Jennifer Aniston Turns 50: A Look at Her Most Iconic Roles

Jennifer Aniston turned 50 on February 11 and celebrated with a star-studded birthday bash in LA.

A whole lot of A-listers were on hand, including famous ex Brad Pitt, with whom she seems to be on good terms. The celebrity guest list also included Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, John Mayer, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

At age 50, Aniston is celebrating over 25 years in the limelight, making movies – most recently, the heartwarming comedy “Dumplin'” on Netflix – and looking great doing it. We decided to take a look back at some of her most iconic roles in her long career.

Rachel on “Friends”

Obviously this is the first role we should mention in any list involving Jennifer Aniston’s career. Rachel is the role that made her famous, thrust her into the spotlight and gave her incredible financial success as well. “Friends” was a record-breaking, culture-shaping success which ran for ten seasons and is still incredibly popular on Netflix and DVD with its devoted fans.

Joanna from “Office Space”

This quirky 90s movie with Ron Livingston has become a cult classic, and a lot of its scenes are both relatable and easily quotable. Jennifer Aniston plays Joanna, a waitress stuck in a bit of a rut in her life and workplace. Her aversion to the “flair” her boss wants her to wear and her eventual mid-workday breakdown are still hilarious to watch two decades later.

Polly in “Along Came Polly”

Aniston’s role as the title character in this film kicked off the era of her starring in some really successful romantic comedies. The tale is old as time: Aniston and Ben Stiller are complete opposites – she is a quirky mess and he is an uptight neat freak – but they meet and fall in love anyway, helping each other become better people along the way.

Brooke in “The Break-Up”

“The Break-Up” caused an upset in the romantic comedy genre; namely, because it was about the end of a relationship rather than the beginning of one. Along with Vince Vaughn, who was in top comedic form, Aniston’s character Brooke explores that uncomfortable, sometimes funny and sometimes tragic place that people occupy after saying goodbye to a relationship while having to still see and deal with the other person.

Justine in “The Good Girl”

In “The Good Girl”, Aniston plays a depressed small-town woman bored by both her marriage and work at a big-box store. She starts up a passionate affair with Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) and goes down a path that causes a lot of destruction to herself and the people around her along the way. This dark role in an indie film was quite a departure from Aniston’s usual comedic and bigger-budget fare, but critics absolutely loved her performance.