Jennifer Aniston on Why She Divorced Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux: "We Chose to Be Happy"

Updated on 12/9/2018 at 12:30 PM

We can always count on Jennifer Aniston to keep it real. While the actress isn't afraid to call out sexism in Hollywood, she's also not afraid to open up about her love life. In the January 2019 issue of Elle, the Dumplin' star gets candid about everything from her past marriages to Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux to the unrealistic expectations society has placed on women to start a family and find their happy ending. Honestly, we can all take a few notes from her profound words of wisdom. See some of her best quotes ahead!

On her past marriages: "My marriages, they've been very successful, in [my] personal opinion. And when they came to an end, it was a choice that was made because we chose to be happy, and sometimes happiness didn't exist within that arrangement anymore."
On society's unrealistic expectations for women: "We live in a society that messages women: by this age, you should be married; by this age, you should have children. That's a fairy tale. That's the mold we're slowly trying to break out of."
On women finding their own happiness: "That's part of sexism — it's always the woman who's scorned and heartbroken and a spinster. It's never the opposite. The unfortunate thing is, a lot of it comes from women. Maybe those are women who haven't figured out that they have the power, that they have the ability to achieve a sense of inner happiness."

On her childhood dreams: "My priorities weren't about finding partnership and who am I gonna marry and what am I gonna wear on my wedding day. I was building houses with shoe boxes and toilet paper and felt. It was always about finding a home that felt safe. And I'm sure, because I was from a divorced-parent home, that was another reason I wasn't like, 'Well, that looks like a great institution.'"
On the idea of a happy ending: "[It's] a very romantic idea. It's a very storybook idea. I understand it, and I think for some people it does work. And it's powerful and it's incredible and it's admirable. Even enviable. But everybody's path is different."

On having children: "Who knows what the future holds in terms of a child and a partnership — how that child comes in . . . or doesn't? And now with science and miracles, we can do things at different times than we used to be able to.
On staying off social media: "The one thing I have is maintaining this little circle of sanctity that's my own. If I'm sitting here posting something about my dogs or I'm Boomeranging my coffee mug in the morning, that's just giving away one more piece of something that is mine."