Enjoying his privacy. Justin Theroux is sharing how he feels about dating in the public eye after his 2018 split from Jennifer Aniston.
During a joint Esquire interview with Woody Harrelson published on Monday, May 1, the Girl on the Train actor, 51, was asked about his experience with social media users speculating about his personal life.
“There’s something to, once you’re out of that, where I want all of my relationships to exist within the four walls of whatever room we’re in,” Theroux explained while promoting his new HBO series, White House Plumbers. “And I’m not trying to be evasive, but I talk to Jen — I don’t talk about Jen. People will always want to gossip and say things, but you have to find that balance.”
Despite maintaining a close bond with the Friends alum since their split, Theroux admitted that he doesn’t miss being part of a Hollywood It couple.
“Having been in a public relationship, it’s much more fun not being in a public relationship,” he told Esquire. “Me saying anything, even if it was something loving, it would just turn into a thing. So, it’s a classic no-comment situation for me.”
The Leftovers alum and Aniston, 54, exchanged vows in August 2015 after four years of dating. Three years later, they announced that they were calling it quits. In a statement to Us Weekly at the time, the duo noted that they were “two best friends who have decided to part ways as a couple” and were planning to continue their “cherished friendship.”
During his chat with Harrelson, 61, the Washington D.C. native added of his approach to online trolls: “The Internet is like this really big high school, and why on earth would you walk around it checking every room and broom closet for the bully to kick your ass? I don’t linger.”
Two years prior, Theroux gave the outlet a status report on his dynamic with Aniston post-split.
“We don’t talk every day, but we call each other. We FaceTime. We text,” he said in April 2021. “She makes me laugh very, very hard. She’s a hilarious person. It would be a loss if we weren’t in contact, for me personally. And I’d like to think the same for her.”
The Cake actress, for her part, joked about renovating her ex-husband’s former office during a November 2022 interview with Allure.
“You can imagine he likes things black and dark,” she said of the filmmaker. “I lightened it up, stripped it all. He came over [the other day] and was like, ‘What the f–k did you do?’ I said, ‘I brought the light back in, buddy.’”
After Aniston shared photos from the cover shoot via Instagram, Theroux showed some love in the comments section with an assortment of fist bump and red heart emojis.
The exes were spotted grabbing dinner last month with Jason Bateman and his wife, Amanda Anka. In photos obtained by the Daily Mail, Aniston and Theroux embraced before the group meal and the We’re the Millers actress later left the restaurant holding a single red rose.
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Prior to her romance with the Tropic Thunder screenwriter, Aniston was married to Brad Pitt from 2000 to 2005. Theroux, for his part, previously dated costume designer Heidi Bivens from 1997 to 2011.
