The Truth About Jennifer Aniston And Jason Bateman's Friendship
In an industry where competition is cutthroat, it's always refreshing (and heartwarming) to hear of actors who share a genuine friendship behind the curtains of showbiz.
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman are one such inspiring pair. The duo, who have starred together in films like "The Switch" and "Horrible Bosses," has been solid buddies for decades. Fame, success, loss, heartbreak, awards — Bateman and Aniston have seen each other through some major milestones in life. And they don't shy away from acknowledging the bond they share every chance they get! "We've known each other for a long time. We just do have easy chemistry," Aniston said during a presser for "The Switch" in 2010.
Aniston once even told People that Bateman was "like family" to her. From attending film premieres to support each other (via Us Weekly) to grabbing dinner together (per Just Jared), Aniston and Bateman hang out just as much as we'd imagine they would. Here's a dive into their unshakeable friendship.
Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston met during their early 20s
Besties Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have a relationship that goes back more than two decades, having met each other as 20-somethings making their mark in the world of television. In an interview with Relevant Magazine, Aniston recalled first meeting Bateman back when a friend of hers was co-starring in a TV show with him. "He was in a much different mental space back then, but still lovely and great and I've just always adored him," she said. The show in question was "Simon," as Aniston revealed during her speech for Bateman when he received his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2017 (via Hello!).
At 25, Aniston was on her way to global fame with her career-defining role as Rachel Green on the hit '90s sitcom "Friends" (per PopSugar), while Bateman, only about a month older than Aniston, had already charted his way up as a teen idol with shows like "It's Your Move" and "The Hogan Family" (per IMDb). Aniston went on in her speech to describe him as a "fantastic partner in crime" (via Hello!). Bateman, meanwhile, reflecting on their friendship, told The Guardian that he and Aniston have "always just really gotten along well."
They've partied wild together back in the day
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have been buddies since the early '90s, when they were both in the prime of their youth, and they seem to have shared some wild times together. Aniston recalled a particularly standout memory from early in their friendship when the two attended a holiday party in Aspen, Colorado, where Bateman "drove the Range Rover backward with the door swung open up the street," as she shared with E! News. Bateman accounted for it, saying, "A lot of fun stuff happens in the mountains. It's the altitude!" That's valid enough, we'd say.
Another untamed moment Aniston related about Bateman, which she said formed her first impressions of him, was one time they spent New Year's Eve together. "There is a blizzard outside," she said, "we have two feet of snow, Jason is in a truck fishtailing the wrong way down a one-way street, hanging with the door wide open ... and his foot was out, like trying to stop the car Fred Flintstone style. We're actually still not sure what you were doing."
Although, several years on, Bateman seems to have lost his party mojo. He told Screen Rant, "I'm not much of a party guy anymore. I lost all my drinking privileges about [15] years ago ... I'm in bed by nine."
The two have supported each other through life's milestones
Great friends will double as your biggest cheerleaders when the occasion calls for it! Over the course of their decades-long friendship, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have accordingly been there for each other, celebrating important milestones together. In March 2022, the "Ozark" actor chose to tape his appearance at the Golden Globes from close pal Aniston's house, as she revealed in an Instagram story (via Page Six). Bateman, who lacks an Instagram presence, was accompanied by his daughters, Francesca and Maple (whom he shares with wife Amanda Anka), for the remote awards night.
Back in 2017, Aniston was also there to hype up her buddy Bateman on his big day, when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On account of BFF privileges, the "Friends" star even took to the stage to deliver an emotional, rib-tickling speech heaping praises on her old friend. "The part that I'm really the luckiest that I get to witness as his friend is Jason Bateman the husband, the fantastic father, the dear friend, and as we lovingly call him, Grandpa," Aniston fondly said. "We're proud of you!"
They have starred in five films together
Each time Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have teamed up for work, their easy on-screen chemistry has been testimony to the decades of camaraderie behind them. In 2006, they became work buddies, too, with the release of "The Break-Up," their first shared title together. Bateman, in an interview with People, noted, however, that the duo had only one scene together in the film. The pair worked together much more closely with their next release, "The Switch," in 2010. The "Horrible Bosses" comedy franchise followed, with two films in 2011 and 2014, bringing them together onscreen twice over. Their last appearance together, as of this writing, was in 2016's "Office Christmas Party." On working with Aniston, Bateman told The Guardian, "I think I was just fortunate to be a good fit for parts in her films."
But five films haven't been nearly enough for the pair who loves working together. In a joint 2020 interview with Bateman, Aniston told Variety, "He's one of the greatest people to be around, whether I get to work with him, which I don't get to do enough of and it's been too long. But we're going to write that, aren't we, Jason?" Suggesting an iconic crossover between "Ozark" and "The Morning Show" — their respective television series — Bateman said, "I would love to see Jen doing some drive through the Ozarks."
Bateman once gave out marriage advice to Aniston's ex
The mark of a true friendship is trusting someone enough to let them give out relationship advice! One such advisor is Jason Bateman, who had some golden words of wisdom to impart — not exactly to his best bud Jennifer Aniston, but to her former husband, Justin Theroux. According to Us Weekly, Theroux and Aniston began dating in 2011 after romance bloomed on the sets of their film "Wanderlust." A year later, the lovebirds were engaged, and, in 2015, they tied the knot. Theroux was notoriously under high media scrutiny at the time, owing to his high-profile marriage to the star, something he claims Bateman helped him cope with.
On an episode of "Sunday Today" in 2021, Theroux told host Willie Geist about "one of the most sage pieces of advice" he got from Bateman during his relationship with Aniston. He recalled Bateman telling him that "in that side of the entertainment industry, a character is about to be born and that character is you, but it's not you ... And so my advice is, don't follow that guy's storyline."
Theroux explained that he found immense value in Bateman's words. Unfortunately, the marriage was not meant to last, and Theroux and Aniston announced their split in 2018. However, per Esquire, the ex-couple remain friends — and apparently even FaceTime each other!
Aniston and Bateman chill together on Sundays
Friends who chill together, stay together! Best buds Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have spent a lot of time together on sets, given that they've co-starred in five films over the years. But even on their off days, the two can be found hanging out. The Hollywood Reporter once noted that Aniston hosts what are called "Sunday Fundays" almost every weekend at her Bel Air home, where she entertains friends Bateman, Jimmy Kimmel, and their families. The group's nickname for Aniston is Carol — "Someone who's almost stuck in the 1940s in the way she organizes stuff because she just wants to make sure everybody is comfortable and has a good time," the outlet quoted Bateman as saying. In an interview with Variety, Aniston gushed, "I love my days when I get to be with Jason on a set or my house on a Sunday."
Bateman once joked that if Aniston were to be the CEO of a company, it would be the "let's hang out at my house" company. Appearing together for BuzzFeed, the duo chuckled over it, with Aniston testifying, "I do like to throw a dinner party." Throwing light on what a day of chilling at home with Bateman looks like, Aniston said in 2017, "He always manages to come to our house, find the clicker, plop himself on the couch, and get his beloved Dodgers up on that TV screen as fast as humanly possible."
The pair speaks very fondly of their friendship
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman miss no opportunity to celebrate their friendship. The actors always have a few compliments to attach to each others' names, giving the world major BFF goals. "He's just delightful. There's nothing about him that isn't squeezable," Aniston once gushed to Relevant Magazine. Bateman, talking about their shoot together on "The Switch," added, "We used that part of our familiarity and hopefully you can benefit from it. Especially since we're supposed to be best friends, it was nice to have that friendship beforehand."
Bateman also credits Aniston with setting an example of how to handle fame. "She's enormously famous and enormously successful," Bateman told E! News. "You watch the way that she handles that with incredible normalcy and groundedness, and the little bit that I float into every couple of years, she's taught me a lot about how to handle that and enjoy it without leaning into it too much."
Likewise, gushing about Bateman's professionalism, Aniston told Variety, "There's no histrionics with him: He is prepared, he is solid, he is kind, he is funny." The two are, in fact, so close that Aniston had even been to Bateman's house — one of the only friends she had visited — when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, as told to The Hollywood Reporter.
Naturally, they have a lot of inside info about each other
"Don't let that innocent face fool you," Jennifer Aniston warned (more than once), pointing at her longtime pal and co-star Jason Bateman, at the ceremony honoring his admission to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. Since the two have been friends since their 20s, naturally, it's easy to assume that Aniston and Bateman have accumulated decades' worth of secrets about each other. Once, when asked about collaborating frequently with Aniston, Bateman told The Guardian, "Well, I've got a great deal of dirt on Ms. Aniston, and as long as she continues to hire me for her projects I will not show the pictures."
As old friends, Aniston and Bateman seem to be familiar with each others' innate traits. Aniston, in her Walk of Fame speech for Bateman, hinted that her buddy is a "vicious negotiator. Vicious. I have been in the room and I have witnessed this. Do not poke that bear." Meanwhile, on BuzzFeed's BFF test, Bateman revealed what Aniston does between takes — "She practices her faces." Aniston, on the other hand, dished that Bateman's pet peeve is germs. "I don't know what happened ... because I used to be a real dirty bird," Bateman said.
Aniston and Bateman have taken holiday getaways together
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have taken trips together for as long as they can remember. The foundations of their friendship over two decades ago were laid during a ski trip they took, along with a mutual friend in tow, as told by Aniston (via Variety). Since then, the two have been on countless other getaways together, accompanied by their families and other close friends, most notably around New Year's. In 2015, Aniston and then-husband Justin Theroux spent the holidays in the snowy town of Telluride, Colorado, with Bateman and his family. From adventure sports to relaxing downtime, their winter vacation had it all, as per People. The two families also soaked in the sun together in Mexico in 2017, the outlet reported.
In fact, Bateman even joined Aniston and Theroux in Bora Bora on their curiously star-studded honeymoon in 2015 along with friends Courteney Cox and Chelsea Handler. Of their group honeymoon, which piqued the interests of many at the time, Theroux told Extra, "We had thought about it; we could just do a normal honeymoon, or we could go with some friends, keep the party going, relax, and have fun." Kristin Hahn, a close friend of Aniston, has even described her as the "social glue" of their friend circle. "When she's not in town, we almost don't know what to do with ourselves," she told Elle.
They're always making each other laugh
Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston have no dearth of inside jokes, as all lifelong friends do. No interviews or press appearances the two give together are complete without a few chuckles shared between them. Aniston once testified to Bateman's superior sense of humor — which stands out on his acting résumé — before an audience. "Even in his most restful state, he's one of the loveliest men to be around. He always gives you deep connection, full attention, authenticity, and some of the deepest belly laughs that I can remember," she said at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2017. She further left Bateman laughing when she revealed he was known as "Grandpa" among friends, saying, "It's like, is he young? Is he old? He looks 12, he acts 100. He has a head of hair that even women envy."
We also know that Aniston is probably always laughing when texting with Bateman, who revealed during a BuzzFeed quiz that Aniston is the "queen" of emojis whose favorite emoji is the one where she's "laughing so hard she's crying." It was sarcasm city, meanwhile, when the two friends teamed up to answer the most searched questions about themselves. When asked when Aniston's hair was real, Bateman said, "The biggest surprise that happened on set was how often your wig came off."
Their roles in Horrible Bosses were written with the actors in mind
Of all the films in which Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman have appeared in together, "Horrible Bosses" remains a fan favorite. The 2011 crime-comedy, which also stars Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, and Kevin Spacey, delivered a thundering box office performance — earning 6.1 times its production budget of $35 million (per The Numbers) — with the cast winning critical acclaim for the chemistry they shared. It turns out, two of those actors were factored into the script well in advance. And we daresay that was part of the recipe for the film's success!
In an interview with PopSugar, "Horrible Bosses" writer Michael Markowitz revealed, "When I wrote the script — I always have actors in mind when I was writing. And Jason Bateman and [Jen] were the actors I had in mind." Markowitz said the idea of casting Aniston as the debauchee doctor, a first for her, came to him while watching "Friends," in which, he said, her character of Rachel Green was "so much bawdier."
"Horrible Bosses" follows the story of three friends with troubled professional lives who devise a plan to kill their bosses. A sequel was released in 2014, though it failed to perform as well (per E! News).
The BFFs have gotten intimate when the script has called for it
Best friends Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman haven't shied away from getting closer — like really close — than they already are, when work called for it. Over the five films they have done together, the pair has shared multiple intimate scenes — such as in "The Switch" and "Horrible Bosses 2." But their purely platonic friendship has withstood each test and, if possible, emerged even stronger! Bateman spelled it out in as many words, when he told People in 2009 that it was "a lot of fun" working with Aniston on "The Switch" (formerly titled "The Baster") and that the movie-making experience drew them closer as friends. Addressing their smooch scene, Bateman joked, "It was a good scene, I'll say that."
Fast forward a few years to when Aniston played a sex-obsessed doctor in the "Horrible Bosses" movies: In the second installment, the script called for some suggestive hot and heavy raunch between her and Bateman, something that prompted Aniston to check in with herself momentarily. "Jason's like a brother to me. I've known him for 25 years. You know, his wife is one of my best friends," she told HuffPost, explaining the somewhat "awkward" situation.
Well, the two sure do know how to keep things profesh, with highly convincing results to speak of!