Jennifer Aniston almost ended up not doing the role of Rachel Green in the popular sitcom Friends. This is how NBC executives convinced the actress to be a part of the show.

 

Very few people including the show’s creator had not anticipated the unprecedented success of the sitcom Friends in the nineties. The show went on to become a rage and a new cultural phenomenon. 

Perhaps, if the show’s creators were more confident about its success, they would have auditioned a lot more stars for the six lead roles. Jen, as well as, all her other five fellow castmates consider the show as a major highlight in their careers. 

 

However, the most interesting part of the show was that Aniston almost refused to be a part of the cast. It was reported that the executives in NBC ensured that it should not happen that way. 

 

The casting crew of the show was certain that Aniston would be a perfect choice to portray the character of the Central-Perk waitress who goes on to become a fashion professional later on. There was one problem though: Aniston had already shot a few episodes of another show titled Muddling Through. 

 

The filming schedules of both these shows were clashing with one another. All these were divulged in a book called Generation Friends, which has been authored by Sean Austerlitz. 

 

It seems the NBC executives were thoroughly convinced that no one else but Jennifer Aniston would be ideal for the role. Reports have it that the execs took a crafty step so that the actress could decide in their favor.

 

 When Muddling Through was aired on CBS, they purposely scheduled popular TV films on the same time slot. Thus, the comedy show got essentially killed even before it could catch the attention of the viewers, The Sun reports.

 

It seems their plan was successful as the show was removed after airing just four episodes. Thus, Aniston’s schedule became free and she could focus exclusively on Friends. 

 

Meanwhile, by the time the show returned for its season 10, many viewers started finding faults in its storylines. This made the showrunners realize that they have to end the show. Even, Aniston had reportedly thought of quitting the show before it was wrapped off. 

 

The actress had told NBC about how she wanted the show to end while it was still popular and their fans loved their characters. Fortunately, for the show, Jennifer Aniston agreed to complete the series and give a proper goodbye to Rachel Green’s character.