Marie Claire wasn’t afraid to go there with their December cover star Jennifer Aniston. The 47-year-old actress, whose career has often been overshadowed by her personal life, got super candid with the mag. Here’s what she had to share about tabloids tearing her down, her connection with Justin Theroux, and her personal growth.

On why she decided to write her now-famous Huffington Post op-ed about celebrity news culture:

“My marital status has been shamed; my divorce status was shamed; my lack of a mate had been shamed; my nipples have been shamed. It’s like, Why are we only looking at women through this particular lens of picking us apart? Why are we listening to it? I just thought: I have worked too hard in this life and this career to be whittled down to a sad, childless human.”

 

On her husband Justin Theroux: “Why is he the right person for me? All I know is that I feel completely seen, and adored, in no matter what state. There’s no part of me that I don’t feel comfortable showing, exposing. And it brings forth the best part of myself, because I care about him so much. And he’s such a good person. It hurts me to think of anything hurting him.”

 

On what’s next for her: “This is a time when I’m not completely sure what I’m doing. I’m at this sort of crossroads trying to figure out what inspires me deep in my core. What used to make me tick is not necessarily making me tick any- more … The most challenging thing right now is trying to find what it is that makes my heart sing.”