Jennifer Aniston moved to tears over question about identity

'At the end of the day you kind of hit walls and think I kind of can't go any further'

(AFP/Getty)

Jennifer Aniston has described how her sense of identity often falters and self-doubt creeps in, in a stirring message about vulnerability.

The Friends actress spoke with candour weeks after publishing an essay emphasising how her identity is not defined by motherhood or fertility. Aniston was responding to a decade of attempts by tabloids to portray her narrative as one overshadowed by relationship breakdowns, writing that she is now "fed-up" over speculation about her womb.

Aniston was speaking at a press conference after being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at Giffoni Film Festival in Italy when a teenager asked if she ever awoke in the morning and felt unsure about who she is.

Wiping away tears from her eyes, she responded: ”There are not enough fingers and toes in this entire room to count how many times that moment has happened to me.

“We're all human beings at the end of the day, whether we are a waitress or a baker or a student or whatever we are, at the end of the day you kind of hit walls and think I kind of can't go any further. Or this is too much. My heart can't take it or the pain is too great, or am I good enough? Will I survive? And you just have to sort of somehow miraculously overcome. You just go, 'I can't, yes I can, yes you can.’” This final sentence prompted applause from the audience.

Aniston stressed how vulnerable even the most apparently self-assured public figures often feel.

She continued: “And also know that your actors, your idols, your icons, whatever you call them, have all had that experience in their lives many, many times.

“There's nothing that separates us from you, because we all started at the same place. We all came out of nowhere. Don't punish yourself if you feel that. Go talk to people and seek help and always find something to inspire you.”