Source:Entertainment Weekly #464/465• Dec.25,1998/Jan.1,19991998 Best and Worst TELEVISION
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston-Actress
When it's time for a change, stay out of Jennifer Aniston's way. The shaggy cut worn by Friends' sweet-but-spoiled Rachel was once America's must-have do. But while Aniston, 30, was flattered by the craze, she has moved on. Now, says her stylist Chris McMillan, her hair is "just long. She curses me every time I trim a tenth of an inch." That's not the only seismic shift for the Picture Perfect star. Late last spring she became the object of Brad Pitt's affection.
Among her other attributes, says makeup-artist friend Collier Strong, Aniston, 5'5", "has a body that rocks the world." And the star, who stays in shape with thrice-weekly workouts, learned early on to accentuate the positive. Longtime pal Andrea Bendewald, of the Suddenly Susan cast, says Aniston's makeup was "never gaudy" when they attended Manhattan's High School for the Performing Arts. The thanks goes to the influence of her mother, Nancy, a model-actress. (Her actor father, John, was a longtime regular on Days of Our Lives.) And when she hit LA in the early '90s, Aniston reluctantly realized that she had to bare down. "It's unfortunate that Hollywood puts pressure on women to be thin," she told PEOPLE in 1997, "because it sends people the wrong message." Still, she melted away 30 pounds in about a year. "She didn't bounce around from diet to diet," says Bendewald. "She just started eating better." And what happened to that girl-next-door image? That may have been a mirage in the first place. "She has a bit of that quality," says her father. "But you should be so lucky to find a girl next door like her."
In People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People 1999
Matthew Perry- Actor
"I used to cut myself like there's no tomorrow," says everybody's Friend Matthew Perry, enthusing about his Gillette Mach3 razor. "It was like a drive-by shaving, but I never have trouble now." It's little wonder that the man behind TV's irresistibly neurotic Chandler Bing gets lathered up about close cuts. His father, actor John Perry, was the rugged visage of Old Spice commercials. "He was the chiseled thing going," the younger Perry says with an envious sigh. But the 6-foot actor whom pals call Matty has his own charms. "It's his eyes. They're so blue," says castmate Lisa Kudrow. Courteney Cox, who plays Chandler's girlfriend Monica, falls for the laughs. "He's got a great heart and a great sense of humor," she says. "It's the perfect combination."
It wasn't always. In LA's private Buckley School at age 15, "I was the coolest guy of the non-cool crowd, says Perry, who moved in with his remarried dad in LA after spending his early childhood with his former-model mother, Suzanne, in Ottawa. "We were the guys who made you laugh, but didn't get any dates." Nowadays the 29-year-old Perry, who has squired the likes of Julia Roberts and Yasmine Bleeth, is committed to staying tuned up for Ms. Right. He plays Wallyball (volleyball on a racquetball court) and lets fellow Friend Jennifer Aniston ten his hair ("I like it a little spiky and she always pushes it down"). But his biggest beauty secret is pride. He entered a drug rehab in 1997 for an addiction to painkillers, and emerged, he says, "healthier, which was a very difficult thing to do." Starring in the forthcoming "Three to Tango" with Dylan McDermott and Neve Campbell, Perry says, "I'm walking through the world pretty happy these days. Hopefully, I'm looking better as a result."
When the once-chubby Friend got serious and shaved off 20 pounds, life got good. Very good. A hit sitcom and major movie roles followed. Now, at 30, not only does Aniston have one of the best bodies in town, she dates one as well. Since May 1998, she's been snuggling up with hunky heartthrob Brad Pitt. Yet Aniston remains refreshingly real and down-to-earth. "I hate having to be body-conscious," she said. "But it's part of our job." She refuses to obsess about her weight and even downs a cheeseburger now and then. All reasons she's won our hearts - and Pitt's.
Moment of Truth: Aniston (5'5'') used to weigh in at 130. When her agent suggested she might get better roles if she dropped some weight, she was mortified. Then, she went to work. It took more than a year, but she finally slimmed down to 110.
Losing It: Aniston hired nutritionist Carrie Wiatt, who put her on a strictly low-fat diet. Out went her favorite comfort food - mayonnaise sandwhiches on white bread. In came fat-free muffins, fruit, salads, and pasta. Snacks were two sourdough pretzels a day. Aniston also began exercising for the first time in her life.
Shifting Zones: Aniston eventually tired of the rigid low-fat regimen and is now a devotee of The Zone, the diet devised by Barry Sears, Ph.D, which is heavy on lean proteins, monounsaturated fats, and "favorable" carbohydrates such as fruits, and fiber-rich vegetables.
The Workout: She loves yoga classes and mountain-biking with buddies (including Pitt). But Aniston still cross-trains with Kathy Kaehler, a Today show regular and author of Real-World Fitness, who has been her personal trainer for the past five years. They met three times per week for about an hour. The routine is simple, but rigorous: 15 minutes of cardiovascular (running or StairMaster) followed by 45 minutes of weight training. Crunches, 110 at a time, keep Aniston's navel ring bare-able.
Diet Handicap: Growing up Greek. The former Jennifer Anistassakis was raised thinking Greek women were "supposed to be round." Her dad summed it up for People magazine: "Greeks like to eat. Jennifer was built like an Aniston."
What She'd Change About Her Body: Her metabolism. "The lucky ones are those with fast metabolisms," she has said. "The rest of you have to work a bit harder."
By Martha Frankel
Matthew Perry leans forward, scrunches up his face, and ponders the question at hand. "My worst date?" he repeats, perfectly imitating Chandler Bing, his neurotic, commitment-phobic character on Friends. "I took a girl to the ocean once," he says, leaning back in his chair at the Warner Brothers commissary. "I've lived in Los Angeles forever and I never go to the beach, but I took my date there because she had just moved to California and I thought that would be a cool experience for her. So she looked out at the Pacific, and she said--in all seriousness--'I had no idea the ocean was this small.' I was dumbfounded. That woman I never saw again."
You can see the disappointment in Perry's face. But it only lasts for a minute before he leans in closer and finishes his story. "In retrospect, I thought of the funniest line to say: 'That's because you're only seeing the top.'" Perry waits to make sure his audience appreciates his joke, and when he hears the desired giggle, a slow smile spreads across his face. "I wish I could go back to that moment, just for that line." And for a guy like Perry, there's no doubt that he cares more about the missed punch line than a missed opportunity with a girl.
But what Perry has lacked lately in dates, he's made up for big time in last laughs. Ever since his character, Chandler, fell for the anal-retentive Monica (Courteney Cox), his story line and visibility on Friends have grown dramatically. A writer as well as an actor, Perry recently signed a deal with ABC to cowrite a TV show called The Shrink about a young psychiatrist who is even more neurotic than his patients (think Chandler giving up Foosball and going to med school). If the series is picked up, it will make Perry the first performer to star on one series while writing for another--on a different network no less.
And his new film, Three to Tango, in which he costars with Party of Five's Neve Campbell and The Practice's Dylan McDermott, will open later this year. Although he says that Friends comes first, you can sense that he feels tremendous pressure to succeed in a medium where his male Thursday-night cast mates haven't been too triumphant. (Quick, name a Matt LeBlanc movie. We thought so.) When the topic of his new film comes up, Perry crosses his fingers and holds them up toward the sky. But then he gives one of his straight-in-your-face smiles and says sincerely, "No matter what happens, I still have the greatest gig in the world."
For a time, that great gig looked like it might push Perry over the edge. During the shooting of the 1996-97 season, he started taking the painkiller Vicodan for injuries from a snowmobiling accident and a subsequent toothache. But he soon began to rely on the drug to help juggle the stress of both the series and his budding movie career. Addiction came shortly after, along with a massive weight loss that had both fans and the press whispering that he must be using drugs. As soon as the season was over, Perry admitted he was hooked.
In what has become a Hollywood rite of passage, Perry checked himself into rehab. The hardest part about his battle with drugs, he says, was that he was forced to wage it in the public eye. "I went through a very, very difficult time, and I stood up and took my swings and got through it," he says. But the whole time, he was keeping tabs on what was being said about him in the papers and on television. "I would watch The Tonight Show when I was in rehab, hoping that nobody would make any jokes. I think the first time I realized I was going to be okay was when I realized Leno wasn't making fun of me."
When he got out of rehab after three months, his addiction was under control, and he emerged with a stronger sense of himself. And as for those skeptics who had predicted the end of his career, Perry can only shrug. "What came out of this whole thing is that I feel whatever is thrown my way, I can deal with--I've already been through the worst of it."
Now Perry is hoping that with his new movie, Three to Tango, the third time's a charm. His first leading role in Fools Rush In opened to decent reviews and paired him with Salma Hayek. But the romantic flick failed to find an audience and quickly disappeared--despite Perry's best efforts to promote it. "I was on a plane once when Fools Rush In was on," he says. "So about halfway through, I decided to walk through the plane and anybody who wasn't watching, I would go up to and say, 'Oh, good book, but I worked really hard, take a look up here.' I made some people watch it. That's like three months of sweat and hard work, and they're reading books. Watch the damn movie. A couple of people said that they had seen it already, but I wasn't sure. But I actually did do that."
His second film, a slapstick comedy called Almost Heroes, paired him with Chris Farley, who died right before the film opened. "Even I didn't go see it," Perry admits sadly. "It's difficult to go see some crazy Western comedy when one of the actors has unfortunately passed away."
But Three to Tango has him bouncing up and down in his seat. "I am so excited about this film," he says unabashedly. In it he plays Oscar Novak, a promising young architect whose business partner (played by Olive Platt) is gay. When Novak is hired by a Donald Trump-type tycoon (McDermott) for a project, "partner takes on the '90s double entendre for life partner--instead of business partner--and everyone assumes Novak is gay too. Thinking there's no thread, the tycoon asks Novak to spy on his girlfriend (Neve Campbell), whom Novak then falls for--and the Three's Company-like confusion begins.
While Perry gets in his share of pratfalls in Tango, he sees deeper meaning in the story of two people who have all the wrong notions about each other. Closing his eyes for a second, Perry nods his head, as if talking about his own life. "These people have to look past the facade to find out who the real person is." A situation Perry knows all too well.
Now that Chandler--and Oscar Novak--have found love, can the 29-year-old Perry be far behind? Linked in the past to a succession of actresses, from Julia Roberts--whom he dated briefly in 1996--to Yasmine Bleeth, Perry claims that it's hard to date when your photo is spread across the tabloids the next day. "It forces you to be in a relationship before you're ready. Before you find out how she likes her coffee, you're a couple."
So why date someone who's as famous as you are? And why bring her to the hottest restaurant in town where you're bound to be seen by the press or by someone who might care?
Perry thinks this over, and you can see that he's not sure whether to tell the truth or go for the quick laugh. But eventually he dips his head, as if the point is well-taken. "You're right," he concedes. "I would absolutely love it if I was on the phone with somebody and I said, 'I can't meet you tonight, honey, 'cause I'm on the soundstage,' and she said, 'I don't understand what that is, but I'll see you tomorrow.' But the only people I seem to meet are the ones in my business."
Perry then describes this romantic new restaurant he's found near the beach, far from the paparazzi and noise of Hollywood. He claims that's where he'd take a new date these days, a place where they could talk without looking over their shoulders. When asked the name of the restaurant, he says with a smile, "I'd have to kill you if I told you that."
So for now, Perry is still single, still looking, and still hoping he can find a woman who likes his sense of music.
"If you're a woman and you're in any kind of emotional duress and you write a song about it, I will buy your album and listen to it over and over. Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan I love. And if you're a lesbian, I'll buy it twice," he says with deadpan seriousness. Perry hides his sappy musical tastes from most of his guy pals, but the Friends are more than exposed and are always desperately pleading with him to switch to more lively CDs. "I get a lot of sh** about it from them, because our dressing rooms are very close, and I'll play those songs over and over again, and people will actually get depressed. They'll say, 'Listen, you have to turn that off. I want to shoot myself,'" he says with mock surprise.
Still given how he identifies with women's music, it's not surprising to hear Perry's biggest hope for the future: That one day he'll fall in love with a woman who's a friend. Absentmindedly twirling a lock of his hair, he says, "In the past, it's been like 'Well, you're pretty, let's go out.' As opposed to 'You're nice, let's hang out and have a good time.' But I think that's the better way to go. You know each other going in, and when you decide to go out, that's a wonderful thing.'" Hmmm, sounds kind of like Chandler and Monica.
"Well, Chandler has all those funny guys writing for him, and I don't," Perry says. When it's pointed out that he does pretty well for himself without those writers, Perry literally beams.
A sensitive, talented, and good-looking guy with a great sense of humor--how is it possible that Perry hasn't hooked up with someone special yet?
"I found something out about myself this year," he says somewhat self-consciously. "I have a tendency to have this first-date syndrome, where I'm on my best behavior and I'm really funny and super adorable and there are no problems. And I was able to extend that first date behavior for about three months. It was completely exhausting."
Perry maintains that he's not going to repeat that mistake. "I would always do the pratfall instead of going for the emotional thing," he acknowledges. "I always feel my best when I can crack someone up." But now he's learning to listen to the person he's with and find out who they are instead of being so obsessed with having them think he's funny and charming. "Sometimes I'd realize that, yeah, she really likes me, but we've been out five times and I know nothing about her."
Although Perry looks comfortable with his success ("In general, most things are better. The downside is that I can't go to Disneyland"), he had assumed that he'd be married with kids by now (he's about to turn 30). But he sees now that he has plenty of time to take that step. "I'm still really young and I'm glad I didn't get married in my 20s. Now I'm taking my time," he says with a smile.
As if on cue, Perry's cast mates walk by the table and tell him that it's time to get back to work on the set. He shakes hands and slips a piece of paper into my palm. Only after he's gone do I see that it's the name and phone number of the restaurant where Perry just might be bringing a date tonight.
Source:Entertainment Weekly #464/465• Dec.25,1998/Jan.1,1999
1998 Best and Worst TELEVISION