The 2014 comedy had its fair share of absurd moments, but there was one with Aniston that pushed the line, and got completely scrapped for being too offensive.
In this Horrible Bosses sequel, Aniston returned as Dr. Julia Harris, the sexually charged dentist who made viewers cringe and laugh in equal measure. But the writers took things a little too far this time. There was a scene where Dr. Harris made a move on Dale (Charlie Day) while he was in a coma. That’s right, he was unconscious, and she admitted to doing things that clearly crossed a line.
Producers quickly realized that including a non-consensual sexual encounter, even in a dark comedy, was a no-go. The scene was cut before the film hit theaters.
When Aniston spoke about it on Conan (posted to the Team Coco YouTube channel), she didn’t hold back. “Oh, it’s possible,” she told the host after he joked that nobody would dare cut an intimate scene involving her. She admitted the scene was “terrible to shoot” and described the moment with an awkward laugh, saying her character was “laying there in a coma.” She also acknowledged the situation was “a one-sided sexual encounter” that felt incredibly uncomfortable to perform.
Even though the movie leaned hard into over-the-top humor, this moment clearly crossed a boundary. Aniston’s take on it added some levity, but the decision to cut it spoke volumes about where the line had to be drawn.
The movie itself followed the misadventures of Kurt, Nick, and Dale – played by Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, and Charlie Day – as they tried to go legit by launching the Shower Buddy invention. Of course, nothing went to plan. After their investor double-crossed them, they went full chaos and kidnapped his son. Cue the wild ride.
But the buzz didn’t last. Unlike the original Horrible Bosses, which raked in over $100 million and had audiences rolling, the sequel didn’t hit the same. Critics panned it, and fans didn’t hold back either. IndieWire’s Drew Taylor called it “a black hole of humor” and said it was the kind of film where “good moods go to die.”
Even Bateman didn’t sugarcoat things. He flat-out told E! Online the movie was “garbage” and “a paycheck for everyone.” Oof.
Still, Aniston’s bold performance as Dr. Harris stayed memorable. Even if one scene had to be buried for good reason, the rest of her unfiltered energy carried through. But yeah, that coma scene? Way too wild to make the cut.
Sometimes what ends up on the cutting room floor says more than what makes it to the screen.
