Los Angeles: Former “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston gave an empowering speech to young girls as she was honoured for her television and film career at the 46th Annual Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
The 47-year-old actress was the guest of honour at the Amalfi Coast event and she spoke to the attendees of the children’s festival to talk about her career in Hollywood.
When Aniston was asked to suggest a solution for more female-centred stories to be told in Hollywood, the star encouraged the aspiring writers and filmmakers in the audience to step away from the obsession with social media and create projects grounded in the real world, reported E! online.
“I think we need to empower women to not just be about dresses and beauty and selfies. We need to start having conversations and put our phones down and get out of social media, take social media breaks. That’s why we’re not seeing the right stories being told, because everyone is stuck in their phones,” she said.
The actress was also moved to tears by one teen, who asked the A-lister if she ever woke up in the morning and didn’t recognise who she really was.
“There are not enough fingers and toes in this entire room to count how many times that moment has happened to me,” Aniston confessed as she wiped tears from her eyes.
“We’re all human beings at the end of the day, whether we’re a waitress or a baker or a student or whatever we are, at the end of the day you kind of hit walls and think I kind of can’t go any farther. Or this is too much.
“My heart can’t take it or the pain is too great, or am I good enough? Will I survive? And you just have to sort of somehow miraculously overcome. You just go, ‘I can’t, yes I can, yes you can.’
“And also know that your actors, your idols, your icons, whatever you call them, have all had that experience in their lives many, many times.
Aniston added, “There’s nothing that separates us from you, because we all started at the same place. We all came out of nowhere. Don’t punish yourself if you feel that. Go talk to people and seek help and always find something to inspire you.”
Aniston’s speech at Giffoni echoed similar sentiments in an emotional letter she penned earlier this month hitting out at the constant media furore surrounding her private life.
PTI
