14 DAY TRIAL // The Academy loves nothing better than a dramatic transformation of an easily recognizable, good looking star, whether male or female. So when Jennifer Aniston ditched the makeup and put on a few pounds and some prosthetic scars for a new movie, everyone joked that she was gunning for an Oscar.
As it turns out, this was precisely the plan from the start.
Aniston’s “Cake,” in which she plays a very unglamorous widow who falls for the wrong man, premiered at TIFF this year where, despite some solid reviews, it failed to secure a distributor. It eventually came when the producers of the film started their own distribution company and made it their first US release.
Rumor has it that Aniston herself is financing the company, just so she can up her Oscar chances considerably.
As if to confirm that is a first poster for the film, showing just how extensive Aniston’s transformation for the role was. It’s true, we’re not talking a Christian Bale or Charlize Theron-type of makeunder, in the sense that you can still see Aniston underneath it all, but the difference between this photo and how well-put together Jennifer usually is is striking.
So yes, this poster is 100 percent pure Oscar bait. Jennifer Aniston wants to be taken seriously, she wants to prove she can do more than just the girl-next-door character in rom-coms, and she wants recognition for it. Preferably in the form of an Oscar statuette.
In a recent interview on the topic of “Cake” as a potential Oscar contender, Aniston called going without makeup “empowering” and “liberating,” “so fabulous and dreamy,” because she was finally allowed to disappear into a role for once.
For Aniston, Method acting is ditching makeup. Again, she’s no Charlize or Christian, but we’ll see if her shtick works with the Academy.