Jennifer Aniston is making it clear where her boundaries are when auditioning for new roles.
During a recent drama actress roundtable discussion hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, Aniston and the group touched on a series of topics relating to Hollywood, including uncomfortable positions they were put in during the audition process.
In response to previous statements made by Anne Hathaway, when she explained having to make out with 10 guys during a single audition, Aniston began saying she has never “been told you’re going to lay down and…”
Nicole Kidman then interjected by asking “simulate,” to which Aniston responded with “yes.”
Jennifer Aniston made it clear where she draws the line when it comes to auditions. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
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“And if asked, I would never,” she proclaimed.
Aniston was joined in the conversation by Kidman, Naomi Watts, Brie Larson, Sofía Vergara, Jodie Foster and Anna Sawai, who all agreed with Aniston about how uncomfortable those situations can be.
Watts recalled an audition which she left “feel[ing] a bit rattled,” when she was asked to make out with a well-known actor and then dealt with an unhappy director who was annoyed they did not hear him yell cut.
“Also, when you’re in an audition room, you’re already at a disadvantage,” she explained. “Maybe you’d have chemistry with this person if you were in a different environment and not, like, ‘Create chemistry. Ready? Go!’”
Nicole Kidman, left, and Naomi Watts agreed with Jennifer Aniston, right, about how uncomfortable chemistry tests can be. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for PEOPLE)
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“And I’m a terrible auditioner, always was. I waitressed forever before I could finally get something, which was a Bob’s Big Boy commercial,” the “Friends” star added. “So, if you’re a nervous auditioner to begin with, to then say, ‘Now let’s have you make out with a complete stranger,’ it’s very uncomfortable.”
Kidman agreed, arguing actors can have chemistry on screen but not in real-life, and that it should not solely be up to the actors to create that chemistry, explaining “There’s a way you can shoot things. I think just relying on chemistry is lazy. There’s the writing. There’s the interaction. You can literally be directed through it.”
In April 2024, Hathaway spoke to V Magazine and said it was considered normal in the early 2000s, “to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry,” calling that “the worst way to do it.” Although she was not comfortable with it, she pretended to be excited at the time in order to avoid being considered difficult to work with.
When it came to casting the male lead in her latest movie, “The Idea of You,” as the producer of the movie, Hathaway made sure to make some changes in the audition process.
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As the producer of “The Idea of You,” Anne Hathaway made changes to the audition process. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
“We asked each of the actors coming in to choose a song that they felt their character would love, that they would put on to get my character to dance, and then we’d do a short little improv,” she told the outlet. “I was sitting in a chair like we had come in from dinner or a walk or something, we pressed play, and we just started dancing together.”