“Thank god, they didn’t find anyone”: When Jennifer Aniston revealed she was almost replaced in Friends

NBC's Friends was not only a re-invention of the modern comedy on television but it also helped launched the careers of its six main cast members.

David Schwimmer, Courteny Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow gained world wide recognition, success and many accolades for their respective portrayals of Ross, Monica, Rachel, Joey, Chandler and Phoebe throughout the sitcom's ten seasons.

While the sitcom is now hailed as a comedy classic, there were many stories behind-the-scenes that would have changed the course of the show, one of them being Aniston's Rachel.

In a 2015 interview, Aniston revealed how she was almost replaced from her iconic role because she was already involved with another project. But luckily, the network did not found anybody else and the rest is history.

More on how Jennifer Aniston got her iconic role in Friends in our story.

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Jennifer Aniston was almost replaced on Friends. Here's how the sitcom finally got its Rachel Green

In a 2015 interview with Collider at the 30th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Jennifer Aniston revealed how she was almost replaced on Friends because of some other show she was doing.

At the time, Aniston was already doing a show on the network but they were unsure if it would get picked up. Since the show was still uncertain, Aniston also auditioned for Friends and was selected for the role of Rachel Green.

However, after her selection, the other show also got picked up she was almost replaced from the sitcom, as she recalled:

''And then, [that other show] ended up getting picked up, even though they had cast me in Friends. So, there was a period where I had to stand out the group photographs. I had phone calls from girlfriends saying, “I’m auditioning for your part in Friends. Do you have any ideas?”

She added:

''I was actually surprised that they were considering replacing me. But then, thank god, they didn’t find anyone. They just took the chance that [the other show] would fail after the two episodes that they had picked it up for. I just did this back and forth with Sony and Warner Bros. for two weeks, and then it went away, poof, and Friends went great. I had 10 years of the best schooling in the world.''

It is unsettling to think that Aniston almost did not land as Rachel Green because the actress breathed life into the character. The stars perfectly aligned and Aniston's other show was cancelled and Friends became the cultural hit it is today.

Before Aniston, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer were already cast but the creators initially wanted Cox to play Rachel as Aniston remembered:

''They wanted Court to play Rachel. Unbeknownst to each other, I wanted to play Rachel and she wanted to play Monica. It worked out perfectly. ''

Rachel and Monica are contrasting characters and both actresses were perfect in their respective roles.

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Rachel Green was Jennifer Aniston's breakthrough role

The sitcom saw massive success and all the cast members' careers took a hit. However, Rachel Green became a style icon in the 90s, even inspiring female fashion through all seasons. Aniston's Rachel haircut was a hit among the ladies and she is easily the most successful actress out of the main cast.

In addition to a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards, Aniston became a household name and has hence starred in many hit projects.

Some of her recent works that received recognition includes Murder Mystery, Cake, We're the Millers, Out of My Mind and The Morning Show.

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Also Read: These 3 abandoned Friends storylines would have changed the course of the sitcom