Jennifer Aniston has been getting rave reviews for her performance in the independent drama Cake. However, the critical acclaim was not enough to get her the Golden Globe award for “Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama”. Instead, Julianne Moore won the award for her role in Still Alice.
Aniston seems to be working hard to change the “girl next door” image she had when Friends was still on the air. In 2002, she appeared in the Miguel Arteta-directed drama The Good Girl alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
Despite acting in a string of comedies after the release of the The Good Girl, she’s been known to take far more edgy roles especially recently. In the comedies We’re The Millers and Horrible Bosses, she plays a stripper and a sex-crazed dentist respectively. For Cake, Aniston put on a few pounds and appeared without make-up (save for some prosthetic scars) to play Claire, a chronic pain survivor.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Aniston deserves to win an award for her role. They wrote, “To put it quite simply, it didn’t feel like you were watching Jennifer Aniston on screen in just another role. It felt like you were being welcomed into Claire’s life, encompassed in this stranger’s dark, painful world.”
However, in an article for Slate, David Ehrlich criticized the film and blamed all the buzz it’s been getting on the Hollywood machine. For Ehrlich, Aniston’s nomination is simply because of her steadfast campaigning for the film, which could be true. After all, award-giving bodies have their fair share of politics.
And while the film might not be the critical darling everyone hoped it would be, it doesn’t change the fact that Aniston took a big risk in starring in taking on this role. And she did a pretty good job. That should still count for something.
Emma Stone & Kristen Wiig, Jennifer Aniston & Justin Theroux, and Keira Knightley on the #GoldenGlobes #RedCarpet pic.twitter.com/RB8EYEkM7P
— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 12, 2015
Aniston seems to be taking it all in stride though, with fiancé Justin Theroux, staying by her side as they went to the post-Golden Globes after parties. Whether or not she wins an Oscar for the film remains to be seen, but at least she seems to be having a blast.
“An Inspiring Film About Rediscovering Your Life” –@DeadlinePete #cakemovie #CAKE #JenniferAniston @Deadline pic.twitter.com/oC1DZgLtt1
— CAKE (@CAKEtheMovie) January 12, 2015