Jennifer Aniston on Filming Murder Mystery 2 in Paris with War in Ukraine Just a 'Stone's Throw Away'

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Jennifer Aniston is explaining why filming her upcoming movie Murder Mystery 2 was "challenging."

In an interview featured in this week's issue of PEOPLE, the Emmy winner, 53, opens up about making the sequel to her 2019 Netflix comedy with costar Adam Sandler in Paris amid the war in Ukraine.

"It was three months away from home. And that was challenging, only because I hadn't been away from my dogs since the [beginning of the] pandemic," the Friends alum explained. "Also, Ukraine was a stone's throw away."

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Aniston shared that she felt "so useless" making a comedy after Russian president Vladimir Putin launched his invasion into Ukraine in February but soon remembered the importance of laughter in people's lives.

"I reminded myself that this is what people need. People want to laugh. People need comedies. People like to not think for a minute," she said.

The Morning Show star admitted that she no longer puts "so much pressure" on herself after going through the pandemic.

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"What the last couple of years has taught us all is that you can't sweat the small stuff, grateful for every single day," she shared. "It was good to slow down and be able to say, 'I'm going to take two months and digest what I just did and think about what's going to be next.'"

Aniston — who is the chief creative officer of collagen brand Vital Proteins — revealed how her selection process for new projects has changed.

"It's also about 'What will I enjoy doing?' Because there've been enough jobs that I've done that I didn't enjoy myself," she said. "There have been some movies I've done where I just felt like, 'Ugh, I just ate a Big Mac for breakfast, lunch and dinner.'"

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"It's about how I want to spend my time and who I want to spend it with," she added.

For all the details on how Jennifer Aniston is embracing joy and laughter, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.