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Why Jennifer Aniston Passed on Hosting ‘SNL’ the First Time: ‘I Had This Self-Righteous Attitude’
Jennifer Aniston may have hosted Saturday Night Live twice during her long Hollywood career, however, she had turned it down the first time she was asked — long before her Friends fame.
The Morning Show star, 56, recalled what went down during the Monday, October 13 episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast.
“I always thought I was such hot s**t. The story of that is all very confusing,” she said. “I remember I was in New York City and I had a meeting with [SNL creator] Lorne Michaels. I ran into [Adam] Sandler and [David] Spade in the room right outside. And I knew Sandler forever.”
Shepard, 50, wondered if she was pals with Sandler, 59, before scoring the role of Rachel Green on NBC’s Friends in 1994.
“Yes, he was very good friends with Charlie Schlatter, who played Ferris Bueller in the television version of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Aniston said. “So, we met at Jerry’s Deli in, like, 1912.”
Aniston had first appeared on the single season TV series based on the 1986 John Hughes film of the same name in 1990.
The Along Came Polly actress dished that she first felt that the late-night comedy sketch show was somewhat misogynistic. “I don’t know why I had this self-righteous attitude of, ‘I don’t know if women are treated the way they should be treated on this show.’ It’s a very male-dominated [show], I would love to be here if it was in the Gilda Radner day,” she added. “This is the brain that semi-remembers things that are back that far. Something like that. I can’t remember, but I just remember Friends then happened.”
Friends ran until 2004 across 10 seasons, with Aniston finally hosting SNL twice during its run. She emceed the show in 1999 and 2004.
