It’s been over 25 years since Friends first aired on our screens but Rachel Green remains Jennifer Aniston’s defining role.
However, things could have been very different as the show’s producers initially lined up another cast member to take on the iconic character.
Jane Sibbett, who eventually went on to take the role of Ross’s ex-wife Carol in the much-loved sitcom, revealed that she was offered the part of Rachel before Aniston.
“I actually was up for another character,” she told news.com.au. “They wanted me to be one of the main six.
“It was actually Rachel but I usually don’t tell people that because Jen… There’s no one who could’ve done it like Jen.”
She went on to reveal that she had to turn down the larger role in the show because she was pregnant.
“I asked them [her agents] if they’d told the producers I was pregnant [at the time] and they said, ‘Oh no, we thought we’d tell them later,’” she explained. “And I said, ‘No you’ve got to tell them now.'
“So obviously [the producers] said it wouldn’t work out. I have no regrets, my goodness, there’s no way anybody could have come close to what Jennifer Aniston did with Rachel. She was so perfect.”
However, Sibbett had another shot at appearing on the show when Anita Barone, who played Carol in the pilot episode, decided to quit.
“So I got home from hospital after giving birth to my son and I got a phone call saying that they were replacing Carol and could I come to work the next day,” she said.
“Two days after I delivered my son, he and I were on the set. I was in a milky haze. But it was funny. It was only supposed to be a two-week job so I’m very grateful.”
Sibbett went on to play Carol in 15 episodes of the series.
Filming for the much-anticipated Friends reunion special was set to take place in the spring but had to be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
