While to the rest of the world Jennifer Aniston was rising to stardom, the former “Friends” actor says she only had one person’s stamp of approval in mind: her dad’s.
An actor himself, Jennifer Aniston’s father, John Aniston, famously originated the character of Victor Kiriakis on “Days of Our Lives” in 1985, and played the role for 37 years.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer Aniston opened up about her dad’s opinion being both her drive and her “biggest heartbreak.”
“Always wanting to get Pop’s approval — it was the thing that drove me and was also my biggest heartbreak: trying to impress and prove your value to a man who’s only capable of so much,” Jennifer Aniston told the publication.
Jennifer Aniston thought if she “made it” in acting, “then he will love me as much as I love him.”
John Aniston died in 2022 at the age of 89. Recalling times during his life that her father expressed “pride” in her, Jennifer Aniston told the publication they “had a few of those moments.”
In her tribute to her dad after his death, Jennifer Aniston shared a black-and-white photo of him holding her as a baby, calling him “one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew.”
“I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace — and without pain. And on 11/11 no less! You always had perfect timing. That number will forever hold an even greater meaning for me now. I’ll love you till the end of time,” she wrote at the time.
“Don’t forget to come visit,” she added.
And he has seemingly done just that.
The “Morning Show” star told The Wall Street Journal in 2023 that she believes he sends her signs from behind the veil.
In one instance, Jennifer Aniston recalled placing a meaningful crystal into her dad’s jacket when he was lying in his coffin at his funeral. Only afterwards did she realize the crystal had broken, and she found a piece of it left on her vanity.
“I feel closer to him now than I did almost when he was alive,” she said in the interview. “I feel like he’s everywhere. I really do.”
In that same interview, she explained how her dad’s perception of her acting career shifted over time, ultimately impacting their father-daughter relationship.
“He thought I was going down the road of absolute destruction and heartache,” she said. “And then I kind of got a whole different relationship with him once he had something to talk to me about. Which was, ‘Oh, you’re an actor. I’m an actor.’”
When she was a child, Jennifer Aniston’s parents, John Aniston and actor Nancy Dow, divorced. As an adult, she’s spoken about letting go of “resentment and anger” associated with the separation.
“I forgave my mom,” Jennifer Aniston, who was estranged from her mother for several years, told “Allure” in 2022. “I forgave my father. I’ve forgiven my family.”
In her 2023 interview with The Wall Street Journal, however, she opened up about how watching her parents’ split has impacted her own romantic partnerships.
“My parents, watching my family’s relationship, didn’t make me kind of go, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do that,’” she said.
“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.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
