Jennifer Aniston says she wasn't the 'model child' her mother wanted

close

Video

Aniston reveals struggle

Jen Aniston reveals she has dyslexia

Jennifer Aniston says her role as a pageant mom in her new Netflix movie "Dumplin'" is reminiscent of her own relationship with her late mother, Nancy Dow.

"One of the reasons I really loved the mother-daughter aspect of it was because it was very similar in a way to what my mother, and our relationship, was," Aniston, 49, told The Sunday Telegraph (via People).

JENNIFER ANISTON SLAMS RUMORS SHE CAN'T KEEP A MAN, MEDIA MISCONCEPTIONS AND HOLLYWOOD SEXISM

"She was a model and she was all about presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like. I did not come out the model child she'd hoped for and it was something that really resonated with me, this little girl just wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved by a mom who was too occupied with things that didn't quite matter."

Dow passed away in 2016 at age 79.

Aniston and Dow had been estranged for years but reconciled shortly before Dow's passing.

The "Friends" star told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, "She was critical. She was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning. I wasn't. I never was. I honestly still don't think of myself in that sort of light, which is fine."

She admitted that they'd gone years without speaking and also claimed that Dow "had a temper" and was "very unforgiving ... she would hold grudges that I just found so petty."

JENNIFER ANISTON SAYS SHE COULDN'T STYLE 'THE RACHEL' HAIRCUT HER FRIENDS CHARACTER WORE

Still, Aniston is focusing on the positive message behind "Dumplin'."

"This movie is so special because it is about stripping away those preconceived notions of beauty, trying to become individuals and not feeling that we have to live up to some unrealistic ideal that society is feeding up to us," the preternaturally ageless star explained.

"My idea of beauty is, is what makes you feel beautiful and what makes me feel beautiful is the people around me, the life that I have. And maybe a good hair day."