Reflecting on the past. Anna Faris opened up about her relationship with Chris Pratt and revealed that she lacked strong female friendships throughout her youth, which affected her adult life.
“I was once told that I didn’t need a tight group of girlfriends because Chris should be my best friend. But I never bought that,” Faris, 40, wrote in an adapted essay from her new book, Unqualified, featured in Cosmopolitan’s October issue. “The idea of your mate being your best friend — it’s overhyped. I really believe that your partner serves one purpose and each friend serves another.”
The House Bunny actress, who split from husband Pratt, 38, in August after eight years of marriage, explained that in her 20s, she prided herself on being a “guys’ girl,” but only later realized how “lame” that seemed.
“Back then, I thought that having the approval of my stoner guy friends was go greater value than having the approval of beautiful blonde sorority girls, so I touted my male friends as if my association with them spoke to how cool I really was,” she continued. “I was selling my own gender down the river and I wasn’t even getting any fulfillment from the relationships with those dudes. The truth of why I didn’t have girlfriends probably had nothing to do with my being a guys’ girl and everything to do with the fact that I was angry and jealous and unduly proud of the guys I was hanging out with.”
As previously reported, the Mom star and the Parks and Recreation alum shocked fans when they announced their decision to legally separate last month. “We tried really hard for a long time and we’re really disappointed,” the amicable exes wrote in a joint statement shared via Facebook and Instagram. “Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep the situation as private as possible moving forward. We still love each other and will always cherish our time together.”
In an excerpt from her book, Faris thanked friends who have helped her through the high-profile breakup. “Today, I’m lucky to have a handful of women I count on as confidantes,” she explained. “Among them, Allison Janney, my costar on Mom, Meghan, a friend from my hometown of Edmonds, Washington, and Kate, a dear childhood friend who I probably have nothing in common with anymore — at least from an outsider’s perspective — but who totally gets me because … history.”
Janney, 57, recently opened up about how Faris is coping with the split. “She’s fantastic. She’s a professional,” The Girl on the Train actress, 57, told Us Weekly exclusively in August. “It’s hard to do but she’s coming to work with a smile on her face and knows her lines and is as professional as ever. Everyone there loves and supports her and we’re just surrounding her with love. She’s getting her work done. She’s great.”
