I was sort of wondering if this would happen after The Brangelina Wedding happened. If you remember correctly, Jennifer Aniston was in the midst of promoting Life of Crime and a slew of other new movies (Cake, She’s Funny That Way, Horrible Bosses 2) throughout the next few months. Early promotional updates had Aniston schedules to appear at Venice, TIFF and more. But she never came to Venice. I guess she wanted to put some distance between the Brangelina stuff and her first appearance, so she went dark for a few weeks. Smart. And here she is – she showed up to the TIFF premiere of Cake yesterday.

I can’t find the designer ID on her LBD (maybe Dior?), but she looks good. Kind of boring, but good. I mean, Aniston loves an LBD. And as far as Aniston’s LBDs go, this is one of the best ones I’ve seen. Very flattering, her legs look great and I like how it fits her body. I would have loved to see her bring something different with her hair (flat-ironing, hair-in-face thing is so ‘90s). Justin Theroux came out to support her too, and her costars Anna Kendrick and Sam Worthington were also on hand.

If you remember, Cake is Aniston’s big attempt to play a gritty, dark, depressed character. She wants to break out of the rom-com hole, I guess. She plays a woman who survived some kind of terrible accident, someone with visible (and psychological) scars, who lives in chronic pain. She didn’t wear any makeup for the role, according to her director. Jennifer spoke to Variety about the film:

Jennifer Aniston says her performance in new drama “Cake” was physically and emotionally tough, but it was “beyond a dream role.” Aniston came to the Variety Studio Monday to chat about the film, which has its world premiere Monday at the Toronto Film Festival.

Co-starring Anna Kendrick and Sam Worthington, the indie drama finds the actress playing a character who is in massive chronic pain, who’s addicted to pills and booze and who has alienated everyone in her life.

“She basically has to decide whether she wants to live or die,” Aniston said. “The woman’s journey is so heartbreaking but so uplifting, because she’s gone through a trauma but maintains her wit, which is very endearing.”

The project, which is looking for a U.S. distributor, came together very fast. Director Daniel Barnz and his partner, producer Ben Barnz, discovered the script in a screenwriting contest 13 months ago and met with the actress in November. Filming started April 3, the final touches were added weeks ago.

Aniston said as soon as she had finished reading the script (by first-timer Patrick Tobin), “I knew I was going to do it,” because it was a challenge but an opportunity “to express empathy” for the character and all those undergoing similar experiences.

Aniston allowed herself to be photographed without makeup and looking haggard (though, it should be noted, in person she looks pretty spectacular). Every movement for the character is painful, “which was hard on my body for five weeks of shooting. I spent weekends seeing a chiropractor and getting massages and trying to maintain my sanity.”

Early word on her performance is very positive and Aniston is upbeat about “Cake,” which she sums up as “the little indie that could.”

[From Variety]

I rolled my eyes a little at the “I spent weekends seeing a chiropractor and getting massages and trying to maintain my sanity” part, but otherwise… I mean, whatever. Good for her. Aniston’s fans have been wanting her to move out of her comfort zone of “only playing cute, well-dressed characters in comedies” for a while. Will she get an Oscar nomination for this? Um, no. She won’t. But she might get an Independent Spirit Award nomination, so there you go.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/flynet.