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Jennifer Aniston branded Friends the “gift of a lifetime” as she paid tribute to the “iconic” series and its cast during a heartfelt but hilarious awards show speech.
The actor, who played Rachel Green in the hit sitcom, was honoured with the Icon award at the 49th People’s Choice Awards in the US on Sunday night.
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Alberto Rodriguez/E! Entertainment via Getty Images
Jennifer Aniston accepts The People's Icon of 2019 award on stage during the E! People's Choice Awards
As Jen took to the stage to accept the award, she said: “Thank you for this incredible honour. This town throws out a lot of awards, but the People’s Choice, this has always been special to me.”
She joked: “As actors, we don’t do this for critics or for each other, or to make our families proud, you know? We do this for the money.
“No, I’m just kidding, we do it for you guys, we really do. None of us could do what we do if it was not for all of you, and you all have been so good to me.”
Jennifer went on: “When I first heard that I’d won this icon award, the first thing I thought was ’Holy shite, have I been around this long?!′ Turns out I have.
“But If I have any claim to this word ‘icon’, it’s only because I was able to be on an iconic show, with an iconic cast, and an iconic haircut.
“Friends was truly – it was the gift of a lifetime, and I would not be standing up here without that amazing show, without those amazing five other actors, and with an audience who stuck with us...
“You believed in us, you really did, and you believed in those very impossibly large apartments.”
Jennifer, who is currently starring in new Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, added: “You paved the way for everything that I’ve had a chance to do since and it feels so good, also, that I get to be back on television, where it all started.
“Thank you for being on this journey with me, and just, I love you guys.”
Last month, Jennifer “broke Instagram” when she joined the photo-sharing site and posted a picture of all six Friends cast members together during a recent reunion.
She told TV host Ellen DeGeneres: “We would love for there to be something, but we don’t know what that something is.
“So we’re just trying, we’re working on something.”
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NBC via Getty Images
The cast of Friends
Ellen then pressed whether the project could be a feature-length film, but Jen remained tight-lipped, saying she doesn’t want to “lead people on” by giving any further information.
11 Minor Friends Characters We Wish We'd Seen More Of
Jack and Judy Geller (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles)(01 of11)
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Whether they're being wildly sexually inappropriate, insensitive to their daughter or putting everybody in their place, the arrival of Monica and Ross's parents always guarantees an eventful episode.
While Jack and Judy are the recurring characters with the most guest appearances (20, if you're interested), we'd still like to have seen them a little more often. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht)(02 of11)
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Sadly, Susan was never seen past the sixth series of Friends, which is a real shame as we loved her long-standing frosty relationship with Ross.
We particularly enjoyed her blasé putdowns, which she managed to deliver with an iciness we aspire to. (credit:Warner Bros)
Bonnie (Christine Taylor)(03 of11)
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A woman who will shave her head in the middle of a beach holiday just because someone planted the mere suggestion in her mind. Amazing.
We know Rachel wouldn't have been thrilled by the prospect, but we definitely wouldn't have minded Bonnie sticking around for more than two episodes. (credit:Warner Bros)
Eddie Menuek (Adam Goldberg)(04 of11)
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As Chandler's brief time living with Eddie grew to a close, he became an even more odd creation, but it would have been great if the writers had cranked things up another notch with his strangeness, or at the very least showed us what happened when he was shown the door.
Where did he go? Who does he live with now? How is his cherished pet, the goldfish cracker? These are the questions we need answers to. (credit:Warner Bros)
Amy Greene (Christina Applegate)(05 of11)
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It's always great when one of the characters' family members arrive, because they remind you of how they used to be – and that's never more true than when Rachel's sister Amy arrives on the scene.
Amy is even more spoilt, and cares less about other people's feelings, than Season One Rachel, though with slightly less iconic hair. (No offence to Christina Applegate, of course). (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Frank Buffay Jr and Alice Knight Buffay (Giovanni Ribisi and Debra Jo Rupp)(06 of11)
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Joey was the character who went on to end up with his own spin-off, but we think it definitely should have been Frank and Alice.
Who honestly wouldn't want to watch a show about a man who marries his home-economics teacher, then raises triplets – that his sister gives birth to – with her? It would have been an Emmys shoo-in. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Amanda Buffamonteezi (Jennifer Coolidge)(07 of11)
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Phoebe and Monica made the unwise decision to "cut out" Amanda, but frankly we'd have happily seen her stay until the finale, for the dancing alone. (credit:Warner Bros)
Mr Heckles (Larry Hankin)(08 of11)
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The great thing about Mr Heckles, especially watching earlier series back, is that it reminds you just how young the characters were – and what a nightmare that group of twenty-somethings would have been if you lived near them... (credit:Warner Bros)
Erica (Anna Faris)(09 of11)
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...conversely, by the time Erica arrives in the tenth season, her youthful naivety proves just how far the six principal characters have come.
We can't help but feel the fabulous and funny Anna Faris was criminally underused, and it would have been nice to see her stay around exploring New York for a while longer, rather than her few fleeting appearances. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
Gunther (James Michael Tyler)(10 of11)
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True, Gunther did feature in quite a lot of episodes, but how much do we know about the man behind the fluorescent hair?What does he do at night? Where does he live? What are his hopes? His dreams? His fears?Actually, it's probably best not to know... (credit:Warner Bros)
Marcel (Katie the Monkey)(11 of11)
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Just because. (credit:Warner Bros via friends.wikia.com)
-- This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which
closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions
or concerns about this article, please contact
indiasupport@huffpost.com.