Work Wives: Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon Unpack ‘Morning Show’ Twists, Space Travel and Messy Romances
“We knew this season was different.”
That’s how “The Morning Show” star and executive producer Reese Witherspoon begins Variety’s conversation about the third season of the Apple TV+ series. Co-star (and fellow executive producer) Jennifer Aniston adds, “It had a different shape to it.”
In their first interview after the SAG-AFTRA strike — and the day of the Critics’ Choice nominations — Witherspoon and Aniston dissect Season 3’s wild twists and turns, which include a trip to space with Jon Hamm’s billionaire character Paul Marks, as well as a Jan. 6 insurrection storyline.
The two have known each other for more than 20 years, and as Aniston puts it: “We’re partners. We’re friends. We’re girlfriends, and we share all sorts of heartbreaks in life and love and everything.” To that end, when she begins crying while speaking about the death of her “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry, Witherspoon immediately grabs Aniston’s hand, and doesn’t let go for the rest of the conversation.
Reese Witherspoon: I knew I had this secret that was going to get revealed by the end. When Charlotte Stoudt came in — this is her first season at “The Morning Show” — she pitched out the whole thing: the hack; Paul Marks coming in to take over; Alex [played by Aniston] wanting a position of power on the board; my character hiding this Jan. 6 secret.
Jennifer Aniston: It’s such a collaboration, and we are able to say if we felt like it wasn’t going in a great direction. That’s the fun of what we do together, having that open line of communication.
How did you react when you heard that the premiere would include a trip to space?
Aniston: Wow. Going into space, huh? Personally, I was like, “I would never do that! You’ve got to be out of your freaking mind!”
Witherspoon: I would never do that either!
It appeared to fans that you were in far fewer scenes together this season. Reading your faces, is that not how it seemed to you?
Witherspoon: We do have two different storylines, so if we did everything together it’d be like, we’d never sleep. It’d be like I work the day shift, and you work the night shift. I do hear that people’s favorite scenes are when we’re together.
Aniston: I know, it’s just hard to put it into each other’s storylines because they’re separate. Unless I was popping up in your and Julianna [Margulies]’s bed, like, “Hi, can I get you some coffee?”
