Jane Sibbett nearly played a very different role in Friends, but she's okay with how things turned out! As Entertainment Tonight shares, in a new interview, Sibbett mentioned that she had been up for the part of "Rachel Green," which ultimately ended up going to Jennifer Aniston.
Sibbett wasn't cast as "Rachel" due to being pregnant
Sibbett, who Friends fans know as "Ross Geller's" ex-wife, "Carol," opened up to news.com.au about nearly being one of the show's leads! "I actually was up for another character. They wanted me to be one of the main six," she revealed. "It was actually Rachel but I usually don’t tell people that because Jen … There’s no one who could’ve done it like Jen."
However, there was one major problem— Sibbett was pregnant at the time! "I asked [the agents] if they’d told the producers I was pregnant and they said, 'Oh no, we thought we’d tell them later,'" she recalled. "And I said, 'No, you’ve got to tell them now.' So obviously they said it wouldn’t work out."
Sibbett replaced the actress originally cast as "Carol"
Sibbett was glad that the role ended up going to Aniston, gushing about her performance as the character. "I have no regrets, my goodness, there’s no way anybody could have come close to what Jennifer Aniston did with Rachel," she said. "She was so perfect." And since Sibbett wasn't cast as "Rachel," she was free to play another character!
"So I got home from hospital after giving birth to my son and I got a phone call saying that they were replacing Carol and could I come to work the next day," she explained. "Two days after I delivered my son he and I were on the set. I was in a milky haze. But it was funny. It was only supposed to be a two-week job so I’m very grateful."
Sibbett ended up playing a lesbian character on Friends
Sibbett's character "Carol" marries David Schwimmer's "Ross" on Friends, and the two have a child together. However, "Carol" ends up leaving "Ross" after she realizes she's a lesbian, getting married to her partner "Susan," played by Jessica Hecht. Sibbett told news.com.au that because of her religious upbringing, people she knew had a difficult time with her playing the role— including her own father.
"But finally after a few years, people were sending him articles about how beautiful these characters were handling such a delicate subject and he began to understand," she said. Even though Sibbett was passed on for the role of "Rachel," she ended up being a great fit to play "Carol"! We can't imagine the cast of Friends looking any different than it does now, especially not without Aniston as "Rachel"!
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