For an American sweetheart who has it all â€" looks, talent, fame, fortune â€"Jennifer Aniston has not been lucky in love, so her engagement to actor Justin Theroux could be what her fans have long wanted for her: A happy ending.
AP
Jennifer Aniston announced her engagement to screenwriter and actor Justin Theroux over the weekend.
Or that's the hope.
"She's a very popular girl, not just among her fans but in Hollywood," says PR veteran Howard Bragman, vice chair of Reputation.com. "She's had her share of missteps relationship-wise, as have we all. Justin is a really talented guy, and people don't know what a big deal he is in Hollywood as a screenwriter (as well as actor). I think this is going to be great for both of them."
So can this relationship last? That's an unknowable question â€" after all, everyone once thought her "perfect couple" marriage to Brad Pitt would last and it ended, badly, in 2005.
Aniston, 43, and Theroux, 41, both of whom were in Wanderlust, released earlier this year, began dating in May 2011. But unlike her previous relationships, Aniston has never directly discussed him in interviews.
"When you get to a certain point in life, you become leery about relationships, you don't rush and I don't think they have. They've spent significant time together, which is good," Bragman says.
Relationship expert Gilda Carle isn't sure whether Aniston has finally found her happy ending, although she applauds Aniston's engagement as "a great sign she's getting on with her life."
But she wonders about the interesting coincidence that Aniston's news would break, via her publicist, over the weekend, when Pitt was allegedly planning to wed the woman he left her for, Angelina Jolie, at their South of France villa surrounded by their six kids.
The wedding didn't happen, despite the big build-up by British tabloids on Friday. "Oh, and you know THEY'RE never wrong," Bragman says, dripping sarcasm. Anyway, Theroux proposed to Aniston on his birthday, which was Friday, according to her publicist, Stephen Huvane.
It's not important, Bragman says, because few people believed the Brangelina wedding rumor anyway and all parties in the Pitt-Aniston-Jolie drama have since moved on. "One of the things about getting over the other relationship is not worrying about what your ex is doing."
It's always a shock to see news of your ex in the media every day, Carle says. "It would be painful for anybody," she says. "The question, for her, is whether she's truly and really dedicated to this marriage to be, or whether she's settling for the best she can find in her life?"
But Theroux, a native of Washington, D.C., and a nephew of acclaimed travel writer Paul Theroux, seems like a stand-up guy, not second best. Aniston's other relationships post-Pitt were mostly with actors or musicians; Theroux is a writer. Carle thinks that may give him more depth "than some actor who's looking to become more famous."
But, naturally, he will become better known through her.
"I think it's going to do amazing things for his career," Bragman says. Hers, too.
"The movie they were in wasn't the most brilliant movie of all time but it showed her comedic chops," he says. "If he can bring that out in her, it's a hard balance to be both beautiful and funny at the same time, and she's doing it as well as anyone right now."
But can Theroux handle perhaps one day being known as Mr. Aniston? What happens if work dries up for him but she continues to be successful? What happens if he becomes more successful than she?
"In Hollywood you're dealing with egos that are running wild," says Carle. "Right now, they're handling everything, but life doesn't stay static. It's ups and downs that really test us."
Contributing: Cindy Clark
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