Christina Pickles recognized Jennifer Aniston’s talent, but FRIENDS was the catalyst that launched her into stardom.
FRIENDS can easily be among the top three on any sitcom lover’s watch list. From the cast’s iconic dialogues to witty yet hilarious storylines, the show managed to maintain the same quality throughout the years. This was not an easy task, given how things can easily go wrong when a sitcom has been running for 12 long seasons.
Not only the quality, but the sitcom also brought some exceptionally talented actors to the forefront. Among them, David Schwimmer was the most well-known due to his previous projects, while others were relatively unknown. But amid all the uncertainty surrounding the sitcom, Christina Pickles, who played Ross’ mom Judy, was almost certain that Jennifer Aniston would be a big star.
The Emmy Award-winning actress Christina Pickles played Judy Geller in the hit sitcom FRIENDS. The show presented several hilarious exchanges between her and Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green on screen.
But behind the scenes, when Pickles met Aniston for the first time during the sitcom’s rehearsals, she was quite certain about one thing – that Aniston would definitely be a megastar after the show. She added via The Guardian:
I knew Jennifer Aniston would be a huge success from the moment I saw her in rehearsals. But I didn’t know that the show would be. I’ve done so many pilots I thought were good that didn’t work, and so many that I thought were bad that did work. I just knew I was witnessing a really special actor at work.
In the same interview, Italian actor Cosimo Fusco, who played Paolo, also shared a tidbit about his interaction with Aniston. He added that after he taped his first episode, the show hadn’t even aired yet. However, during the shoot, news broke that the sitcom had been greenlit for a 12-episode run.This update made Aniston quite emotional, and she “basically cried” in Fusco’s lap “because nothing like that had ever happened to her before.” Interestingly, Aniston was born for the Hollywood life, given she was the daughter of actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow. But despite this, the actress was unable to establish a solid place in the industry.
This led her to consider leaving acting altogether after four failed shows before she landed FRIENDS. But the sitcom completely changed her life and star power.
The actress played Rachel in the hit NBC show from 1994-2004, and along with a hefty check, she also brought in the Rachel haircut, which took the 1990s by storm.
