Jennifer Aniston's Friends Fame Came At A Hefty Cost
David Crane and Marta Kauffman's "Friends" stood atop the sitcom mountain from 1994 to 2004, largely thanks to its cast of iconic characters. Fans couldn't wait to tune in each week and see what Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), and Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) would get up to — be it something comedic or dramatic. As one could imagine, this kind of popularity went a long way in giving this cast of then-relatively unknown actors a foothold in Hollywood.
During the final years of "Friends" and the decades after its conclusion, its stars found work elsewhere in the entertainment world. For instance, Matt LeBlanc led the problem-filled "Joey" spin-off for a short while, David Schwimmer explored his passion for directing, and Courteney Cox continued building on her extensive acting filmography. However, it's hard to dispute that Jennifer Aniston found the most success beyond "Friends." From scoring a bevy of notable film and television roles to founding her own production company, Aniston has excelled on all fronts, thanks to her years as Rachel Green.
At the same time, it's worth recognizing that Jennifer Aniston's time on "Friends" and the career moves she got to make from it didn't come without a cost. Here's the massive life change she had to make to get started on the road to success.
Aniston had no choice but to lose weight to be on Friends
As noted by Cheat Sheet, the book "Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show that Defined a Television Era" by Saul Austerlitz pulled back the curtain to give readers some insight into the early days of the hit sitcom. Austerlitz even covers what Jennifer Aniston had to do in order to land the part of Rachel Green: lose some weight. The author recalls that Aniston wasn't out of shape by any means, but according to her agent, the camera adds 10 pounds. Therefore, she had to overhaul her diet and ultimately shed roughly 30 pounds to be on the show (via Rolling Stone).
The world has evolved in many ways since Jennifer Aniston became Rachel Green, but sadly, it's still required of many actors that they undergo drastic and sometimes unhealthy body transformations for the sake of a project. In fact, one of the most popular franchises in the world, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has come under fire for its expectations that actors will go to great extremes for superhero-esque bodies. Will Poulter, who plays Adam Warlock in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," has been especially vocal about this issue and the effect it has on moviegoers as actors alike (via The Independent).
Even though Jennifer Aniston has expressed her comfort in her own skin and enjoyment of dieting, there's still something unsettling about studio and network-mandated weight loss. One can only hope that the trend goes away sooner rather than later and body-positive attitudes prevail.