'My dogs are like Laurel and Hardy'

Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Aniston on how even her pets couldn't prepare her to deal with 22 boisterous dogs on the sets of Marley & Me

JENNIFER Aniston, born Jenny Grogran, probably inherited her acting genes from her father John Aniston, who starred on NBC's daytime drama Days of Our Lives and her godfather, the late Telly Savalas. This week, her box office hit Marley & Me hits Indian theatres, in which she co-stars with Owen Wilson... and several dogs.

How did 'Marley & Me' happen to you?
I got the book from three different people over Christmas time. It was a book that everybody loved and I remember I got it and read the back cover and I thought, 'It's a book about a dog?!?' So I put that little pile of three copies of Marley & Me to one side and then I was sent the script and I thought 'Okay, something's going on here...'

Later when I began reading the book, I realised that I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh and it is also incredibly poignant.

So what is 'Marley & Me' all about?
For me, it's a story of a marriage. It's the story of John and Jenny's life together with this incredible dog. And it's about how your start a life together with your expectations and dreams and it doesn't always turn out the way you imagined.

The dog teaches the couple a lot about life...
He teaches them a lot about family and the responsibilities that come with having a family. The dog is adopted in the first place to throw Jenny off of the 'I think I want to have a kid' phase and he turns out to be more of a handful than any child could ever have been.

Are you a dog lover in real life?
Oh, I grew up with pets and I currently have two much loved dogs, Norman, a 13-year-old Corgi cross, and Dolly, a two-and-a-half-year-old white German Shepherd. And they love each other. They are Laurel and Hardy, the oddest couple. He's a tiny thing, a grumpy old man, and she's just a princess. They are great company.

On set in Miami, there were numerous dogs needed to portray Marley at his various stages of development. It certainly must've made for a lively working environment...
We got into arguments about how many Marleys there actually were. I've heard that there were 22 Marleys and I've heard there were 11, so at this moment that's unclear. Let's just say there were a lot of dogs!u00a0

And the thing is we had to find un-trained dogs. In my imagination, they put an ad in the paper saying, 'We Need Un-Trained Labradors!' Basically, we were looking for those dogs over whom their owners have no control you know when you meet some people and think 'God, why didn't you train your dog?'u00a0

The dogs had to be trained then?
Well, we could say they were trained to be more naughty! These were just dogs not actor dogs who were not very well behaved and some had some terrible habits and then they just worked with them for three months to sort of increase that bad behaviour. I mean, they'd get praise for jumping up and eating the couch.u00a0

Normally it would be 'Bad dog. No!' But on our film, they would say, 'Good boy, you were really naughty!' It was like a giant playground every day and we so fell in love with those dogs. Clyde, who we called our 'hero Marley', was just so sweet.

The film covers a 15-year time period, starting in the early 1990s, which meant some interesting costume changes and indeed, some even more interesting hairstyles.

I had never played a part like this where I was spanning 15 years of a life and then ending up with three children and a family so that was interesting. I mean, thank God I still had some of my clothes from the 90s!

And the different hair styles you brought inu00e2u0080u00a6 must not have been difficult for an icon like you...
It did make me think of Friends because back then I became a spokesperson for hairstyles, which is so ironic considering I have never been a hair person in my entire life. It's ridiculous!u00a0

In fact, I don't even know how to do my own hair very well. But you know, when someone says to me,'Oh I saw an old episode of Friends on re-runs' and I ask, 'What year?' and they say, 'Oh I don't know...' I'll say, 'Well, what did my hair look like?' and they'll reply, 'Oh there was a bob..' and I think, 'Ah, okay, that was 2000.'

How was it working with Owen Wilson?
I had met him several times over the years and once, previously, we had come close to working together. He is a delight, on screen and off.u00a0

Your chemistry on screen was good...
There are times when you have chemistry and it shows on screen but you've rarely spoken to each other. But Owen and I got along instantly. We have a bunch of friends in common and we hit it off as pals, so not only was the chemistry there for the screen but also it was pleasant to go to work and see your friend.

How was it on the sets with Owen?
We were firing off each other constantly with some of the most ridiculous humor ever. It's so much fun when somebody gets your sense of humor and God knows I've been around some who don't, which can be so frustrating. To have to explain your jokes? Oh no! I think it's such a sign of intelligence if you get the joke. Owen and I were on the same wavelength. He's such a lovely guy.

What do you think looking back at that phase of 'Friends'?
It's kind of crazy when you look back at it. But it was one of the best times of my life. It was truly fantastic.u00a0

Do you think you'll do it again?
It will never happen again and it was that thing where you acknowledge 'Well, that was probably some of the greatest stuff I'll get to do in my career'. Anything that happens from this point on is just a cherry on top of the cake. I really had such a great time and the fact that I just get to keep acting makes me feel really lucky.

Tell us about your future projects?
There are several projects in the pipeline, including three films that are already finished Management, Travelling and He's Just Not That Into You, as well as several others.u00a0

Are there any goals in your mind that you haven't achieved yet?
Sure, there are a lot of things I want to do. I would like to direct something, full length, and produce. I am also developing my own production company, Echo Films.

If you had to choose between job and family, what would you choose in the future?
I think I'm fortunate enough to choose not to have to make that choice. I don't think that's a question you can guess at. I think you have to be standing in that position to have an authentic answer to that.

As actors, we have the luxury of being able to say, "You know what? I'm going to take a couple of years off and do this." And that's the luxury of our careers. And we also have the luxury to ask for help if we need that. So I don't think I might find myself in that position, but who knows?

Jennifer, forgetting all this craziness of the tabloids, how would you describe yourself at this time?
Well, like I said, I feel better than I've ever felt in my life, and physically feel the best that I've ever felt, and I feel happier than I've ever felt. My career is going where I want it to go, and I'm working. I get to work with great people. I feel really pretty fortunate.