Despite the fact that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and the other stars of Friends have continued their acting careers in the 20 years since the end of one of the greatest sitcoms of all time (with some appearing on the 2025 TV schedule), it’s undeniable that they will forever be remembered for that one role. It’s hard to consider what might have been if other actors had been hired to portray Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross, but it turns out Friends actress Jane Sibbett was almost cast as Rachel, and she opened up about the timing of it all.
Jane Sibbett ultimately portrayed Carol Willick on Friends — the second of the two actresses to play Ross’ first ex-wife — but it turns out she’d first auditioned for the part that would go to Jennifer Aniston. It was a bit of a tricky situation, with Sibbett being pregnant, and she explained what happened on the British morning show Sunrise, saying:
I had left the room from auditioning for Rachel, and I got the phone call from my manager saying, ‘They love you! They want you! They want you! You gotta come back next week, but they want you!’ And so I said, ‘Did you tell them I was pregnant?’ and he said, ‘No, no, no, just go on to the test, it’ll be fine.’ So that’s how it went, and when they did tell them I was pregnant, they said, ‘Oh, that’s not gonna work.’ I said, ‘Ask them if I can play the pregnant lesbian,’ and they said the timing still wouldn’t work, and so when I got home from the hospital after delivering my baby, that’s when I got that phone call.
Obviously the casting directors made the right choice for Rachel, but I love that the producers saw early on that Jane Sibbett would be such a good fit for the show.
I may not be able to picture anyone but Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green (or is it Greene?), but there’s no question Sibbett and David Schwimmer had phenomenal on-screen chemistry. The way Carol and Ross interacted is why Carol remains one of the most beloved Friends side characters to this day. Jane Sibbett agrees, though, that the right actor was chosen for the part of Ross' on/off love interest, as she said:
No one ever could have played that part of Rachel besides Jennifer. No way.
It definitely seems like no other actress out there could be Rachel Karen Green — the spoiled older sister of Jill and Amy, the aspiring fashionista, Ross’ lobster. That doesn’t mean literal thousands of other actors weren't trying to get on the show. Over the years we’ve learned that Saved by the Bell’s Tiffani Thiessen tested for Rachel, and Leah Remini was asked to audition but she passed because she didn’t see herself as any of those characters. Even Abbott Elementary’s William Stanford Davis once auditioned for a small role.
Once Jennifer Aniston got her Friends audition, though, it was all over. The actress has said it was only a matter of hours before she got the job. If you want to relive any of Rachel’s best moments — or Carol’s for that matter — all 10 seasons of Friends can be streamed with a Max subscription.
