Since she starred in FRIENDS, Jennifer Aniston has gone on to become one of the most successful and most-loved actresses to date. While she is seen as having good looks, charm, and a sense of humor that explains her sitcom and comedy film success, no one can deny how talented she is.

Despite her talent, there is one thing that has held Jennifer back over the years, and it got to the point where it could have prevented her from getting work. In fact, this phobia was (and potentially still is) so bad that had she given in to that fear, she never would have got her Golden Globe nomination for her work in the film Cake.

Jennifer Aniston Struggled With Her Cake Role

Acting can be a difficult job for even the most seasoned of actors. Having to constantly prepare for various roles, go to auditions, deal with rejections, do research into the role they're going to be playing, and try to memorize lines can all get a little too much for some.

Another issue that many actors can face is that they might end up getting a role or being put up for a role that they really want to do, however, this role might involve them having to do something that they are scared of.

This was the case for Jennifer.

She revealed during a special screening of the film that the role that she played in Cake was one that she had been wanting to do for quite a while. This may or may not come as quite a surprise for some because Jennifer is known for her comedic roles, whereas her role in this film was more of a serious part.

It involved Jennifer taking on the role of Claire Bennett, a woman who is suffering from chronic pain and prescription painkiller addiction after she was involved in an accident.

She revealed that part of the issue of her wanting to do a role like this was that it took her until she got this role for someone to be willing to take the risk of trusting her with it.

Jennifer said she always knew she could take on a role like this, but that many casting directors weren't sure if she was right for the role.

But even with a successful actress such as Jennifer at the helm, this film didn't go as well as many hoped as it was one of her films that was considered a box office failure.

Jennifer Has A Fear Of Water

Not only was it hard for her to get the role in the first place, but those who have watched the film will know that it involves some scenes of Jennifer being in the water. While this might not be an issue for some, with Jennifer having aquaphobia (also known as a fear of water), this provided yet another struggle for her.

At the screening, she revealed that when she was a child she was riding a tricycle around a swimming pool and accidentally ended up riding the tricycle into the pool. She said that she never let go of the tricycle and her brother had to get into the pool to help her get out.

It was this experience that gave Jennifer her fear of water. Given that her character in the film has been prescribed water therapy to help her with her chronic pain, this caused quite the issue during filming as despite it being a role that she had longed for, her phobia made the filming process quite difficult.

She revealed that getting underwater for her is an extremely difficult task and that not many people actually believe her about it. One pool scene took her around 30 takes in order to get right. Yet not only does it show her dedication to her craft despite her phobia, but it also demonstrated how genuinely fearful she is of the water to the rest of the cast and crew.

Even though filming water scenes was clearly a struggle for her, at least she was able to somewhat overcome this fear and try and push through it as best as she could to get the scenes filmed.

Did Jennifer Finally Overcome Her Fear Of Water?

Given that she has had this fear of water since she was a child but was able to film those pool scenes in Cake (even if they did take her quite a few takes to get right), this may lead many to question whether it was this film that enabled her to overcome her fear of water.

It's currently unknown whether this film actually helped Jennifer with her aquaphobia or not. It was only during the screening of this film that Jennifer revealed her phobia for the first time, and she doesn't appear to have spoken about it since.

One thing about her that is known is that despite some people potentially using swimming as a part of their workout routine, this isn't part of her supposed 'straightforward' workout routine that she shared with her followers; Jennifer prefers to do exercises that only involve being on land as opposed to being in any form of water.