Patricia Clarkson Recalls Working With ‘Gorgeous’ Friend Jennifer Aniston: ‘I Loved Every Minute’

Throughout her more than 30 years in Hollywood, Patricia Clarkson has worked with tons of stars. But one, in particular, stood out among the rest — Jennifer Aniston! Following her Best Supporting Actress win at the 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 13, the 59-year-old gushed to reporters about once being directed by Jen, 49, in the 2011 TV movie Five.

“Working with her was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. She directed me in that beautiful short and I loved every minute of working with her, every minute,” Patricia recalled of filming the Lifetime project, which featured five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives.

When a reporter then remarked that nearly 50-year-old Jen has been aging incredibly gracefully in the spotlight, Patricia commented, “She’s gorgeous, yeah. She’s just beautiful. She just has amazing… She’s just gorgeous… It’s genetics.”

During a past interview, the Sharp Objects star similarly opened up about working with Jennifer on Five and revealed she almost didn’t take on the challenging Lifetime role. “When I first heard about the project, I didn’t want to work then,” she remembered. “Then Jennifer sent me this beautiful letter. I had read my piece and I was like, ‘Wow. Frightening.’ I thought, ‘Can I actually really do that?'”

“And then I read the other pieces [of the script] and thought, ‘Oh these are such beautiful, intricate, surprising journeys all of these women take.’ It’s not so much about different women and different lives. Some are younger, some are older. It’s beyond that. It’s actually, I think, just good filmmaking. It’s artful, this project,” she shared.

Patricia also said that Jen was a “joyous and fun and wonderful” person to work with during the emotional TV movie. “Jennifer wasn’t about elevating or alleviating darkness on the set, because some of it was just dark. There was no way around it. It had to stay dark,” she said about the Friends star. “She was joyous and fun and wonderful to be around, yet we knew when we had to just hunker down, and we knew when we could have some breath and levity. She was masterful at navigating that.”

“We laughed our butts off at certain times. We had to just keep ourselves afloat. It was tough, one of the toughest things I’ve ever shot,” Patricia added.