Jennifer Aniston Rejected A Massive Comedy Opportunity Before Friends

Before she was "Friends" mainstay Rachel Green, Jennifer Aniston had a crack at being a Not Ready For Prime Time Player.

Aniston turned down a role on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" in the 1990s, shortly before she was cast in "Friends," the sitcom that would make her a worldwide household name. She told the story during a recent episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, relating how — despite having only a handful of credits on unsuccessful TV series at the time — she made a principled call to say no to "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels.

At the time, Aniston's friend Adam Sandler was already a part of the "SNL" cast, but she wasn't keen to join him based on what she had heard of the show's behind-the-scenes culture.

"I always thought I was such hot s***," Jennifer Aniston explained. "I don't know why I had this self-righteous attitude of 'I don't know if women are treated the way they should be treated on this show.'" The actress said she recalled thinking "SNL" was "very male-dominated" at the time.

Speaking about the same meeting with Michaels to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, Aniston elaborated, "I was so young and dumb, and I went into Lorne's office and I was like, 'I hear women are not respected on this show.' I don't remember exactly what I said next, but it was something like, 'I would prefer if it were like the days of Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin.' I mean, it was such a boys' club back then, but who the f*** was I to be saying this to Lorne Michaels?!"

Shortly after walking away from the opportunity to appear on "SNL," Aniston secured the part of Rachel Green on "Friends." As she said on Shepard's podcast: "Everything is sort of meant to be."