Jennifer Aniston Honors Her 55th Trip Around the Sun With Moving Throwback Photos

Jennifer Aniston attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published February 11, 2024

Jennifer Aniston celebrated her 55th birthday with a moving montage featuring a slew of throwback photos.

In a nostalgic post on Instagram, the Friends actress shared a video montage of some of her most heartfelt moments, including childhood photos and present-day snapshots.

The actress captioned the post with a simple word: "Grateful." She then followed it up with the lyrics from the poem "The Layers" by Stanley Kunitz.

"When I look behind, as I am compelled to look before I can gather strength to proceed on my journey, I see the milestones dwindling toward the horizon and the slow fires trailing from the abandoned camp-sites, over which scavenger angels wheel on heavy wings," the poem reads in part.

"Though I lack the art to decipher it, no doubt the next chapter in my book of transformations is already written," the poem concludes, "I am not done with my changes."

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The video is soundtracked with a popular recording of "The Thing About Birthdays" from TikTok creator eviewhy, who can be heard paraphrasing the short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros.

Many of Aniston's famous friends sent her celebratory well wishes and hopes for another fabulous year around the sun in the comment section.

"Awe babes ❤ beautiful," Kate Hudson wrote. "Happy Birthday."

"Happy birthday!" Vanessa Bryant commented.

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"Happy happy birthday! What a beautiful video," Florence Pugh wrote. Have a lovely day x."

"Could not love you more," Gwyneth Paltrow commented. "Happy happy, you gorgeous human being!"

The cast of "Friends" perform during one of their last shows on the Warner Bros lot Sept. 12, 2003.

In a 2023 interview with Vogue, Aniston opened up about getting older and why the common phrase "you look great for your age" is something she simply cannot stand.

"That’s a habit of society that we have these markers like, ‘Well, you’re at that stage, so for your age…' I don’t even understand what it means," the star told the outlet at the time. “I’m in better shape than I was in my 20s. I feel better in mind, body, and spirit. It’s all 100% better.”

Aniston went on to say that she plans on having her “better” years last as long as possible.

“My family lives a long time, especially my dad’s side—I want to be thriving; I don’t want to just be alive."

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Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.