Jennifer Aniston Reflects on the ‘Cathartic’ Experience of Making The Break-Up After Her Split from Brad Pitt

Jennifer Aniston is opening up about the “cathartic” experience of making The Break-Up soon after her split from Brad Pitt, and why execs were “nervous” to cast her in the comedy.

While reflecting on some of her iconic roles in a video interview for Vanity Fair, published Aug. 11, Aniston revealed that filming the 2006 film, which she stars in opposite Vince Vaughn, gave her a much-needed emotional release following the end of her marriage to Brad Pitt.

After watching a clip from the movie — in which her character, Brooke, delivers the line, “I’m not spending one more second of this life with some inconsiderate prick” — the actress, 56, said, “I might have just gone through a separation.”

“That little separation,” she then joked of her headline-making 2005 split from Pitt, 61. “I’m sure nobody remembers that.”

“So it was kind of cathartic to go right from that,” Aniston said, referring to the high-profile divorce. “When they came to me with the offer,” she continued, “they were a little nervous about making the offer, ’cause they thought, ‘Oh, is that insensitive? Is it inappropriate?’ But I actually thought, ‘What a great opportunity.’ ”

And by “opportunity,” Aniston — who graced the cover of Vanity Fair’s September issue — meant both for herself and the movie, which follows a nasty break-up between her character and Vaughn’s.

“I knew it would actually kind of benefit me emotionally, just as a human being,” she said of The Break-Up in the career-spanning interview. “And also serve the script and the character pretty well.”

In her Vanity Fair cover story, also published Aug. 11, the Friends alum made another rare comment on her divorce from Pitt (with whom she is now friendly).

The interview comes two decades after Aniston famously opened up about the exes’ split to the magazine in an article titled “The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston.” In her new chat with the outlet, she admitted that she has not “looked at that article in forever.”

“I just remember the experience of doing it — which was kind of jarring,” she continued. “It was also such a vulnerable time. But yeah, that was one for the memoirs.”

Also in the cover interview, Aniston revealed that she and longtime friend Gwyneth Paltrow — who famously dated Pitt shortly before she did — talk about the F1 actor. “Oh, of course,” she said when asked if the actress pals discuss their shared ex. “How can we not? We’re girls,” she added.

Aniston and Pitt were introduced by their managers and secretly dated before tying the knot in a lavish 2000 ceremony. They later split in 2005, with Aniston telling Vanity Fair shortly after, “I really do hope that someday we can be friends again.”

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The stars have since reunited several times, including Pitt attending Aniston’s 50th birthday in 2019 and a warm backstage embrace at the SAG Awards in 2020 — which, naturally, went viral. The exes also played love interests in a virtual table reading of Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 2020, with Aniston later stating that there was no awkwardness between the now-“buddies.”

The We’re the Millers actress — who also had a brief romance with her The Break-Up costar Vaughn before separating in late 2006 — is currently dating hypnotherapist Jim Curtis. Pitt, meanwhile, is currently in a relationship with Ines de Ramon, a jewelry designer.