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Jennifer Aniston gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, thanks 'Papa' (Video)
Jennifer Aniston received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, February 22, two days before the release of her new movie, "Wanderlust."
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She was joined at the ceremony by her boyfriend and co-star, Justin Theroux and her father, John. Malin Akerman and Kathryn Hahn, who also appear in "Wanderlust," and Adam Sandler, who co-starred with Aniston in the 2011 movie "Just Go With It," spoke at the event before her star was unveiled.
"This is crazy. I mean, literally. I mean, I walk the streets of Hollywood Boulevard," Aniston told the crowd, which responded with laughter. "Oh please, I didn't mean it like that. Well I think we're about to get on all fours too, so this could be very interesting."
The 43-year-old Emmy winner also had her handprints and footprints immortalized in cement near Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre in July 2011.
Aniston is the first former cast member from the hit show "Friends" to receive such honors. Her star is located at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of The W Hollywood Hotel.
"Wanderlust" hits theaters on Friday. The movie reunites Aniston with Paul Rudd, her co-star in "The Object of My Affection." The two play a couple that leaves their city lives and lands in a clothing-optional hippie commune where they meet Seth, who is played by Theroux.
Last week, the couple both attended the Los Angeles premiere for "Wanderlust" but posed separately. At her star ceremony, he sat in the front row but did not speak. She did not reference him in her acceptance speech.
'I am a California girl through and through and this has always sort of been in the back of my mind," Aniston told the crowd about receiving a star. "It was one of my wildest dreams. I am utterly humbled and grateful to all of the fans who have come out today and supported me throughout my career, my family, my papa and my dear friends ... all of you are my family."
"You've held me up and allowed this moment to even happen so I thank you all for this and I love you all very much, so thank you to everybody and have a beautiful day and this is gorgeous day!" she added. "And go see 'Wanderlust!' Opens this Friday."
JENNIFER ANISTON NOT A "DIVA"
In her speech, Akerman called Aniston a "true superstar" and also talked about the things she says the actress is not good at.
"She's not very good at being a bad actor," she said. "She comes to the set, she's on time, she's professional, she's funny, she's talented. So if you want a bad actor, it's not Jennifer Aniston."
The actress, Akerman said, is not a diva.
"If you want a diva, try Mariah Carey," she joked.
Akerman also praised Aniston's generosity, saying: "She's very, very bad at following directions. So if anyone clearly says, 'Do not bring any gifts, she's going to show up with gifts. She sends everyone amazing Christmas cards at Christmas. Instead of sending us a gift, she says she's going to put money in your name for a charity, so she's not very good at being selfish."
"Jennifer did teach me one thing, and that is if you put Moonshine in a SmartWater bottle, then it looks like SmartWater and you can bring it on set an you can drink it on set," Akerman added jokingly.
Aniston had worked as a spokesmodel for the brand and last year appeared in a SmartWater ad that was titled "Jennifer Aniston's Sex Tape."
Hahn says she had "very deep feelings of love" for Aniston and shared some memories of working with her on "Wanderlust," which she dubbed "the greatest sex commune movie ever made."
She said that during the first week of shooting in "gorgeous northwest Georgia," their co-star, Kerri Kenney-Silver, complained about a fly problem in her trailer. The next day there was a fly swatter with a note taped to it. It said: "Love, Jen."
Hahn said that on the last day of filming, she, Aniston and Akerman stood on the deck of the "gorgeous commune home" to say "goodbye to this beautiful experience."
"Look behind me, Jennifer is crying, which of course made us all cry," Hahn said. "There is this woman at the pinnacle of her career who is still filled with such gratitude."
"I feel with a lot of authority that if I had met this woman 20 years ago, I would meet the same person, which is saying a lot about her character," she added. "What I'm most inspired by this woman is that Jennifer Aniston has shown us that being wildly successful and insanely talented and so gifted and beautiful and gorgeous and ageless - which I hate her for - and being a decent, kind, normal human being, doesn't have to be mutually exclusive."
"POOR LITTLE GREEK GIRL"
Aniston was born in the suburb of Sherman Oaks in Southern California's San Fernando Valley on Feb. 11, 1969. She moved with her parents to New York when her father, John, was cast on the daytime show "Love of Life" in the 1970s. The Greek native, whose real name is Yannis Anastassakis, now plays Victor Kiriakis on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives."
Aniston's mother, Nancy Dow, did not appear at the star ceremony. The two were estranged for at least 10 years. Dow wrote a tell-all book about their strained relationship called "From Mother and Daughter To Friends" in 1999. The two later reconclined. The actress visited her mother in a Los Angeles hospital in September after she suffered a stroke.
Aniston starred in off-Broadway plays, such as "Dear Life," before she moved back to the Los Angeles area. She began her on-screen career in the late 1980s and scored her breakout role as Rachel Green on the NBC comedy series "Friends," which ran between 1994 and 2004. Her character's layered haircut inspired the famous "Rachel" style that scores of woman emulated during the 1990s.
Aniston won one Emmy for her part and has been nominated five times. She also received an Emmy nod for a guest role on the NBC sitcom "30 Rock."
Before she was cast on "Friends," Aniston played Jeannie Bueller on the short-lived show "Ferris Bueller," based on the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and Courtney Walker in "Molloy," which lasted one season. She also appeared alongside "Willow" star Warwick Davis in the 1993 horror film "Leprechaun."
Aniston went on to star in mostly comedy movies, such as "Office Space" in 1999, "Bruce Almighty" in 2003, "The Break-Up" in 2006 and "The Bounty Hunter" in 2010. She also played Mark Wahlberg's love interest in the 2001 film "Rock Star" and starred with Owen Wilson in the 2008 movie "Marley & Me." In 2011, she played a dentist who sexually harasses her co-worker in "Horrible Bosses."
In his speech, Sandler recited a mock children's story about Aniston, jokingly calling her a "poor little Greek girl growing up in Manhattan" who prayed to a Greek god for people to become fascinated by her haircut, to one day star in a movie about "an evil Leprechaun" and to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The actor got his Hollywood star around the same time last year.
Aniston's famous ex-husband, Brad Pitt, and his life partner, Angelina Jolie, have never been nominated for a Hollywood star, a spokesperson for the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the events, confirmed to OnTheRedCarpet.com.
Last month, Marg Helgenberger was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, just before she appeared on a new episode of the CBS show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" for the last time. Her co-star Jorja Fox and actress Dana Delany braved a rare Southern California rainstorm to attend the ceremony.
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