SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- When Jennifer Aniston schedules a press conference, it's a bit like a boxing match.

The gloves are off, she'll roll with the punches and she'll even get a few jabs in herself.

Aniston knew what she was in for when she sat down to discuss her summer comedy The Break-Up.

She knew she couldn't pretend the subject matter wasn't more personal than the usual run-of-the-mill flick.

Aniston agreed to star in The Break-Up during the very public collapse of her marriage to Brad Pitt.

"It was definitely ironic, but it wasn't difficult for me," insists Aniston adding "if anything, it was cathartic. Making the movie helped me through by own (breakup)."

There are several scenes in The Break-Up in which Aniston collapses into tears.

"That was just movie magic. I didn't have to go to any place in my own life for those scenes," she insists.

Just the same, she admits "it was horrible having to do those crying scenes because I had to get myself into a sad place and stay there for a long time."

In the film, Aniston plays a woman obsessed with keeping her condo looking and running like a show home. Her partner, played by Vince Vaughn, is a bit of a slob.

"I'm a little crazy about doing the dishes. I definitely am the type of woman who needs a clean kitchen before I go to bed.

"I probably should ask for more help around the house, but I don't.

"I'm like every other woman who wishes someone would just offer to do the dishes even if I intend to do them myself."

Aniston believes "it's instinctual as a woman to be the caretaker of your home.

"Women complain that men don't do enough, but that's the woman's fault. You train your man to do nothing. You can't blame someone for not knowing what his job should be if you don't ask for it right off the bat.

"There's no sliding into it later."

She doesn't accept that relationships are about compromise.

"A good relationship is about collaboration. You just need to talk to each other. You have to say what you want. That way, it's not threatening."

What proved a bit threatening for Aniston was her nude scene in The Break-Up.

She is quick to put speculation to rest.

She did not have a body double for the scene.

"I should have thought about getting a butt double for the scene, except that the way it was shot it had to be me.

"They used all these tricky camera angles so you would know if I had used a double which I definitely did not."

Aniston says she "didn't panic about how I looked naked because luckily I had been hitting the gym before I read that I had a nude scene.

"I panicked because I had to be naked.

"I don't usually watch dailies of my performances, but I did watch the dailies of that nude scene. Trust me, I wanted to see that footage."

One of the things that appealed to Aniston about The Break-Up was "both characters are flawed. They both fall short. They fail to communicate in an evolved manner which could have solved their relationship problems."

She is adamant there "must be closure when any relationship fails, whether it is a romantic relationship, a friendship or employment."

She refuses to say whether she has achieved closure with her failed marriage to Pitt, but says "you should always have a sense of clarity at the end and know why it began and why it ended.

"You need that in your life to move cleanly into your next phase."

Still an avowed romantic, Aniston says she "is not a chocolate kind of girl, but I do love flowers.

"Anyone who wants to capture my heart can get me some good peonies or orchids. See, I like to hit both price points."

Aniston says celebrity has not made her immune to irksome pick-up artists.

"I guy came up to me once in a restaurant. He said: 'I like your salad.'

"I honestly did not know what he meant. He repeated his come-on line and I still didn't know what he meant so he explained.

"He finally said: 'Your salad ... you know, your makeup, your clothes and your hair! It's your salad.

"I hate that I still remember it with such clarity."

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