"That's what I hate about a lot of comedies, when you're hitting a line or making it funny"
About this Quote
The intent is craft-level, almost moral. Aniston’s brand of comic acting, honed in a multicam sitcom ecosystem that literally trains you to wait for laughs, depends on making humor look accidental. Her complaint is really about self-consciousness: when an actor “makes it funny,” they’re announcing the machinery. They’re signaling, I know the joke is here, please applaud accordingly. That breaks the spell, and it turns character into delivery system.
The subtext is also about power and taste. “A lot of comedies” implies an industry habit: writing that underlines itself, performances that italicize every punchline, directors who cut for reaction instead of rhythm. Aniston is siding with a more modern, naturalistic comedic grammar, closer to embarrassment, microexpression, and subtextual tension than to setup-punchline fireworks.
It’s an actor’s note disguised as a gripe: trust the situation, trust the audience, and stop mugging for permission to be funny. The best laughs, she’s suggesting, happen when nobody appears to be trying.
Quote Details
| Topic | Funny |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Aniston, Jennifer. (2026, January 17). That's what I hate about a lot of comedies, when you're hitting a line or making it funny. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-what-i-hate-about-a-lot-of-comedies-when-68987/
Chicago Style
Aniston, Jennifer. "That's what I hate about a lot of comedies, when you're hitting a line or making it funny." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-what-i-hate-about-a-lot-of-comedies-when-68987/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"That's what I hate about a lot of comedies, when you're hitting a line or making it funny." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-what-i-hate-about-a-lot-of-comedies-when-68987/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.




