Today, Glamour released the global September cover reintroducing the women of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show – Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Karen Pittman, Marion Cotillard and Nicole Behari. The group shares personal stories and talks about sisterhood, the media landscape, female representation, and more. More inside…
Jennifer Aniston
In regard to The Morning Show, what lessons have you learned about yourself during these past seven years?
Aniston: That I absolutely love producing and being that involved from the ground up in creating something that’s really high quality. [I’ve learned] that women are beyond capable to make great television and produce a show with elegance and grace and kindness to one another. And we trust one another. When one of us has to work and put ourselves in front of the camera, you trust the others are going to pick up the ball and take care of the other end of it. I’ve also learned that there are places I can go in my creative self that I probably didn’t know that I could, that have allowed me that challenge to push my limits.
Would you want The Morning Show to continue for more seasons? I know it’s a grind.
Aniston: Every year since I finished the first season, I was like, Well, that’s it—I”m dead. That just killed me. And then you forget. I kind of compare it to what childbirth must be like when my friends are like, “You just kind of forget what it was, and then next thing you know you’re knocked up again.” And having that same agony of pushing that watermelon out of a tiny little pinhole and then you just get to do it again. So I do feel there’s something extraordinary about finishing a season and not saying those words of, “I’m done.” And just knowing that you’ve got to decompress and walk away from it for a while, and in my case, go do a comedy as fast as possible.
Found family and sisterhood is something we celebrate a lot at Glamour. And when talking to Marion Cotillard about her upcoming 50th birthday, she referenced you as someone who has empowered her about this new decade, noting, “I think about all these women that I admire and who have evolved and aged so gracefully…because you have no choice but to accept this.”
Aniston: That means so much to me. We didn’t have that [those kind of role models growing up]. And I think as far as aging gracefully, I have an eternal fountain of optimism and positivity. Call it youth if you want. But I think it all starts with how we love our bodies and love where we are. I’m not going to say I don’t get the facials and the lasers and all that good stuff. I mean, I’m maintained. I’m not going to just go down and let these gray hairs take over. So its perspective, and also knowing that this is our one body. It’s a mindset. So it means a lot to me to hear that from Marion, who I think is a walking beam of sunshine and love and beauty and talent
Reese Witherspoon
Things are always changing in the entertainment industry. How do you not burn out?
Witherspoon: I’m a very hard worker, and I like to change and adapt to new structures and new environments. I’m always looking forward to how media is evolving and how I can help be part of bringing women along in those emerging industries. And now we’re doing it with AI. It’s so, so important that women are involved in AI…because it will be the future of filmmaking. And you can be sad and lament it all you want, but the change is here. It will never be a lack of creativity and ingenuity and actual physical manual building of things. It might diminish, but it’s always going to be the highest importance in art and in expression of self.
How do you use AI?
Witherspoon: I use AI everyday. I use search tools, like Perplexity, every day. I use Vetted AI. Like, if you’re buying a blender, it’ll show you six different blenders and also recommend the best product. I use AI Assistant. Simple AI is an AI assistant that can be really helpful for anyone out there who doesn’t want to have to make a doctor’s appointment because you don’t want to sit on hold or deal with the problems of navigating hospital systems. It’s an incredible tool to save time.
When it’s so easy to use AI to do things, how do you still show up for your friends in a way that feels very real and present?
Witherspoon: Friendships are hard. I read a lot about third spaces, so not where you work, not where you live, but somewhere you go to have community, whether that’s a dance class, a bookstore, or a creative class. That’s a huge part of my life. At our office, we have creative classes like cooking or mah-jongg or Enneagram classes. I find that people need that third space to make friends. And I think that’s going to be a big important part of social development and community development over the years.
And then for my own friends, I check in [a lot]. I FaceTime my friends probably every day or every other day. Along with exercise, I have to talk to my friends 30 minutes a day. I’m either squeezing it in between other things or it’s part of my morning. After I do school drop-off, I call a friend or I call my mom.
You’re asked to do so much, to show up for so many people and causes and events, and you just can’t do it all. How do you say no without feeling guilty?
Witherspoon: Mom guilt is very real. I just want to acknowledge that. I have it all the time. Whenever I’m working, I feel like I should be doing something for one of my kids. I feel like I’m constantly balancing work priorities and my kids, and I do think it’s a dance, but I will say my mother created a beautiful example for me. She was a nurse, and her job was important to her. And she didn’t feel bad about going to work. She felt empowered. She had purpose in her life. And her work was important. I mean, she was saving people’s lives.
Karen Pittman
Your character on The Morning Show, Mia, learns to choose herself this season. How did you relate to her storyline?
Pittman: When we start seeing her in season four, she’s in that place of, “I have to transition into something different,” with her hand out, and it gets slapped away, and she decides that she’s no longer going to wait for someone to link arms with her and that she’s going to be a soldier of one. Who knew during that period that we were filming that we were going to be in the place where we are [now]? It does feel very much like we are individuals in our particular war against feminism in this particular time. So it’s interesting to portray a character who isn’t just running up against the system that exists at UBN, but she also is running up against other women.
How has The Morning Show changed your life, both personally and professionally?
Pittman: You look around and see these people you’ve built relationships with, not just on camera, but off. We went through the pandemic together as a group. For me personally, I’ve learned so much about what it takes to be in a group of actors and be truly vulnerable, to trust them every step of the way as you create a character. I’ve learned what it means to assert myself in the midst of an ensemble, to step forward.
[Professionally], it’s made me more artistically inclined, watching Jen and Reese develop stories of their own on other networks and with other production companies. You just have to have the courage and the motivation and the confidence to do it, because if they can do it, you can do it. The little trick that no one tells you is that you don’t have to be a special person to be successful. You just have to work hard and have a good strategy.
How has being on this show changed your view of the media?
Pittman: I was reading this article that Megyn Kelly did in The New York Times where she was talking about her own journey as a journalist and how once she got to a certain level, it was important for people to know what she thought and what her own perspective on the stories were that she was telling, which is why she decided to endorse our now president Trump. I’ve seen that shift happen over the last seven years while I’ve been on The Morning Show. [Years ago], you did not hear what a journalist actually believed, and you didn’t hear it in the tone that they were presenting. Journalistic integrity was that they did not insert themselves and their own personal thoughts and ideas about the news they were providing to their audience.
I’m not a fan of Megyn Kelly, but I thought she was very insightful in that she said there’s such a thin line now between TV news personalities and the actual news. She decided that it was part of her “brand” to present the news and her thoughts behind it. I don’t know if I agree with her personally about her thoughts, but I do recognize that the news industry has changed significantly. There’s more personality and persona in the news that we get now, more than ever. I think The Morning Show has shifted so that we do see that in the characters that we present.
Marion Cotillard
You’re about to turn 50. Do you make any sort of resolutions or set goals going into this new decade?
Cotillard: When I turned 40, I really didn’t care. But this one is a big number. I don’t have any kind of resolution [because] I think it’s a process that is continuously evolving with me and my experiences as a woman in this world. I’m very lucky to have a really beautiful life, beautiful kids, beautiful relationships, and healthy people around me. We support each other through joy and pain, and that’s the most important thing to me.
A lot of my friends are turning 50 this year, so we’re supporting each other in this. I’m also inspired by women over 50. I think Jen Aniston is such an inspiring woman, and it makes me feel good about entering this new decade. When it’s kind of scary sometimes, I think about all these women that I admire and who have evolved and aged so gracefully, accepting what [it means to age], because you have no choice but to accept this. I’m not trying to fight against it because it’s useless. It’ll never get you anywhere.
What does aging gracefully mean to you?
Cotillard: I think it’s being connected to yourself. I didn’t know myself when I was 30, even 40, and it’s not about a physical thing at all. I think it’s really freeing yourself from your own prison, living with yourself without judging yourself too much because it doesn’t lead you anywhere. Questioning yourself is important, which I do constantly. Sometimes allowing myself not to question too much also is part of this process of accepting everything that I have and that I am. It allows me to connect to people more and to not judge myself too harshly and not judge other people because you never know what they go through. It also allows me to have a more open mind and heart.
So I think that’s it: aging gracefully is not judging yourself or others too much. It’s freeing yourself from the judgments. I think when you manage to free yourself of the traumas, to free what keeps you from doing things, that’s what aging gracefully is.
How do you think people view aging differently in the United States versus in Europe?
Cotillard: I don’t think it’s about the country or the culture. It depends on what industry you work in. And the cinema industry is very hard on women physically. But I always remind myself that even if we live in a very violent world, we still have the freedom that other countries don’t have. We still have a long way to go, especially as women, to accept this phase in our life. The good thing is there are more and more female directors, and that opens more and more roles for all generations. I will never judge anyone who tries to stay young. I don’t think we should judge a woman who does things not to look her age. I don’t care. If she feels good about it, let her be. And we’re lucky today to have the opportunity to tell stories of women at any age, because a woman at any age is so interesting and has so much to say.
Nicole Beharie
You joined The Morning Show in season three, and not only is it a new experience for you, but you’re working alongside people like Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. What advice, if any, have you sought from your costars?
Beharie: I’ve asked questions about legal matters. And while we were at the photo shoot, I was asking Jen about supplements and doctors and things like that. We don’t have a lot of time to talk about that on set, but seeing people take care of themselves and look amazing [is important to me]. We all look the same age, so I want to know what someone’s doing. I also want to know what they’re producing, what scripts they’re reading. Reese and Jen have all those balls in the air with their production companies, and there’s a lot to learn there.
Plus, the way they create the tone for the set…if you’ve got an idea, they let you try something, and that doesn’t always happen in something as large as this. Jen and Reese want women to thrive and live.
What’s in store for your character, Chris, this season that excited you or challenged you?
Beharie: I have a big place in my heart for working moms, and Chris’s journey is very much about what parenthood means in a professional space, and the sacrifices that may come with it. And I think that in this environment that we’re living in politically, having discussions around what women have to go through to navigate these spaces is definitely worth discussing—like what you have to hide, how you present yourself, or how much time your children and spouse get or don’t get.
Chris is trying to figure that out in real time, out loud. And even for people who aren’t mothers, I think there will be a connection with this because it’s just a part of our rights as women.
We talk a lot at Glamour about sisterhood and found family. What are the ways you show up for your own friends?
Beharie: I still write letters to my friends, because we don’t get anything in the mail anymore that’s not a bill or spam. I send random flowers to check in on people because I’m an East Coast girly shooting in LA. I’m like the Instacart queen too. I’ll Instacart something to someone’s house if someone’s not feeling well. And then when I’m nearby, I pop in when I know I can. This is the Southern, West Indian side of me. That’s how I was raised. My friends will always be like, “What? No, I look terrible,” and then they’ll open the door and we’ll have the best day. That’s how we show up as sisters.
STORY LINK: https://www.glamour.com/story/the-morning-show-september-cover
ARTICLE ASSETS: LINK
CREDITS:
Photographer: Charlotte Hadden @charlottehadden
Sittings Editor/Global Fashion Director: Tchesmeni Leonard @tchesmeni
Stylist (Witherspoon): Petra Flannery @petraflannery
Stylist (Aniston): Ryan Hastings
Stylist (Beharie): Wayman + Micah @waymanandmicah
Stylist (Pittman & Cotillard ): Deborah Afshani @deborahafshani
Hair (RW): Lona Vigi @lonavigi
Makeup (RW): Tracey Levy @muatraceylevy
Hair (JA): Chris McMillan @mrchrismcmillan
Makeup (JA): Angela Levin @angelalevinmakeup
Hair (NB): Nena Melendez @ladysoulfly
Makeup (NB): Alana Palau @alanapalaumakeup
Hair (MC): Adir Abergel @hairbyadir
Makeup (MC): Kate Lee @kateleemakeup
Hair (KP): Marcia Hamilton @marciahamiltonhair
Makeup (KP): Sean Harris @seanharrismakeup
Nails (MC): Miwa Kobayashi @miwanails
Nails (KP): Yoko Sakakura @nails_by_yoko
Set Design: Bette Adams @betteradams
Producer: Anthony Federici/Petty Cash @petty_cash_production
