Jennifer Aniston
‘Friends’ star opens up on hit sitcom controversy
Jennifer Aniston has criticized her own hit series “Friends”.
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“Friends” star Jennifer Aniston has spoken out in no uncertain terms about the glaring lack of diversity in the hit sitcom.
For some time now, the hit 1990s sitcom “Friends” has been viewed critically by subsequent generations. The lack of diversity in the main cast of the show is particularly often negatively highlighted. After all, none of the six “Friends” main characters is a “person of color” – the term for non-white people, which is increasingly used in the USA and also in Germany.
Jennifer Aniston: “We should have thought about it carefully”
With superstar Jennifer Aniston (54), one of the main actresses of the still popular show has now commented on this controversy. “There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who now watch the ‘Friends’ episodes and find them offensive,” Aniston said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
However, some of the parts and elements of “Friends” that are now considered problematic were “never intentionally” created that way, the “The Morning Show” star pointed out. But for other parts of the popular series, Aniston sums it up: “Well, we should have thought about it carefully”. The 54-year-old actress also points out in her remarks that in the 1990s there was not the same “sensitivity” as today.
Only small roles for “PoC” actors
In fact, the lack of diversity in the Friends series is apparent. In addition to the six white main actors around the series stars Aniston, Courteney Cox (58), Matthew Perry (53) and Co., “PoC” actors were, if at all, only in small supporting or guest roles in the popular NBC sitcom see.
For example, the black actress Aisha Tyler (52) appeared in only eight “Friends” episodes, and is unfortunately even the “front runner” among the “PoC” actors of the series.
In the meantime, many of those involved have recognized this problem. For example, “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow (59) caused a stir a few years ago, when she was asked in an interviewon how “Friends” would be different if produced in modern times, replied, “Well, there wouldn’t be an all-white cast, that’s for sure”.