Jennifer Aniston

Aniston is at her funniest when work or a relationship has become an unreasonable demand. She is good at the timing of exasperation, a quality well suited to the put-upon women she is so often asked to play. Rachel Green in Friends (1994–2004) made that comic presence familiar, and Joanna in Office Space (1999) belongs to the film work alongside it. The difficulty is the repetition: too many of the romantic comedies have offered another single-woman predicament without giving her much else to do.

Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), in which she voices Annie Hughes, is the film here we would most readily recommend. We were deeply moved by the boy's friendship with the giant, because Bird makes their attachment convincing enough for the choice not to hurt people to matter. The moral divisions are sometimes too tidy; the warmth and humour make that a flaw we can live with. It is worth distinguishing our admiration for the film from any claim that this voice part tells us everything about Aniston's acting.

The Good Girl (2002) gives us a clearer view of what the familiar casting can conceal. Her understated performance as Justine Last lets us see beyond the sitcom persona. This was a dramatic departure made while Friends was still running, rather than a change attempted only after it finished. In Cake (2014), as Claire Bennett, she is again convincing as a suffering character. Those roles give her something different to do without making the comic work any less valuable.

Her recurring collaborations with Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis suit an actor whose timing is useful in an ensemble. The Morning Show (2019–), with Aniston producing and playing Alex Levy, gives her a sustained dramatic role on television. The welcome change is the opportunity to work beyond the recurring romantic-comedy predicament. For a closer look at Aniston's acting, make The Good Girl the next choice.