During NBC’s 1994 fall season, one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time premiered. Yes, I’m talking about Friends. The comedy continued for a decade before regularly being on reruns for cable and on repeat for people using streaming, giving Jennifer Aniston the most iconic role of her career. As the actress looked back on her role as Rachel Green recently, she recalled the audition process, and it happened so much swifter than I expected.
Knowing now how massive Friends has become, one would think the process to find Rachel Green was a worldwide search that took weeks to months to happen for Jennifer Aniston. However, that was not the actress’ experience. Check out what she said when she was asked about the phone call that changed her life the most:
I had auditioned the day before [for Friends] -- I really wanted it, really badly -- and I walked into the audition and there were so many girls and I remember thinking 'Oh boy.' I just gave it my all, came home, and I think it was by that day, by 2 o'clock that same day, I got the job.
Can you believe that? The actress, who was 25 at the time, auditioned and got her leading role on Friends over the course of 24 hours! While Aniston was being interviewed by WSJ Magazine she spilled the timeline of the experience and it’s pretty insane when you think about it. Many actors often have had to sit uncomfortably waiting to hear back from casting directors after auditions, but Aniston was clearly the person the creators wanted to play Rachel.
When Aniston auditioned for Friends, she had found herself a few roles here and there, between being in a couple of off-Broadway productions, being in a later canceled Ferris Bueller series and being part of the horror movie Leprechaun. Friends was her big break, and to this day, it's what she's best known for.
The audition came about reportedly when Aniston approached the head of NBC entertainment at the time, Warren Littlefield, after a series of unsuccessful shows and he encouraged her to keep going out for roles. Apparently, ahead of nabbing the NBC show, she lost 30 pounds at the request of her agent. Another fun fact about the audition process is that Aniston was initially being considered for Courteney Cox’s Monica Gellar, but she of course ended up playing the runaway bride who opts for a fresh start in New York City.
Nearly 30 years after Friends first aired on NBC, Aniston remains a prominent actress of course, notably returning to The Morning Show alongside Reese Witherspoon for Season 3 on September 13. She also still regularly hangs out with her Friends co-stars, and she sounds eternally grateful for how it changed her life. If you’re missing Friends, the show is there for you with an HBO Max subscription.
