being asked to come back to the party for very similar parts… I definitely had varying degrees of characters, but this was something I never even got the opportunity to play. Someone this layered and complex and in pain. And crotchety! I guess understandably so. You get stereotyped to some degree, so you have to flex your muscles more and bang your drum a little and take control in order to take part in movies like this. That’s okay by me. I’m up for that — that challenge. Especially by this age, I just want to work with great directors. Really great movies. And I just knew I had to prove this to myself, that I’m capable of other things.”
The film, which boasts a ‘blacklisted’ script by Patrick Tobin, stars Aniston as Claire Simmons, a heavily scarred woman reeling from a recent tragedy, who shuts everyone close to her out of her life in order to cope with the pain.
You say that you’ve been stereotyped to some degree. Do you feel Hollywood typecasts you?
There’s a perception of that. That’s sort of a wider scope. The perception is: we see you as this, we see you in this part. Or even the word has come back from directors: “No, she’s too famous,” or “she’s too this,” “can’t get rid of the persona.” But I understand that. But the young directors, those are the ones I’m grateful for. Even Miguel Arteta back in the days of “The Good Girl,” he found it exciting to take someone who had that persona, and put her in this. To him, that was a challenge as a director. Same thing with Daniel Barnz! That’s unexpected and that’s weird, that’s a challenge! For him. So everyone was excited they were trying something a little bit farther. For me, this was one of my greatest challenges. There was so much there to play. So much to be truthful with. Whether it was the physical pain, the emotional pain, the addiction, all of it. Tracking that honesty was sort of an actor’s “Ooh, I get to pull all of my tools out.” You know what I mean?
I was surprised to learn you had to lobby for “Cake.” Did you coming on as producer help secure your casting?
That was part of it. It was out to another actor at first. I just said, “If this opens up, I’d love to sit down with the director and tell him ‘I know I can do this. I will go to the moon and back with you. I’m ready for this, I’m up for this, I won’t let you down. There will be no shortcuts.'” I was not the first person on their list, I guess.
What so appealed to you about “Cake” and playing Claire that made you want to fight for it in the first place?
I just think [writer] Patrick Tobin did a really great job….It’s just this woman – I fell in love with her. I fell in love with her wicked wit, in spite of this horrible pain — physical, emotional pain. I felt she was so layered, and I had such empathy for her. I went along with it, I didn’t pity her, I felt like she was very strong. To the point of also being extremely stubborn and stuck. Also seeing the vulnerability in that. The humor, I loved. That was throughout.
You’re obviously incredibly proud of this project and excited to get it out to the public. What’s your plan going forward, to really make good on the accolades this project has brought you?
It’s not really up to me, I’ve gotta be honest. I still have the power, the ability, to go out and find material that I self-generate and create. That I will still be doing ’til the cows come home – ’til they won’t let me do it anymore. But we’ll see, that has yet to be seen. But I’m not a game-planner, honestly. I kind of go with what’s happening at the moment. It almost creates anxiety to create plans for the future. Because what if I don’t live up to the plans? I don’t want resolutions that much. I like to be in the moment and see what’s happening. I just wanna enjoy the film and everyone who worked so hard on it. We’re so proud of each other, and we’re just pinching ourselves all the time with all the love this little film is receiving. It’s so special.