By Reagan Alexander
Tuesday April 26, 2011 09:15 AM EDT
Jennifer Aniston (left) and Julie Bowen
Matt Baron/BEImages; Kevork Djansezian/Getty
Jennifer Aniston‘s appeal is near universal. People want to work with her, protect her, be her or date her. For women, it’s fundamental, says Modern Family‘s Julie Bowen – Aniston sets the mark for how they’d like to look.
“She’s one of our own,” Bowen tells PEOPLE of her costar in the upcoming movie Horrible Bosses. “She’s incredibly beautiful in the way that you think you could be if you got drunk enough and looked in the mirror just at the right angle.”
Bowen, 41, says she didn’t even have to film any scenes with Anison, 42, before being sucked in.
“In the makeup trailer, I was pulled into her orbit,” Bowen said with a laugh at the City Year’s Spring Break: Destination Education event at Sony Pictures Studios. “I’ve met her a few times before, she’s an incredibly nice person. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word said about her, and it’s all true.”
Bowen herself has helped reinforce the sex appeal of women in their 40s. But she says Aniston’s allure is underestimated.
“You think she’s an accessible sort of beautiful,” she says with another laugh, “but you really can’t get that beautiful on your own. You’d have to drink your way there.”