Copyright Screen Rant
Jennifer Aniston almost joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, and the Friends star just revealed why she turned down the iconic show's offer. Aniston starred on Friends for 10 years from 1994 to 2004. By the time the sitcom debuted on NBC, SNL was just about to premiere its milestone 20th season. During an interview on Dax Shepard's podcast Armchair Expert, Aniston admitted that she once rejected an offer from SNL. She recounted the story by saying she had a meeting with showrunner Lorne Michaels and ran into Adam Sandler (whom she already knew) and David Spade while she was there. Aniston would have loved to have been on SNL back when Gilda Radner was a cast member; the comedian was part of the original cast of SNL when the show launched in 1975, but she left in 1980. However, Aniston admitted that she had a "self-righteous attitude" when she met with Michaels and thought that women weren't being treated fairly on SNL since it was "very male-dominated." Honestly, today I’d have to ask Lorne, because I remember, I was in New York City, and I had a meeting with Lorne Michaels, and I ran into [Adam] Sandler and [David] Spade in the room right outside. And I knew Sandler forever. I don’t know why I had this self-righteous attitude of ‘I don’t know if women are treated the way they should be treated on this show. It’s a very male-dominated [show], I would love to be here if it was in the Gilda Radner day.’ I mean, this is the brain that semi-remembers things that are back that far. Something like that. I can’t remember, but I just remember Friends then happened. Since the beginning, SNL has been a launching pad for many careers in the entertainment industry, including Chevy Chase, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Eddie Murphy, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Amy Poehler, and Sandler. Shortly after she met with Michaels, Aniston ended up booking Friends, which became one of the most successful and lucrative TV comedies of all time. It turned her into a giant global superstar, earning her five Emmy nominations and one win, and even having a hairstyle named after her character, Rachel. Her fame reached such massive heights that she couldn't go anywhere without paparazzi following her every move, including during her marriage to and divorce from movie star Brad Pitt. Aniston didn't completely reject SNL, though. She hosted the sketch comedy show in 1999 (five years after Friends debuted, when she was already a giant star) and then again in 2004, four months before the Friends series finale aired. After Friends ended in 2004, Aniston went on to star in films such as Marley & Me, Horrible Bosses, We're the Millers, Office Christmas Party, and Murder Mystery. On the small screen, she's found success again via The Morning Show. On the Apple TV series, she has reunited with Reese Witherspoon, who played one of her sisters on Friends. The Morning Show season 4 is currently streaming. Turning down SNL obviously didn't prevent Aniston from having a massive career. While she still would have found success, only Friends could have turned her into a superstar.
