The Inspiring Story of Jennifer Aniston Overcoming Verbal Abuse From Her Mother

Jennifer Aniston starred in “Dumplin,” a new Netflix film about a former Texas beauty queen whose overweight daughter enters the pageant she hosts as a form of protest.

Aniston said in a recent interview that the film’s depiction of a mother and daughter whose obsession with conventional beauty standards made her feel like she didn’t measure up resonated with her mother, Nancy Dow, and their complex relationship.

Dow passed away in 2016. She was also a model and actor.

Aniston, 49, described her mother to the Daily Telegraph as “all about presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like” (since she was a model). “I failed to live up to her expectations of a model child.”

Naturally, Aniston’s honey-blond hair and slim, almost eternal figure led many to believe she was among the most beautiful and beloved female celebrities in the United States. She never fails to turn heads on red carpets and magazine covers.

On the other hand, Aniston has always said that she attributes her insecurity about her physical attractiveness to Dow—the front cover of Nancy Dow’s 1999 autobiography on her relationship with Jennifer Aniston, the famous daughter.

Aniston told the Hollywood Reporter, “She was critical of my looks.” This was back in 2015. “She was wonderful. Not me. That I still do not see myself that way is perfectly OK.” Because of these factors, Aniston’s casting in “Dumplin” was very unsettling for her given her past trauma.

“It resonated with me, this little girl just wanting to be seen and loved by a mom who was too occupied with things that didn’t quite matter,” Aniston told The Daily Telegraph.

“Dumplin” is based on the same-named young adult book and follows Willowdean, a teenager who enters her mother’s Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant to challenge herself and her mother’s expectations.

Her daughter’s decision and the fact that other girls enroll while lacking the stereotypical beauty queen appearance irritate her mother, Rosie Dickson.

Aniston emphasized that the film’s message was about letting go of societal beauty standards and embracing one’s unique identity rather than feeling pressured to conform.

What makes you feel beautiful is what I consider lovely; the people in my life and the life I lead contribute to my sense of beauty—a gorgeous hair day.

“The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Wild Wild West” were among the several 1960s television series in which Aniston’s mother appeared. She tied the knot with actor John Aniston in 1965; he rose to fame after appearing on “Days of Our Lives.” They got a divorce in 1980.

When Aniston’s mother wrote her autobiography, “From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir,” in 1999, it brought attention to the strained relationship between Aniston and her mother.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the ladies began to patch things up in 2005, after Aniston’s divorce from her first husband, Brad Pitt. However, their bond never quite recovered.

Dow had a stroke in 2011, according to the Daily Mail, and they didn’t communicate much after that. Reportedly, it was their last encounter until two weeks before Dow died in 2016 at 79.

Aniston omitted her mother’s invitation to Justin Theroux during her 2015 wedding. The Daily Mail said that while her father was absent at the wedding, he and his daughter maintained a strong relationship.

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