On the Oct. 20 episode of the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Jennifer Aniston revealed the surprising “actor’s treat” she requested from NBC after Friends became a juggernaut success following its 1994 premiere.
Aniston Had One Strange Request
Aniston, 56, opened up about experiencing the extreme, sudden success of NBC’s sitcom when she was just 25 years old. She recalled a meeting with then-NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield shortly after Friends took the airwaves by storm during its initial season. Aniston, up until then an actor of modest success best known for the horror movie Leprechaun (1993), wasn’t completely prepared for the immediate fame that Friends afforded her. When she sat down for a meeting with Littlefield, she made a very specific request to the network president.
“I said, ‘Will you please give me a washer and dryer?’” Aniston revealed to Shepherd and his co-host, Monica Padman. “And he wrote that down on a napkin!”
Aniston Was Jealous of Other Actors’ ‘Elaborate’ Gifts
When an audibly confused Shepherd asked Aniston if the appliance deal was “part of your negotiation,” Aniston explained that she asked for the big ticket items because she kept hearing about other NBC stars getting “elaborate” gifts in the wake of their show’s success.
“I just kept hearing that all these actors were getting cars and getting these things once they got hired,” she explained. “And Friends had happened and we were, I don’t know, at the upfronts for something.”
“You wanted a congratulatory washer and dryer,” Shepherd reiterated.
“I was like, ‘Why? Where’s my…Why do [these actors] get these treats for shows and stuff?’ And I said, ‘treats!’” Aniston laughed. “Actor treats,” she continued. “These elaborate, very expensive gifts. And [Littlefield] was like, ‘Well, what do you want?’ And I was like, ‘Really?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And I couldn’t think of anything. I was like, ‘I need a washer and a dryer.’”
“Did he deliver?” Shepherd asked, to which Aniston confirmed that Littlefield did, in fact, have a washer and dryer sent to Aniston’s home.
You can check out Aniston’s Armchair Expert interview below.
