How Jennifer Aniston almost missed out on Friends role

IT WAS the role that made Jennifer Aniston a household name, but the actor was almost overlooked for another well known 1990s star.

IT WAS the TV role that made Jennifer Aniston a household name.

But Aniston almost missed out on the role, with actor Tiffani Thiessen revealing she was also in the running to play Rachel Green.

At the time Thiessen was a well-known TV star thanks to her role as Kelly Kapowski in teen comedy Saved By Bell.

The cast of Friends could have been very different

Meanwhile Aniston was a 25-year-old unknown actor with just a handful of credits to her name.

Fortunately for Aniston, Thieseen, then 20, missed out because she was considered too young for the role.
“Did you know I tested for Friends, for Jennifer Aniston?” Thiessen told US radio show You Up With Nikki Glaser.

MORE: The Friends storyline that wasn’t originally meant to happen

Tiffani Thiessen was one of the biggest TV stars of the early 1990s

Thiessen (fourth from left) rose to fame on Saved By The Bell

“I was just a little too young. I was a little too young to (join) the pairing of the rest of them.”

Thiessen went on to snag another TV role, playing Valerie Malone in Beverly Hills 90210 from 1994 to 1998.

At 25, Aniston was the youngest cast member to join Friends with Lisa Kudrow the oldest at 31.

The show went on to run for 10 seasons before ending in 2004, making it one of the most successful TV shows of all time.

Other actors considered for the Aniston’s role includes 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski and Courteney Cox, who ended up playing Aniston’s character’s best friend Monica Geller in the series.

Friends is one of the most successful sitcoms of all time