Jennifer Aniston reveals 'deep fear' she overcame for boyfriend Jim Curtis

Jennifer Aniston took a rare public step in her relationship with boyfriend Jim Curtis on Wednesday, interviewing him onstage at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y to mark the release of his new book, The Book of Possibility. 

The event, held September 2, brought the couple's yearlong relationship into a far more visible spotlight than either had shown before.

Aniston opened the evening with warmth and a touch of nostalgia, telling the crowd, "This is very, very exciting. It is quite an honour to be here, especially with you, Jim Curtis," before recalling that she'd actually grown up attending gym class and playing dodgeball in that same building. 

"It's quite a full circle moment to be back here with you, speaking of dodging balls," she joked, teasing Curtis afterward with, "Have I completely embarrassed you?", to which he replied, "A lot."

Midway through the conversation, Curtis turned the tables and began asking Aniston questions of his own. 

When he asked her, "What's one possibility you're choosing today?" she answered candidly: "To overcome a very deep, deep fear of public speaking", a telling admission given she'd chosen to face that fear specifically to support him. 

The moment offered a rare glimpse into the closeness of their relationship and her willingness to push outside her comfort zone for him.

Curtis also opened up about his own history during the talk, describing a period in his 20s when doctors discovered lesions on his spinal cord that led to partial paralysis and chronic nerve damage. 

He framed the experience as something he ultimately worked through via self-acceptance rather than victimhood, telling the audience, "I'm not saying here that if the doctor tells you to do something, you should get up and leave. What I'm saying is you don't have to live as the victim. You don't have to live in your suffering. It can become your power." 

He acknowledged it took him roughly 25 years to fully embrace that mindset, adding realistically, "There's a reality of life too. You have rent to pay and medical bills to pay and kids to feed, all of your stuff. But I will say this: you don't have to let fear stop you from living."

Aniston and Curtis, a hypnotherapist and wellness coach, have been dating for more than a year, having first gone public last summer after being photographed together on a trip to Mallorca alongside Jason Bateman and his wife, Amanda Anka.