Jennifer Aniston thinks social media stardom has "diluted" actors' jobs.
Jennifer Aniston has reflected on how fame has changed
The 'Morning Show' actress feels "lucky" she entered the industry before the Internet had such a dramatic effect with the rise of streaming services and platforms such as Instagram and TikTok offering an outlet for aspiring stars.
Speaking to 'Pam and Tommy' star Sebastian Stan about the theft of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape for Variety's Actors on Actors series, she said: "And it was right at the time when the internet really shaped a new culture about people becoming famous. This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing. I mean — Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, all those.
"I always say I feel lucky that we got a little taste of the industry before it became what it is today, which is just different — more streaming services, more people. You’re famous from TikTok. You’re famous from YouTube. You’re famous from Instagram. It’s sort of almost like it’s diluting our actor’s job."
Jennifer became a household name after playing Rachel Green in 'Friends' and she returned to the show for a reunion special earlier this year.
While she and her castmates thought it would be "fun" to go back to the old sets from the sit-com, she wasn't prepared for how emotional and "creepy" it would feel.
She said: " I don’t know we expected for it to sucker punch us as hard as it did in the emotional gut. We just had the idea this is going to be so fun — we’re going back to the sets exactly the way they were. And literally, every single nook on a shelf was the same. It was so creepy. But each and every one of us, we walked in, it was just like, 'Oh!'
"Time travel. It was ’04 when it ended. And we were different. We were so little. Our lives were ahead of us. And so much has changed.
"We kind of had rose-coloured glasses going into it. And then, it was like, 'This is really a lot heavier than I thought.' But I wouldn’t change a lick of it."
Jennifer is grateful for the ongoing support and friendship of her old co-stars and believes the absence of social media at the height of the show's popularity helped them keep their "sanity".
She said: "Every time we all get together, it’s just like no time has passed. We basically grew up together, and taught each other a lot. We’re each other’s fall guy because the world was happening. We were exploding, and that kind of notoriety was sudden.
"And we were in these four walls doing the show, and this insanity is happening.
"And thank God we had each other, because we really couldn’t talk about it outside. It was before social media, so we still had some sanity.
"I get very nostalgic about the past. I also find it interesting that people still love it today, because what are they relating to? You look over at a table of four people having a meal. And there’s usually three people on a phone, just scrolling mindlessly."
Tagged in Jennifer Aniston Pamela Anderson Sebastian Stan