Happy 50th Birthday, Jennifer! Jennifer Aniston’s milestone birthday
She’s been our “friend” on the small screen for an amazing 25 years and has enjoyed a successful movie career, too
It’s been 25 years since Jennifer Aniston made that iconic white-gowned stumble into Central Perk café and on to our television screens as runaway bride Rachel Green.
The ever-popular American sitcom Friends, originally titled FriendsLikeUs, fast became a hit and later a true television classic.
But after watching the gang grow together through their 20s to their 30s, it’s hard to believe that Jennifer turns 50 this week!
Her aspirations as an actress began at a young age as her mother Nancy Dow and father John Aniston were both actors. She enrolled in New York’s School of Performing Arts, the Fame school, and focused all of her efforts on drama club. After graduation, she landed her first television role in Molloy in 1990. But after her first film appearance in horror movie flop, Leprechaun (1993) – about a murderous leprechaun hunting for his stolen gold – she was in desperate need of a new and succesful role. Then along came Friends in 1994 – thank goodness!
Jennifer first read for the part of the crazed, uptight Monica Geller, while Courtney Cox auditioned to play spoilt princess turned café waitress, Rachel Green. But both refused the roles and decided to switch.
“I think we both just thought that the other was better for the other ppart,”, she said. With the success of the show she became a household name and much-sought-after rom-com actress, taking on several movie roles during hiatus and after the show ended in May 2004.
Now she’s more a big movie name than a small screen star, having played lead roles in popular movies such as Marley&Me, HorribleBosses,Bruce Almighty,AlongCamePolly, TheObjectofMyAffection, Wanderlust and Cake (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2015). Her only Golden Globe win was for Friends in 2003.
Jennifer also dabbled in a bit of voice acting for various animated characters, notably Hogarth’s mum in 1999 cult classic TheIronGiant. And this year, like many other A-list actresses, she took to streaming service television via Netflix original Dumplin’.
Its soundtrack is entirely Dolly Parton who re-recorded her greatest hits especially
With the success of Friends she became a much-sought-after rom-com actress
for the film… one of which Jennifer was called to sing back up for!
“I was so nervous but I sang through it and then got my voice. When we finished, I just burst into tears,” she admitted, describing the experience as a “weird dream of a lifetime!”