Jennifer Aniston says working on her latest show was like '20 years of therapy'

Jennifer Aniston said playing the role of a famous news anchor on "The Morning Show" was like "20 years of therapy wrapped into 10 episodes."

Aniston, 51, who scored an Emmy nomination for her performance as Alex Levy, told the Los Angeles Times she can relate to the pressure her character felt from dealing with constant public scrutiny.

“There were times when I would read a scene and feel like a whole manhole cover was taken off my back," Aniston said.

In one scene, Aniston's character has a meltdown in a limo on the way to an awards event being held in her honor. While she was acting, Aniston said she can relate to the pressure Levy was feeling on the show.

“There have been moments — not to that level of hysteria — but moments of ‘I don’t want to f---ing go here,’ ‘I don’t want to walk out onto the carpet,’ ‘I don’t want to be seen,’ ‘I don’t want to be looked at and everyone’s going to be talking about me and judging me’ ... that’s real,” Aniston said. “I just loved being able to walk into it and lean into it and not be ashamed of it."

Aniston has been one of the most famous faces on television since 1994 when "Friends" made her into a household name. While fame has its perks, the actress said playing Levy feels "cathartic."

"(It's) also interesting for me to look at how I always have tried to normalize being fine and ‘everything’s great, you know, this is all normal,’ and then there are moments when you have your private breakdown or your ‘Calgon, take me away’ moments,” she said “To actually look at it from an actor brain observing it and acknowledging it, I had to look at it as opposed to pretending it doesn’t exist.”

Aniston won a Screen Actors Guild Award in January for her performance on the show. The series' second season began shooting in March but has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.