The Real Reason Jennifer Aniston Turned Down Saturday Night Live — And How It Led to Friends

Jennifer Aniston popped up on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert for a rare podcast outing, and it was a good one. She got candid about early career detours, a near-miss with Saturday Night Live, trying to win her dad's approval, and why the 'nepo baby' tag doesn’t sit right with her. If you like the behind-the-scenes stuff, there is plenty here.

The SNL thing: yes, she met with Lorne, and no, she didn’t do it

Aniston says there was a moment in the early 90s when SNL was very much in the mix. She remembers being in New York, meeting with Lorne Michaels, and literally bumping into Adam Sandler and David Spade in the outer room — she’s known Sandler forever, which adds a fun wrinkle.

So why didn’t she join? In her words, the story is fuzzy even to her now. She joked that she once thought she was hot stuff and had a bit of a self-righteous streak about the show at the time. The gist: she was concerned about how women were treated on SNL back then and felt the vibe was too male-heavy. She even says she’d probably have to ask Lorne today to get the official version of what actually happened.

'I don’t know if women are treated the way they should be treated on this show... I would love to be here if it was in the Gilda Radner day.'

Then life did what life does: Friends came along, and the rest is TV history.

Before Friends: a lot of almosts (and one Leprechaun)

Before she became Rachel Green, Aniston was on a bunch of series that never took off — the classic 'right before you break through' run every working actor knows too well. And yes, she was in the cult horror flick Leprechaun. Not glamorous, but it paid the bills and kept her in the game.

Dad, doubt, and the drive to prove it

Aniston talked about following in the footsteps of her father, John Aniston, the Days of Our Lives mainstay who worked on that soap for nearly four decades. He loved her, but he did the practical parent thing and warned her off acting — lots of rejection, get a real job, all the classic advice. She went for it anyway, and she admits a big part of that push was wanting to make him proud. That approval mattered and fueled her early years.

The 'nepo baby' label? She’s not buying it

She doesn’t deny that having a famous parent can open a door. But she argues that happens in every industry, not just Hollywood — think law firms with family names on the door. The difference, she says, is staying power: if you’re not good at the job, the door doesn’t stay open. In other words, you might get a meeting because of your last name, but your career is on you.

• Podcast: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (a rare podcast appearance for her)
• Pre-Friends era: multiple TV shows that fizzled, plus cult horror entry Leprechaun
• SNL crossroads: met with Lorne Michaels in NYC; ran into Adam Sandler and David Spade; passed over concerns about the show’s treatment of women; admits her memory of the specifics is hazy
• Friends timing: soon after that SNL moment, Friends landed and changed everything
• Family thread: father John Aniston was on Days of Our Lives for almost 40 years; her drive was tied to earning 'Pop's' approval
• Nepo take: happens in every field; a name might get you in, but talent keeps you there

Bottom line

This is one of those 'roads not taken' stories that’s fun because it actually checks out. Aniston could have ended up in Studio 8H, but the timing, the vibes, and her gut put her on a different path — straight into a little sitcom called Friends, while she now headlines The Morning Show. Sliding doors, etc.