Jennifer Aniston reveals: ‘The hardest day of my life’

JENNIFER Aniston has spoken about “the hardest day” of her life, facing one of her biggest fears, all while in character and on camera.

IT’S her movie role the critics are already raving about, but Jennifer Aniston says filming one scene in particular for Cake was terrifying.

The 45-year-old actress plays a woman battling chronic pain in the upcoming drama. Her character, Claire Bennett, undergoes physical therapy while immersed in water.

“I basically have a real fear of going underwater,” Aniston, revealed on Tuesday night at a special screening of Cake in Los Angeles.

“As a kid, I drove my tricycle into the pool and [now] I can’t go underwater,” she said.

“To get the one shot of me going under with the weights, I think we did that 30 times,” said the star, adding, “It was the hardest day of my life.”

Jennifer Aniston shows off her prosthetic scars on set of Cake in Eagle Rock, CA.

Aniston has already scored Golden Globe and SAG award nominations for her role in Cake. She also won Performance of the Year — Actress at the PEOPLE Magazine Awards in December.

“It wasn’t a romantic comedy, it wasn’t,” she said of the challenging role. “It was honestly the first time for me to be able to do a true study of a character. Even though in my movies I’ve played women in different situations, this was a real physical challenge and an emotional challenge ... I’ve been dying to do for years.”

Jen Aniston and Sam Worthington film a restaurant scene for Cake in Los Angeles, CA.

Originally published as Jennifer Aniston reveals: ‘The hardest day of my life’