In recent interviews, Friends star Jennifer Aniston went into detail about how she dealt with the beloved sitcom ending in 2004 and what the show ending meant for her personal life and acting career. Beginning in 1994, Friends ran for an impressive ten seasons before reaching its conclusion after watching the main cast, including Aniston, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc, overcome numerous life challenges and form dynamic relationships with one another.
Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kaufman, first premiered on NBC in September 1994. Jennifer Aniston played one of six main cast members, appearing as Rachel Green, a fashion enthusiast, who moves to New York before the beginning of the series and moves in with Monica Geller (Courtney Cox), Rachel’s childhood best friend and a chef. Rachel and Monica befriend Monica’s ex-roommate, eccentric guitarist Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), their neighbors Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), a struggling actor, and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), a marketing executive, along with Monica’s older brother, Ross Geller (David Schwimmer). The show followed the six friends as they grew from their mid-twenties to their mid-thirties, exploring the world as they grew and formed relationships with one another.
How Jennifer Aniston dealt with the fallout of “Friends” ending
By the time Friends concluded in May 2004, Rachel Green had seen multiple careers and relationships come and go. Rachel’s on-again, off-again relationship with Ross was one of the show’s hallmarks and a cultural touchstone to this day. The pair were briefly married after a drunken night in Las Vegas and then divorced, only to later have a daughter, Emma, in the show’s ninth season and confess their love for each other in the series finale.
With such a pivotal role in a long-running show like Friends, it’s understandable that Jennifer Aniston had a lot to work through once it became clear the show was ending. In a recent interview with The Ellen Show, Aniston explained that the Friends finale happened to coincide with her divorce and her entering therapy, causing her to “lean into” the series finale. “I just was like, you know what guys, let’s just put this… let’s make this a completely new chapter,” Aniston reportedly said about the finale. “Let’s end everything. Let’s just end everything and then start new. And I mean, it worked great.”
Since the ending of Friends, Jennifer Aniston and the other main cast members of Friends have become household names in Hollywood. According to ScreenRant, Aniston has since starred in big-name films like Horrible Bosses (2011), We’re the Millers (2013), and Just Go With It (2013). Most recently, Aniston has starred in The Morning Show (2019) on Apple TV+.
