1. Both her parents were actors, but they didn’t encourage her to join the industry

Her father John Aniston starred on Days of Our Lives (just like Joey!), and her mother, Nancy Dow, starred on 1960s shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West.

But they weren’t exactly receptive to their daughter following in their footsteps.

In 2015, Aniston told Collider that although she had a love for the theatre growing up in New York, her parents were pretty strict on her time in front of the television.

“I was hell-bent because my dad was just begging me not to be in the industry. He said, ‘I do not want your heart broken. The rejection is brutal. Please, please, please don’t do that. Become a lawyer,’” she said. “That was my one rebellion. I was hoping that I was going to make it so that I could prove him wrong.”

7 things to know about Brad Pitt’s rumoured girlfriend, Lykke Li

2. She had unglamorous plenty of jobs before landing her first acting gigs

After pursuing musical theatre roles in high school, Aniston began auditioning in both New York City and Los Angeles while holding down several less than glamorous jobs.

At a 2011 press conference for her movie Horrible Bosses, she said, “The toughest job I’ve ever had was being a bike messenger in New York City. I was 19.”

She added that her worst day on the job was when she drove into an open car door. “I’m just very uncoordinated and extraordinarily klutzy. And I just never should have been allowed on a bicycle with cylinders,” she said.

She apparently lasted only two days, telling Collider, “It was really wrong to put me on a bike in New York City with taxi cabs.”

During this time, she also worked as an ice-cream scooper and a waitress.

In 1996, Aniston told Rolling Stone that she eventually moved to Hollywood, and “sold her soul” to take a job as a telemarketer, before snagging her first acting role.

Meet Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s millionaire sons, Brandon and Dylan

3. She was on several different TV shows before Friends

Few fans realise that Aniston had been on no fewer than four short-lived sitcoms before landing the role that made her famous.

At 21, she starred alongside The Big Bang Theory and Blossom star Mayim Bialik on Fox’s Molloy, acted on a brief TV adaptation of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in 1990, appeared on a Fox sketch comedy series called The Edge in 1992, and worked on a CBS comedy called Muddling Through in 1994 right before she landed the role of Rachel Green.

She told Collider in 2015, “I just had this deep feeling in my gut that somehow something was going to happen, and I just had to be patient.”

Who is Tracy Romulus, and why is Kanye blaming her for the Kim K divorce drama?

4. Aniston turned down a spot on Saturday Night Live to star on Friends

Aniston flexed her comedic chops early and nearly got a job as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. But in 2011, long-time SNL cast member Adam Sandler revealed to Oprah that Aniston turned the role down to star on Friends.

“I remember being on the ninth floor where Lorne Michaels’ office was, and seeing Jen come in. I was like, ‘Oh, my God. There’s Aniston. Is she about to be on our show?’” he said.

Aniston shared that SNL wasn’t happy with her decision.

“They thought I was making a huge mistake,” she said.

Are Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly the new Angelina and Billy Bob?

5. Someone else was being considered for the role of Rachel Green – and it’s not who you think

It’s hard to imagine anyone else as Rachel Green, but Aniston told Collider that she nearly swapped roles with co-star Courteney Cox.

6. She hated her famous haircut

Throughout the late 1990s, women everywhere tried to emulate “the Rachel”, Aniston’s signature hair look from the early episodes of the show.

But even though Aniston’s hair has inspired trends ever since, it seems she’s not a fan of her most-famous cut.

She has worked with stylist Chris McMillan ever since, but told Allure in 2011, “I love Chris, and he’s the bane of my existence at the same time because he started that damn ‘Rachel’, which was not my best look. How do I say this? I think it was the ugliest haircut I’ve ever seen.”

In fact, Aniston couldn’t even style the look herself, so she was completely reliant on McMillan for the six months she rocked “the Rachel”.

The week Joe Rogan divided the world, from The Rock to Trump

7. She has been open about how important therapy is in her life

In 2018, when she was promoting Dumplin, Aniston told Extra TV about how the tumultuous relationship with her late mum helped her relate to her role in the film.

“How lucky I am I got through that without having any emotional scarring,” she said. “I’ve been in therapy for years.”

In 2015, she told The Hollywood Reporter that her beloved therapist unexpectedly died around the time that she was divorcing Pitt, sharing, “But I learned so much in the four years I worked with her, that when she did pass away I remember thinking, ‘Wow, everything that we talked about and discussed, it’s allowed me to be really peaceful about it all.’ I mean, there were human moments. But I was really shockingly OK.”