Jennifer Aniston: ‘I Used To Care A Hell Of A Lot More About What People Said’

First Published: October 12, 2007 4:18 PM EDT Credit: AP

Caption Jennifer Aniston smiles for the DGA press in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Young stars of Hollywood, listen up! Jennifer Aniston is offering up some words of wisdom.

“Always keep your work first. Hype is second, and don’t let that become part of your reality,” Jen said in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “Just stay real and do your job.”

A stunning and sun-kissed Jennifer graces the cover of the magazine’s 140th anniversary issue (out on newsstands October 23), and inside the pages the former “Friend” gets candid about Hollywood’s attention-seeking stars, life after Brad and the idea of leaving Los Angeles behind for good.

After a self-imposed two-year hiatus from acting, Jen is ready to get return to the spotlight – and she’s not holding anything back.

“Everything is just so dramatic,” she says on the current state of Hollywood. “But you to have to remember that we’re the luckiest people in the world to do what we get to do and get paid for it.”

As far as getting back to work, it looks like Jen will be plenty busy in the months to come. She has a number of projects she is either currently shooting (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) or several coming down the pike, including “Management,” “Gambit” and “Wanted.”

But Jen says she is returning to the Hollywood scene with a newfound strength she developed shortly after her highly publicized split from Brad Pitt.

“I used to care a hell of a lot more about what people said or thought,” she admits. “But that had to change when my life was under a microscope being scrutinized and my personal life was being talked about.”

And while she may be prepared to brave the paparazzi storm, given the choice, she said she’d still prefer to avoid it altogether. And if that’s not possible in Los Angeles, than maybe it’s time for her to relocate.

“I’m just tired of Los Angeles,” Jen added, noting she recently visited New York City and was able to walk the streets unnoticed. “If you can get away from the paparazzi and they don’t know where you are, you can actually walk, walk, walk.”

However, forever the fashionista, she contends she may have made the wrong wardrobe choice for her Gotham City stroll.

“I was wearing flip-flops. And I was like, Jen, not the smartest shoes to wear in New York City,” Jennifer joked.

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