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Jennifer Aniston On SNL, Tells Vanessa Bayer To Stop Impersonating Her Rachel From ‘Friends’

By Ven Lanyon
Published on: 09:04 PST, Dec 4, 2016

Jennifer Aniston as the “beloved” Rachel on Friends was one of the most iconic television characters ever, and Aniston’s character is as popular as she was back in the nineties. Friends launched Aniston’s enormously successful acting career, and she’s totally on board with recognizing that, but Jennifer let SNL know that she’s just about had it with the Rachel impersonations.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Aniston “made a surprise appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live” to tell her nemesis exactly what she thought. Aniston came to SNL with one purpose in mind. Jennifer wanted to put a stop to Office Christmas Party co-star Vanessa Bayers’ recurring impersonation of Rachel. Bayer has been getting great mileage out of playing Jennifer’s iconic role, and she does it well if fan response is anything to go by.

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Bayer, totally into the impersonation during the SNL episode, had a spot on Colin Jost’s “Weekend Update” segment of SNL. Vanessa in her Rachel persona was there to talk about the recent television “trend of 1990s show revivals.” Right now, both Fuller House and Gilmore Girls are in revival, and some people think Friends would be a great addition to the roster. Aniston’s fans have been hoping for a comeback of the show for years.

There was some chat between Jennifer and Vanessa about a Friends revival.

Even if there isn’t another Friends show, fans are loving the magic of Rachel vs Rachel.

Bayer used all her nearly perfect interpretations of Rachel’s “signature voice inflections” to talk about how great the nineties were.

“The ’90s are great. You go to work, you go on dates, and you go to cafes with your friends, and you all sit facing camera. Yeah!”

When Aniston “suddenly pulled up a seat at the news desk” next to Bayer last Saturday night, the SNL crew knew trouble was looming. Two Friends Rachels at once can’t be good for anyone.

Aniston was on SNL as herself of course, but with all the quirks that made the Friends character so unforgettable way back when. According to People magazine, the Aniston told Bayer that it might be time to put away the Rachel impersonation and move on.

“Friends was like 5 million and five years ago, I think we’ve just got to move on.”

Vanessa totally played it up, and shot out of character right away to defend her position.

Bayer, speaking as herself for a moment, was more than hesitant to agree with Jennifer. “I don’t know … I do this great bit as Rachel, so…”

But Aniston was “skeptical” about Bayers ability to do her character properly. “Is it a great bit though?”

Aniston said she decided to show up at the December 3 SNL to ask Vanessa to drop the impersonation after “Bayer texted her persistently for 12 days straight.” Jennifer was sympathetic to Vanessa’s obsession, and she agreed that it was fun working with the SNL star on Office Christmas Party. Aniston didn’t change her mind about Vanessa’s Rachel piece though. She was clear that she wants Bayer to stop playing Rachel.

“Listen, honey, I know that you love Friends and we had such a great time making our movie together, but you’ve gotta really try to stop texting me every day.”

Eventually, Aniston started playing Bayer’s game, and imitated Vanessa’s imitation of her. Confusing, but it worked for everyone. Bayer and Aniston together began to talk in a synchronized “flurry of confused Rachel sounds” working up to both of them yelling that famous Friends line, “Oh, Ross!”

Finally, Aniston gave up the struggle and invited Bayer to hang out over nachos after the SNL show.

[Featured Image by Richard Shotwell / AP images]

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