Former Writer on Jennifer Aniston’s Iconic 90s Sitcom Reveals “Actors seemed unhappy” in Scathing Criticism Against the “Tired old show”
Jennifer Aniston gained worldwide recognition for her role as Rachel Green in the American television sitcom FRIENDS which ran from 1994 to 2004. Having appeared in movies like Leprechaun, Murder Mystery, and Dumplin’, she is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world.
Although FRIENDS was the show that catapulted all the lead actors to fame and all of them have often spoken highly of each other as well as the sitcom, recently the show’s writer Patty Lin has shed light on the dark side of the seemingly bright and sunny sitcom.
Former FRIENDS Writer Claims Actors Were Not Happy
Patty Lin, a former television writer has worked on several shows such as Breaking Bad, Freaks and Geeks, and Desperate Housewives. Being the only writer of color in the writers’ room of the Jennifer Aniston starrer FRIENDS, Lin often found herself in a difficult predicament. This revelation adds to the series’ list of issues that include sexism, homophobia, and lack of representation.
Lin recounted how the lead actors of FRIENDS often seemed dissatisfied during the show and were looking for opportunities to break out of the show’s confines. She said:
“The actors seemed unhappy to be chained to a tired old show when they could be branching out, and I felt like they were constantly wondering how every given script would specifically serve them. They all knew how to get a laugh, but if they didn’t like a joke, they seemed to deliberately tank it, knowing we’d rewrite it. Dozens of good jokes would get thrown out just because one of them had mumbled the line through a mouthful of bacon.”
Not to mention the struggle of Jennifer Aniston’s co-star Matthew Perry (who played Chander Bing) with addiction when the show was at its peak, and the infamous lawsuit that a former writer’s assistant Amaani Lyle filed against the racial discrimination and s*xual harassment she had endured in the series’ writer’s room.
Jennifer Aniston Struggled to Shed Rachel Green
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the lead actors of FRIENDS, namely, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc wanted to get out of the show given how long the series ran. They continue to be the best of friends who came together for the series’ reunion and yet it has to be considered that people often outgrow each other and wish to move on.
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Jennifer Aniston once talked about her struggles to break out of the mold she was put in as Rachel Green. The actress said:
“You just exhaust yourself. I mean, I could not get Rachel Green off of my back for the life of me. I could not escape ‘Rachel from Friends,’ and it’s on all the time and you’re like, ‘Stop playing that f**king show!'”
Read More: Jennifer Aniston Revealed This Secret Hack That She Did to Deliver Her Lines in FRIENDS
Before Aniston recognized her potential, she panicked momentarily and had second thoughts about being able to play a role that wasn’t Rachel Green. She was scared in her own right of the fact that she would become a spectacle for the world if she failed to play a new character. Thankfully, she outgrew that fear and now happens to be one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood.
Source: End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood by Patty Lin
