Rachel Green
Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appeared in the American sitcom Friends. Portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, the character was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and appeared in all of the show's 236 episodes during its decade-long run, from its premiere on September 22, 1994, to its finale on May 6, 2004. Introduced in the show's pilot as a naïve runaway bride who reunites with her childhood best friend Monica Geller and relocates to New York City, Rachel gradually evolves from a spoiled, inexperienced "daddy's girl" into a successful businesswoman. During the show's second season, the character becomes romantically involved with Monica's brother, Ross, with whom she maintains a complicated on-off relationship throughout the series. Together, Ross and Rachel have a daughter, Emma.
The role of Rachel was originally offered to Téa Leoni, the producer's first choice, and Courteney Cox, both of whom declined, Leoni in favor of starring in the sitcom The Naked Truth, and Cox in favor of playing Rachel's best friend Monica in Friends. A virtually unknown actress at the time, who had previously starred in five short-lived sitcoms, Aniston auditioned for the role of Rachel after turning down an offer as a cast member on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. After acquiring the role and before Friends aired, Aniston was temporarily at risk of being recast because she had also been involved with another sitcom, Muddling Through, at the time, which was ultimately cancelled and allowed Aniston to remain on Friends.
Critical reception towards Rachel has remained consistently positive throughout Friends decade-long run, with The A.V. Club attributing much of the show's early success to the character. However, some of her storylines have been criticized, specifically her romantic relationship with her friend Joey Tribbiani during season 10. Rachel's popularity established her as the show's breakout character, who has since been named one of the greatest television characters of all time, while the character's second season haircut spawned an international phenomenon of its own. Named the "Rachel" after her, the character's shag continues to be imitated by millions of women around the world and remains one of the most popular hairstyles in history, in spite of Aniston personally disliking it. Rachel is also regarded as a style icon due to her influence on womenswear during the 1990s. Meanwhile, the character's relationship with Ross is often cited among television's most beloved.
Rachel is considered to be Aniston's breakout role, credited with making her the show's most famous cast member and for spawning her successful film career. Praised for her performance as Rachel, Aniston won both an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical.
Role
Rachel Green is introduced in the pilot episode of Friends as a runaway bride who leaves her fiancé, Barry Farber, at the altar, and seeks refuge with her childhood friend Monica Geller in New York City. Moving in with Monica, she meets Monica's friends Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, and Chandler Bing, while reacquainting with Monica's brother Ross Geller, who has harbored romantic feelings for her since high school. Previously reliant on her parents’ wealth, Rachel begins her journey toward independence by working as a waitress at Central Perk, despite being notably unskilled at the job.Rachel's relationship with Ross is a central focus throughout the series. After learning Ross is in love with her at the end of the first season, she reciprocates but he has already begun dating someone else, initiating their on-again, off-again relationship that spans the entire show. Their relationship includes notable landmarks such as Ross choosing Rachel over his girlfriend at the time, Ross' frustration with Rachel's busy work schedule and companionship with a male coworker, their breakup over a disagreement while they were on a "break" from dating each other, and several moments of both hostility towards each other and reconciliation. Ross marries his boss' niece Emily despite accidentally saying Rachel's name during their wedding vows, but divorces Emily once she demands he stops being friends with Rachel. They drunkenly marry in Las Vegas during season five, eventually divorce after failing to have their marriage annulled, and later co-parent their daughter Emma, born in season eight following a one-night stand. In season nine, Rachel briefly dates Joey, but they end their relationship in season ten after realizing they are better as friends. Despite receiving a job offer in France, Rachel ultimately decides to stay in New York and rekindle her relationship with Ross in the series finale, de-boarding her flight at the last minute.
By the series' conclusion, Rachel achieves significant personal and professional growth. Her decision to reunite with Ross in the final episode brings her story full circle, solidifying her evolution from a dependent individual into a self-assured and independent woman. Post-series material, such as the spin-off Joey, suggests that she and Ross eventually remarry.
Development
Conception and writing
After their short-lived television series Family Album was canceled, television writers David Crane and Marta Kauffman pitched Friends to then-NBC president Warren Littlefield as a sitcom about "that special time in your life when your friends are your family," basing the show on their own experiences as young people living in New York; the main characters themselves were inspired by their own friends. Conceived as a young woman who is unprepared for adulthood, the character Rachel Green was originally named Rachel Robbins in the pilot. Although critics and audiences initially perceived Monica as the show's main character when Friends premiered, the writers had actually given Rachel the pilot's most prominent storyline. Before deciding that Rachel and Ross would be an item for the entire series, the writers had originally intended for the show's defining couple to be Joey and Monica. However, after the success of the pilot, in which Rachel and Ross' developing romance is first hinted at, and witnessing Aniston and co-star David Schwimmer's on-screen chemistry for the first time, Crane and Kauffman determined that the entire series relied on "finding all the wonderful roadblocks for them to be with each other".Audiences began rooting for Rachel and Ross' union from the very beginning of Friends, openly voicing their frustration with Rachel's obliviousness to Ross' feelings for her. The episode that would ultimately transform the friends' relationship for the remainder of the series was the first-season finale "The One Where Rachel Finds Out", in which Rachel finally learns of Ross' true feelings for her, at the same time discovering she actually feels the same. However, the episode nearly went unwritten because, at the time, few Friends writers were expecting the couple's relationship to morph into the phenomenon that it ultimately became. The episode was first suggested by director James Burrows; the writers felt that it was time to alter the couple's dynamic in order to avoid the repetitive "he's pining, she's oblivious" pattern, using the work of author Jane Austen as inspiration on how to finally shift the pining arc from Ross to Rachel. Because stakes for the episode were unprecedentedly high, "The One Where Rachel Finds Out" became Friends
After Rachel and Ross drunkenly get married while on vacation in Las Vegas during season five, Schwimmer had initially objected to the idea of having Ross divorce her – his third divorce – because he felt that it was taking it "too far". The actor explained that "The whole arc of the relationship was weird then... because for to be able to move on enough to marry someone else and then go back to being in love with Rachel later just went a bit too far." Rachel and Joey's romantic storyline was conceived because the writers wanted to delay Ross and Rachel's reunion further. Crane felt that pairing Rachel and Joey during season ten "was for the greater good" because "it was inappropriate". However, the cast initially protested the idea, fearing that Rachel, Joey, and Ross would ultimately become unlikeable characters and audiences would either "resent Joey for going after a pregnant woman, or resent Rachel for rejecting him, or resent Ross for standing between the two of them". Meanwhile, the writers also approached the concept of Rachel's pregnancy and baby tentatively, worrying about how they would include it in the show because they did not want Friends "to become a show about a baby" while "On the other hand, we don't want to pretend that there isn't one." According to Robert Bianco of USA Today, the critical success and popularity of Rachel's pregnancy is ultimately responsible for "propel the show to the top of the ratings". When it finally came time to write the series finale, "The only thing absolutely knew from very early on was that we had to get Ross and Rachel together," deciding, "We had dicked the audience around for 10 years with their 'will they or won't they,' and we didn't see any advantage in frustrating them" any longer. However, at one point the writers had deliberated ending the series with Ross and Rachel in "a gray area of where they aren't together, but we hint there's a sense that they might be down the road". Ultimately, Crane and Kauffman relented in favor of giving the audience what they wanted.