Jennifer Aniston Still Can’t Watch The Movie That Almost Destroyed Her Career
Friends is one of the most iconic sitcoms in television history. The show ran for 10 seasons, airing from 1994 to 2004. The series defined a generation of television viewers and continues to live on in syndication.
Jennifer Aniston played the role of Rachel on the show. Her place in the ensemble helped her career in a big way. It made her a star and a movie actress whose film career would blossom after the show ended.
However, Aniston herself feared she may have ruined any chances of that taking place before filming the Friends pilot. Prior to joining the cast, Aniston starred in a film that she says she is so embarrassed by, she can’t watch without cringing.
Jennifer Aniston Turned Down An ‘SNL’ Audition Because It Was ‘A Boys Club’
Aniston is now known as Rachel from Friends. The role made her a star and no doubt put her on the map as a bankable movie actress. However, Anitson’s career could’ve taken a different turn, as she revealed during a 2019 appearance on The Howard Stern Show.
Prior to filming the Friends pilot, Aniston had an opportunity to audition for Saturday Night Live, but turned it down. She began by telling Stern she already met Adam Sandler and David Spade when she was in her early twenties.
“I didn’t think I would like that environment. I remember showing up and Sandler was there and Spade was there and I had known them already,” Aniston said.
Aniston then recounted a conversation she had with SNL creator Lorne Michaels. Michaels was interested in Aniston’s comedic skills.
“I was such a young twit, I was like ‘I think the women need to be treated better here,’ because it was such a boys’ club. You’re just not the brightest when you’re in your early twenties,” she said.
“I didn’t lecture – I was just saying what I would hope if I would do this what I would hope it to be,” Aniston added.
Jennifer Aniston Said One Male Actor On ‘Friends’ Had A Terrible Attitude
Aniston appeared on Stern again in 2021 and this time she was joined by two of her Friends co-stars. Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox joined Aniston for the appearance, which aired after the Friends reunion special premiered on HBO Max.
Aniston made quite a revelation when she spoke about an unnamed male actor who had a bad attitude on set.
“It was as if they were just too above this to be on a sitcom,” Aniston recalled. “I remember when we were doing a network run-through, the network and the producers would just laugh. And this person would be like, ‘Listen to them, just laughing at their own jokes. So stupid, not even funny.’”
She continued, “It was just like, ‘What are you doing here? Your attitude, this is not what we’re all about. This is a wonderful, warm place to be, and you’re coming into our home and just s******* on it.’”
Stern then tried to guess who the male actor was. At one point he guessed Tom Selleck, who played Dr. Richard Burke, Monica’s love interest in several episodes.
“It was Tom… you just don’t know how cruel and unusual he is,” Aniston joked, before saying, “Tom has an angel’s halo over his head; it’s just a permanent halo over Tom’s head.”
Aniston added that the actor ended up regretting the way he behaved.
“The funny thing is, that male did apologize about their behavior years later and just said, ‘I was so nervous, to be honest, that I wasn’t on my best behavior,’” Aniston said.
Jennifer Aniston Once Got Up And Left The Room While Watching ‘Leprechaun’
Many famous actors appear in awful movies before they get their big break. For Aniston, it was no different. In 1993, Aniston starred in the horror-comedy cult classic Leprechaun. The film starred Warwick Davis as an Irish monster who stalks a teenage girl (played by Aniston). He believes she has stolen his pot of gold.
During Aniston’s 2019 appearance on Stern, she reflected on the early days of her career. When Stern brought up Leprechaun, he referred to it as “the bane of your existence.”
“I really thought I arrived when I did Leprechaun,” Aniston said. “It was with Warwick Davis, the guy from Willow was in it. It was a big deal! I really did think it was an amazing thing that I was in a movie.”
Aniston then revealed she was talked into watching it eight years prior by then-boyfriend Justin Theroux.
“I watched it like, 8 years ago with our mutual friend Justin Theroux for s**** and giggles,” she said. “We were dating. It was one of those things when I tried to get that remote out of his hand and there was just not having it. He was like, ‘No, no, no, no, this is happening.’ I just kept walking in and out, cringing.”
In a 2021 interview with InStyle Magazine, Aniston said at the time she believed it would ruin her career.
“There’s loads of movies where you’re thinking: ‘Oh god, this is just… how am I going to survive this in my future?’ And then it’s a cult… ‘something’ because it’s so embarrassing,” she said, referring to Leprechaun.
