Jennifer Aniston Recalls Being Shut Down When She Wanted to Produce Projects After ‘Friends’: “I Got That Look of ‘How Cute You Are’”

Elle celebrated some of this year’s leading ladies at its annual Women in Hollywood event on Monday, with Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, Rose Byrne, Teyana Taylor, Jessie Buckley, Chase Infiniti, Renate Reinsve and Sinners‘ Hailee Steinfeld, Jayme Lawson and Wunmi Mosaku all being feted.

Among a sea of star-studded speeches and presenters, one of the biggest moments of the night came as Adam Sandler stopped by to present to Aniston, recalling how he’s “been friends with this spectacular genius since I was 22 years old — a young, handsome, skinny boy.”

“I can honestly say Jen is the best in so many ways and one of the most rock-steady human beings I’ve met. I’ve only seen her angry like two and a half times in the 40 years I’ve hung out with her,” he continued, while also giving a shoutout to Aniston’s new boyfriend Jim Curtis, who sat beside the star. “Me and Jackie are so happy that you and Jim found each other and are having the love affair you two deserve. We love you, Jim, the whole world loves you Jim,” Sandler said to laughs from the crowd.

Aniston took the stage and noted how much has changed since she was last honored by Elle in 2011, with “how many incredible women have just kicked the door down, seriously kicked the door down. You’ve been creating, you’ve been directing, you’ve been leading, you’ve been producing, you’ve been starring, you’ve been making human beings, which is unbelievable, and making it look so easy, which we all know it is not easy.”

She went on to recall that she first said she wanted to produce in 2004, the same year that Friends ended, and “the room got really, really quiet and I got that look of ‘how cute you are’ and sort of a pat on the head and the air bubble above the head that says, ‘OK let’s just wait a second, let’s put a pin in this for now.’” Aniston added that slowly the industry began to change and “I got to produce my first movie and I can confirm, I love it. And I’m really good at it.”

Now executive producing The Morning Show, Aniston also mused that she continues to show up for “the friendships and the shared belief that storytelling still matters, that baring our souls as actors and creators still matters — something that A.I. will never be able to duplicate, no matter how smart it gets.”

Elsewhere in the event, Dwayne Johnson presented to his Smashing Machine co-star Blunt, Kerry Washington to Taylor, Chloe Zhao to her Hamnet star Buckley, Regina Hall to Infiniti and Sebastian Stan to Reinsve.

Melissa McCarthy was on hand to honor Byrne, as she declared that for 25 years, the If I Had Legs I’d Kick You star “has defied anyone to put limits on her talent. And now if there’s any justice in the world, she’ll find herself in the one role she was always meant to play, which is an Oscar nominee.”

McCarthy looked back at when they worked together on Bridesmaids and admitted she wasn’t sure Byrne would be funny after a career of dramatic work. The cast went to a male strip club together on a “research trip” for film and “at the end we all thought it would be funny to keep buying dances for other people and none of us wanted those dances, respectfully. I just remember Rose and I thought, ‘She’s going to be just great in this;’ she was on a chair with a very oily man dancing over her and she just looked at me and she’s like, ‘I’m worried he’s going to ruin my blouse’ because he was so oily.”

Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler were also on hand to present to Sinners actresses Steinfeld, Lawson and Mosaku (though Steinfeld missed the event due to illness).

In their speech, Lawson acknowledged, “Every woman in this room knows what it feels like to crave as an artist but often times not feel full. So not only did Ryan fill our appetite, but he also gifted us each other, my sisters. When you find your sisters in this industry, you hold on tight for dear life and you do not dare let them go.”