Jennifer Aniston has termed the task of playing a character in chronic pain as the most grueling part of starring in the film Cake. This is Aniston’s first experience playing such an intense role as she has mostly of portrayed comic and glamorous characters.
Cake, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Monday, tells the story of Claire Simmons (Aniston), a woman suffering from constant pain and pill addiction, who is haunted by hallucinations of a fellow support-group member who committed suicide.
To prepare for the character, the former Friends star drew upon the experiences of her friends who had been living with chronic pain. In order to perfect the movements of the character she also wore a brace that prevented her from slouching.
“For me, it was really important to stay true to what the medicine I was taking physically would be doing to my body and at what point,” Aniston said.
Regarding the emotional aspect of portraying a woman experiencing chronic pain and grief, Aniston said she was able to go home at the end of the day and leave the psychological component at work.
“It was a hard place to be, but I slept and I was just eager to get to work every day. I really loved spending that time with [the character],” she said.
Much of the focus surrounding Cake has been on the performance by the 45-year-old actor, who went without makeup except for the prosthetic used to portray the character’s white scars across her face.
The movie has so far received mixed reviews, with Britain’s newspaper The Guardian deeming it “about as fun to watch as sciatica.”
“It’s just the farthest thing from anything I’ve ever done,” Aniston said of her decision to take the part in the film. She further added, “I knew this would be an extraordinary challenge for me and I was so excited and so ready to dive in and take it on.”
Cake is directed by Daniel Barnz, who came across Patrick Tobin’s script while he was judging a screenwriting competition. The script grew out of a short story Tobin had written after hearing the experiences of a friend, who ran a support group for women in chronic pain.
At the screening, Barnz praised Aniston as being “one of the greatest actresses I know.”
“Because the character herself can be difficult and acerbic and somewhat harsh, it felt like we had to cast somebody who you can forgive immediately,” said Barnz.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2014.
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The comment “about as fun to watch as sciatica.” just shows the ignorance of the author. It also demonstrates the stigma that people with chronic pain have to face every day. I hope that this is not going to be indicative of all the reviews. Ask someone who has chronic pain or a chronic pain organisation to review it, not someone who has no idea at all.