LOS ANGELES – American actresses Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon first met in 2000, when Witherspoon guest-starred on Aniston’s hit sitcom Friends (1994 to 2004) and played her self-absorbed sister for two episodes.

The pair became fast friends but did not work together again till 2018, when they decided to co-produce and co-star in The Morning Show (2019 to present), a ripped-from-the-headlines drama that goes behind the scenes at a broadcast news programme.

Their characters co-host the morning news show and have a love-hate relationship.

But behind the camera, Anison and Witherspoon say they lean heavily on each other, and could not have launched the Emmy-winning series – which returns for a fourth season on Apple TV+ on Sept 17 – without their close personal and professional relationship.

Speaking to the press over Zoom from New York City on Sept 8, the duo – who are two of Hollywood’s most prominent actresses – are asked what advice they have for women trying to follow in their footsteps in the industry.

Aniston, the 56-year-old star of comedy films such as We’re The Millers (2013) and Horrible Bosses (2011), says she wants to see more female directors, writers and other creatives.

Jennifer Aniston in The Morning Show 4.

PHOTO: APPLE TV+

“It’s so exciting that Reese and I have been able to do this together because we’ve grown up together.

“There was a time when women would not be invited to the table. It was not even thought of. It was almost: ‘How adorable that you’d think you could be a producer of a show .’

“So hopefully, we’re able to inspire young women to just go for what you want, and go for the gold. Don’t take no for an answer,” she says.

Witherspoon, the 49-year-old star of the Legally Blonde comedies (2001 and 2003), adds: “Collaboration can be your greatest advantage.”

Reese Witherspoon in The Morning Show 4.

PHOTO: APPLE TV+

“We’re so lucky we’ve known each other and were able to call each other and say (of The Morning Show), ‘Do you want to do this? Because I’m not going to do it unless you do it.’

“So the power of us working together is really what made this happen from the beginning,” says the performer, who picked up a Best Actress Oscar for playing the late country singer June Carter in musical biopic Walk The Line (2005).

The duo also marvelled at the unexpected turn their decades-long friendship has taken.

Says Aniston: “I would never have thought my baby sister on Friends would become my producing partner, co-star and partner-in-crime in one of the greatest shows that I, personally, feel has been made.”

“And it’s been the longest job of my life,” adds Witherspoon, who won an Outstanding Limited Series Emmy as a lead producer on the comedy drama Big Little Lies (2017 to 2019).

Working on The Morning Show has also grown easier with each season.

“We’re now in a groove because it’s been four seasons, the show now sort of runs itself,” Aniston says of the series, which received Outstanding Lead Actress and Actor in a Drama Emmy nominations in 2020 for her and co-star Steve Carell respectively. Billy Crudup won Best Supporting Actor that year.

“And our producer team is so fantastic. There are certain areas where I do not excel, but where Reese or someone else does.”

The Morning Show has drawn from events such as the Me Too movement and Covid-19 pandemic, and the new season will dive into the rise of artificial intelligence and loss of trust in journalism.

“We did not intend to be a show that was current,” Aniston says.

“But once the Me Too movement happened, you couldn’t avoid incorporating that into the Season 1 scripts.

“Then as the show kept going, our writers kept writing, and it just became very topical.

“And now you wait to see: ‘Did our writers see again into their crystal ball? Is thi s going to happen in real life?’

“It’s art imitating life and life imitating art. It’s just an exciting show to be a part of.”

The Morning Show 4 premieres on Apple TV+ on Sept 17.

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