Jennifer Aniston's Relationship With Her Parents Explained

Jennifer Aniston's parents divorced when she was nine years old, something the actor has never shied away from opening up about. Speaking to Esquire in 2007, she claimed Nancy Dow and John Aniston had a lot of tension in their marriage, which she'd try to diffuse by making them both laugh. "It's hard to recall now what those things were. Maybe I've blocked them out," she mused. "I guess I've learned to make a living doing what I did to try to heal myself as a kid." The actor spoke candidly about how she found out about her parent's divorce, disclosing that she came home from a friend's birthday party to find her dad was no longer living at home. "Divorce happens in a lot of families, and I don't want to break out the violins. But that was that," she shared.

In 2000, Dow spoke about the moment she told her young daughter about her split with John, recalling to National Post, "I watched a tear roll down Jennifer's cheek as confidence faded from her once trusting eyes." She then apparently told her mom, "Mommy, I can't believe I'm going to be one of those kids who grows up without a father."

Her dad, himself a successful actor, continued to be in Jennifer's life but he wasn't exactly supportive of her acting dreams. "My dad's advice has always been: 'Don't do it,'" she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012. "... It compelled me to go for it even harder."

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