Now while most males could in no way think of Jennifer Aniston as an overly flirty boss, even when unleashing her inner dominatrix in a movie, on the job stuff does get a little too kinky for comfort for her dental assistant Charlie Day, in Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses.
The enigmatic celeb of late, who’s been playing hide and seek as she goes to extremes trying out multiple personas on screen – ranging from reticent to radically raunchy – came clean during this conversation, about assorted candid topics on the table.
Including her playful seductress dentist domineering over the male species in Horrible Bosses, as screen subordinate Charlie Day submits to doctor’s orders. And a ripening sexual confidence she’s been proud to project, both on and off screen.
Hey, Jennifer.
JENNIFER ANISTON: Hi there.
That were quite a potty mouth of yours in this movie. Well done!
JA: Uh, thank you!
Now about the rumor that you’re topless in this movie…
JA: This one? No! I wasn’t. You saw it!
Not even for the DVD?
JA: Nope. No topless. I don’t know how they got that rumor going.
Your character Dr. Harris is obviously an extreme. But do you think that older women who are comfortable in their sexuality like that, are scary to men? And do you find you’re more sexually confident and happier with yourself now than before?
JA: Absolutely!
And I hope you didn’t mind my asking about sex and older women.
JA: Not at all! Um…At the age of sixty I’m doing pretty good! No! I absolutely get more comfortable in my body, and in who I am now, as I get older. I was just so awkward and uncomfortable. And I’m way more comfortable than when I was in my twenties.
Do you think men are sexually intimidated by confident women like you?
JA: Are men intimidated by sexual confidence…I think men are intimidated by sexually confident women, of no matter what age!
And did you ever have a really horrible boss, like the one you play?
JA: Ha! I had one that was like inconsistent and a little complicated. But not blecchh!
This character is not how people usually perceive you. Why that extreme shift, and is it maybe something to do with gorgeous women saying really naughty things?
JA: I…I’m not gonna answer that! Are you kidding, it’s a compliment!
Well, talk about playing a sexually harassing dentist, hitting on your shocked male dental assistant.
JA: There was nothing that didn’t happen, that Charlie wasn’t just getting so tickled. And excited about! After every take, he would just be like…the raunchier the better! So it was pretty easy. It really was!
What about your get-even fun with this, satirizing male sexist behavior when it’s coming from a female instead?
JA: Well that’s what I think was so fun about it, was sort of being a female that is usually the male character. And I sort of thought of her as kind of just like a guy. And that’s what made it that much more fun.
Did you have any input of your own into your horny character?
JA: Ha! No! Um, I did go to the dentist right beforehand, though. To see how they…hold the tools! And then the rest was easy!
It sounds like you were just one of the guys behind the scenes. Tell all.
JA: I just kept apologizing to Charlie for…everything that had just happened! But I wasn’t with the guys, really. It was just me and Charlie. So we were just sort of getting to know each other, in between…straddling!
I hear you bit his ear pretty hard.
JA: Did I really? Yeah, that’s what I was going for.
With these three guys, I kept thinking of The Three Stooges…
JA: Yeah! Me too.
If you were to imagine your night of sex together with Jason [Sudeikas] that might have happened behind the scenes in the movie, what kind of sex was it that went on?
JA: Wait a second! Which Jason? Okay, I think that probably happened. Ha!
Now, you keep getting labeled America’s sweetheart. So did you want to actively take on this role to kind of challenge your critics, for being labeled as that?
JA: No, I didn’t take the role so I could sort of rid myself of that title. I don’t know where that title came from! I mean, there are so many American sweethearts!
No, I just took it because I loved it. And I thought it would be a fun challenge. And fun for me to sort of step out of that, and what people usually like to see me play.
So that’s a label. You know, you’re sort of branded. And given, you know, there’s always going to be something attached to you. Just sort of for…But no, I wasn’t.
Does that mean you’d like to go and do something even darker now? Say, a woman in a love triangle who may be willing to kill somebody to get even?
JA: I think if it’s well written. And if it’s well executed. And it seems like something that’s a little scary! I’m always up for that.
So you don’t feel boxed in by your good girl screen image.
JA: No!
Did you think that you were going to be doing something that would be controversial when you got into this?
JA: Sure, but that’s the fun. You can’t always, you don’t always want to play it safe all the time. And I have never had a script come to me that allowed me to kinda go in this direction.
So it was a great opportunity. And I don’t think I really cared if there was a bad reaction to it. I would just think…I actually didn’t think there would be.
So I really thought it would just be fun. For everybody. I would hope!
You’re a tough boss in Horrible Bosses, but what’s the toughest job you ever had?
JA: The toughest job I ever had was being a bike messenger in New York City. Yep! I was nineteen.
That must have been cool.
JA: Not if you saw me riding a bike!
What was your worst bike messenger job?
JA: Hmm…Probably riding into a door that opened! I was just very uncoordinated, and extraordinarily klutzy. And I should just never have been…allowed! On a bicycle. With cylinders!
