Jennifer Aniston opens up on 'lack of human connection' while filming during pandemic

Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston has opened up about filming the second season of The Morning Show during the pandemic.

While chatting with Vital Proteins, the latest brand she endorsed, the Friends actor revealed the challenges that arose with the filming being done in the middle of a pandemic.

“That was a challenge, to say the least. It was very hard. We were all a bit nervous to be going out there, even though we had an incredible epidemiology team to educate all of us on how this is going to work, how this is going to look, and testing and the protocols,” she shared.

“And it was challenging, because as artists and creatives, it's all about human connection. And we were in masks while we were rehearsing, and then these shields, and I didn't see my crew members' faces, and we couldn't say good morning with a hug,” said Aniston.

“We couldn't say goodbye with a hug. We're all a very loving, tactile group of people, and it was strange,” she went on to say.

“You'd get the [COVID-positive] false alarms. … It'd have to shut down for an hour to find out who, and you contact trace, and all this stuff. When we shut down [production in March 2020], we'd shot almost two episodes,” she said.

“Then basically, the whole season had to be reimagined incorporating COVID into it, because it turns out our show is topical,” she added.

“A very similar thing happened for our first season, because we had, I think, about five or eight outlines of the first season, and then #MeToo happened. So we had to go back to the drawing board.”

“Season 1 was about abuse of power and sexism, ageism, and all of that stuff, and the sort of toxic environment that happens in the world of these shows, but #MeToo was such a huge piece [of that]. It's like, "How do we not incorporate that?" So the same thing happened with Season 2. It took a lot longer than expected, and I hope it was worth the wait,” she said.