Shirley MacLaine Heralds Jennifer Aniston as 2005 Heroine  12/19/05

Shirley MacLaine has hailed Jennifer Aniston the heroine of 2005 because of the younger actress' brave and admirable behavior during her very public divorce from Brad Pitt (OCT05).

The Terms of Endearment star worked with Aniston on new movie Rumor Has It during the disintegration of her marriage, and she credits the former Friends star with enduring the difficult period exuding grace and professionalism.

She says, "She has come through what must be one of the most painful and difficult requirements of any human being, much less a young person - to live their life in a spotlight like this is so painful and to have to work and do three pictures a year.

"I'm really proud of her for the way she is handling this. She has been trampled in public, but her emotional discipline is extraordinary and I really want to compliment her for that."

Maclaine is also impressed by her pal's determination to show the world she's keen to move on, without judging or passing blame for her relationship failure.

She adds, "She's teaching everybody a real lesson, stating, 'Where is my role in this? How have I contributed to this?' She's in a very spiritual place, instead of blaming - and that's a huge step and really hard."