How Monica & Rachel On ‘Friends’ Were Almost Very Different, According To Courteney Cox & Jennifer Aniston Themselves

Real-life friends Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox have reunited many times since their show Friends went off the air in 2004, but that didn't make the moment when the Friends cast reunited on Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows on Feb. 21 any less exciting. Although the Friends cast may have denied the existence of "no-sex" clause in their contracts, Aniston and Cox did admit that they both were initially supposed to play each other's characters. That means that Aniston would have been Monica and Cox would have been Rachel. And if you're anything like me, my mind is officially blown right now.

Since Aniston perfectly portrayed the self-absorbed, yet lovable Rachel Green and Cox owned the bossy, clean, and caring Monica Geller, I can't even imagine the duo being in the other roles. Yes, Aniston is an actress, but she epitomized her breakout role with her beauty and humor. And since Monica is the character I most relate to, I've always adored Cox's eccentric, yet grounded performance. While the women didn't go into details with interviewer Andy Cohen about how they eventually switched parts, they both said that it was clear once they met that they'd be better in each other's roles. And the rest is Friends history: With Aniston being Rachel and Cox being Monica.

Rachel and Monica were best friends on Friends and Aniston is Cox's daughter, Coco's, godmother in real-life, so no matter which characters that they ended up portraying, I'm sure the pair would have been friends offscreen either way. But honestly, can you imagine Aniston being David Schwimmer's sister and Cox being his lobster? In the words of Aniston's Rachel, "Noooo!"

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