Jennifer Aniston lost 30 pounds to land role in Friends as she was considered 'too heavy'
Actress Jennifer Aniston reportedly had to go on a big diet change before she could land the kind of roles she wanted in Hollywood, according to a new book set to release in honor of 'Friends' 25th-anniversary. Aniston, in the 90s, was reportedly told by her agents to lose weight.
Author Saul Austerlitz, in the book 'Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era' wrote: "She had to lose thirty pounds if she wanted to stay in Hollywood. Los Angeles was a tough place to be an actress — it was a tough place to be a woman — and Jennifer Aniston's agent was reluctantly leveling with her."
Considering Aniston's father John Aniston is a soap opera veteran, the actress already knew Hollywood was a tough place to be in. Before joining the cast of Friends, Aniston had already practiced her acting skills in television shows like 'Ferris Bueller' and 'Molloy'.
"Aniston was hardly fat — everyone could see she was beautiful — but as the show she would one day become indelibly associated with later made a point of noting, the camera added ten pounds," Saul wrote.
The actress, in her 1996 cover story for Rolling Stone, had also talked about the pressure to be rail thin back then. "I ate too many mayonnaise sandwiches. Mayonnaise on white bread –— the most delicious thing in the world," she said. However, she knew she had to make changes in her diet.
"My agent gave it to me straight," she told the magazine. "Nicest thing he ever did…. The disgusting thing of Hollywood — I wasn't getting lots of jobs 'cause I was too heavy. I was like, 'What?!' But my diet was terrible. Milk shakes and French fries with gravy," she said. "It was a good thing to start paying attention."
Reports state that shortly after she dropped the pounds, she was hired on Friends as Rachel. The show went on to air from 1994 to 2004. The actress is now making a comeback on television with 'The Morning Show'.
While speaking to The New York Times about her future this month, the actress said: "I'm entering into what I feel is one of the most creatively fulfilling periods of my life. Seriously I've been doing this for 30 years and I feel like it's just about to really bloom."