Anna Faris has shared an excerpt from her new book, “Unqualified,” and considering her recent separation from Chris Pratt, it’s very timely. In the sneak peek — first shared with Cosmopolitan — the actress talks about her evolving understanding of friendship, especially with other women.
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“In my 20s, I thought it was cool to say I was a guys’ girl,” she says, “bragging as though having a lot of girlfriends was a bad thing.”
She’s come to regret it, writing that “I was selling my own gender down the river, and I wasn’t even getting any fulfillment from the relationships with those dudes.”
Some self-awareness has come with age. She credits some resistance to female friendship with bullying incidents she experienced as a teenager. But even as she opened up to the idea of female friendships, she had to confront another beast — Hollywood!
“It takes vulnerability of spirit to open yourself up to other women in a way that isn’t competitive, and that’s especially hard in Hollywood, where competition is built into almost every interaction,” she confessed.
And she closes with some truly valuable advice: warning the reader not to confuse your partner with your best friend.
“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. 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.”
“Unqualified” will be released on October 24.
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