Jennifer Aniston Thought An "Embarrassing" Movie Role Ruined Her Career

Throughout her decades-long career, Jennifer Aniston has enjoyed a hugely-successful Hollywood run, landing roles in the likes of The Morning Show, Horrible Bosses, Marley & Me, and the show that catapulted her to stardom, the hit ‘90s sitcom Friends. However, the actor once feared that an “embarrassing” movie role had ruined her career.

During a 2021 video interview with InStyle, Aniston reflected on some of her past big-screen performances, including the 1999 film Office Space which she described as a “cult classic.”

“Office Space [was] one of the first movies I ever did,” Aniston recalled. “No one thought it would become the cult classic that it did, but it’s pretty cool if you ask me. There’s loads of movies where you’re thinking: ‘Oh god, this is just… how am I going to survive this in my future?’ And then it’s a cult… ‘something’ because it’s so embarrassing.”

Speaking in the clip, Aniston quickly clarified that Office Space was not the “embarrassing” movie she was referring to, adding: “I was talking about Leprechaun.” As fans of the comedy-horror franchise will know, the Friends star made her acting debut in the 1993 release, which centers on an evil Leprechaun (portrayed by Warwick Davis) who embarks on a murderous quest to find his precious pot of gold.

During a 2019 appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, Aniston disclosed that she once re-watched Leprechaun with her now ex-husband Justin Theroux for “s***s and giggles,” revealing that she was “cringing” throughout the film. “We were dating. It was one of those things when I tried to get that remote out of his hand and there was just no having it. He was like, ‘No, no, no, no, this is happening,’” she recalled.

Meanwhile, speaking in a 2023 interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, that actor also shared why she chose not to return for one of Leprechaun’s seven sequels. “I had had it with leprechauns. That was enough luck for me,” Aniston joked.