Despite living in a million-dollar mansion in Hollywood, Jennifer Aniston still maintains an old habit from her days in a rented apartment… And when the reason is revealed, people understand why she remains grateful despite being a star

Even in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Hollywood, Jennifer Aniston still holds on to one small, battered object from her past — and the reason why is a beautiful reminder of who she is at heart.

Tucked inside the sleek, sunlit bedroom of her Los Angeles estate — complete with plush linens, floor-to-ceiling windows, and elegant modern decor — there’s one item that feels completely out of place. On her nightstand, beside a curated stack of books and a minimalist lamp, sits an old, worn-out battery-powered alarm clock. It’s clunky, scratched, and looks like it belongs in a dorm room from the 1980s. Yet Jennifer refuses to part with it.

In a recent interview, she smiled as she reached over and tapped the clock gently.
“This little thing?” she said. “It’s ugly, it’s loud, and sometimes it doesn’t even keep time perfectly. But I’ve had it since my first apartment — back when I was just trying to figure things out.”

Long before red carpets and magazine covers, before Friends turned her into a global icon, Jennifer Aniston was just another aspiring actress struggling to make rent in New York and later Los Angeles. She took odd jobs — waitressing, telemarketing — and shared cramped apartments with roommates who came and went. The alarm clock was one of the first things she bought for herself when she finally had her own space. Back then, it cost her less than $15.

“It used to sit on a tiny bedside table that was actually just a box turned sideways,” she laughed. “I’d wake up to that awful buzzing sound at 5 a.m., get dressed in the dark, and head off to auditions I knew I probably wouldn’t get. But I always set that alarm the night before, because I believed—somewhere deep down—that things could change.”

And they did.

Jennifer’s breakout role as Rachel Green on Friends catapulted her into stardom. Her life shifted overnight — from struggling actress to America’s sweetheart. Awards followed, scripts flooded in, and the modest apartments were replaced by a sprawling estate in the hills. But through it all, the alarm clock stayed.

“I’ve had so many things come and go. Clothes, houses, people,” she said quietly. “But this little clock reminds me that gratitude should never go out of style. No matter how big your life gets.”

She’s been offered high-tech alternatives — smart clocks, voice-controlled devices, even custom-designed pieces from luxury brands. But Jennifer always politely declines. To her, it’s not about the time it tells. It’s about the time it holds.

“When I hear that awful buzz in the morning, it’s like a voice from my past saying, ‘Don’t forget where you came from.’ And that’s grounding in a world that doesn’t always feel real,” she explained.

In a culture that often prizes reinvention over remembrance, Jennifer’s quiet loyalty to that battered clock is a rare kind of rebellion. It speaks to something deeper than nostalgia. It’s about anchoring oneself — holding tight to the unpolished beginnings even when everything around you has become glossy.

And maybe that’s part of why people love her.

Despite decades in the spotlight, she’s never seemed untouchable. There’s a part of Jennifer that still feels like the girl next door — the one who burns toast, laughs too loudly, and still gets teary-eyed remembering the tiny wins that kept her going.

“Some mornings, I look at that clock and I’m instantly 22 again,” she said. “Scared, hopeful, hungry — in every sense of the word. And weirdly, that’s comforting.”

For Jennifer, it’s not about living in the past. It’s about never forgetting the girl who dreamed her way into the future. The girl who bought a cheap alarm clock, set it beside a cardboard box, and believed she could make it.

And she did.

Not because of luck. Not even because of talent alone. But because she kept showing up — alarm after alarm — long before the world started clapping.