It was one of those only-in-Washington moments: the A-list television and movie star, in this case Jennifer Aniston, doesn’t get top billing. Instead her job is to introduce Jill Biden. That was how Monday night played out as Lifetime and a slew of stars hosted its Washington screening of “The Five,” an anthology of five short films that revolve around breast cancer.
Aniston, who directed one of the five segments and served as an executive producer for the entire project, arrived and briefly walked the blue carpet, signaling to the mass of reporters gathered that, nope, she would not be answering questions. She did speak briefly once inside the theater.
“You all thought you came to see a film tonight, [but] actually this is a ploy to trap you and talk about breast cancer all night,” she laughed, standing at the podium next to executive producer Kristin Hahn, who also spoke.
“And now, I hope that was kind of brief, I’d like to introduce the second lady of the United States and a longtime advocate for early detection and prevention, Dr. Jill Biden,” she said, shuffling off the stage so Biden could come on.
That was as much Aniston as Washington got.
Several of the actresses involved with the project did chat with the masses. Jeanne Tripplehorn applauded Aniston as a director. “I was so envious because she didn’t have to go through hair and make-up, she didn’t have to worry about being in front of a camera, she’s a real natural, she could make this a career,” Tripplehorn told Yeas & Nays.
Patricia Clarkson joked around. “I’m a little worried, I hope they laugh, because my piece is funny,” Clarkson said when asked about having the movie screened in front of a Washington audience that included the likes of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and others. “I hope this stirs their passions and we keep the funding and the research and the grants, we need all those things, we need everything bubbling right now,” Clarkson continued. “I think with Dr. Biden hosting tonight it just put, it was a beautiful stamp of approval for all of us to be here, we couldn’t have a better host.”
