Rachel Green

Rachel Karen Green is a fictional character played by Jennifer Aniston on the popular TV series sit-com Friends.

Rachel appeared in the Pilot episode running into Central Perk in a rain-soaked wedding dress, in search of her old friend Monica Geller, with whom she had had little or no contact since high school. Rachel had fled her wedding to Barry Farber having discovered she desired the gravy boat that she had been given as a wedding gift more than she desired Barry (she also claimed it was at this moment she became aware of his resemblance to Mr. Potato Head). It emerged that Rachel never had a job and had always lived on her father's money. After her father refused to pay for her credit cards unless she went through with the marriage, Monica and the rest of the Friends encouraged Rachel to start a new life in New York City.

Rachel got her first job as a waitress at Central Perk. She turned out to be hopeless, taking long breaks to sit with her friends and getting orders mixed up regularly. However, probably because of Gunther's crush on Rachel, she kept the job for some time. In the third season, after encouragement from Joey and Chandler she quit to enter a career in fashion. This eventually led to a job as a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's. She later became a buyer for Ralph Lauren, but was fired when she was caught interviewing for Gucci. She was then offered a job at Louis Vuitton's Paris office by a former co-worker.

Rachel is perhaps most famous for her turbulent relationship with Monica's brother Ross Geller. Ross had apparently harboured a crush for Rachel since their school days. When Rachel moved to the city, Ross tried to re-kindle his affection, and after a rocky start the two finally got together in The One With The Prom Video. The relationship ended when a blazing row over Rachel's friendship with a male co-worker led Ross to sleep with the cute girl from the copy place (the object of Joey and Chandler's affections). When Rachel found out, she broke up with Ross in a famous scene that involves Ross and Rachel arguing in Monica's living room whilst the other four Friends are trapped in Monica's bedroom, afraid of interrupting the argument. From then on, the two shared an almost on again-almost off again relationship. On a trip to Las Vegas, the two were married while drunk, but the union was quickly dissolved. However, during the seventh season, they slept together, after which Rachel became pregnant, and later gave birth to Ross's second child, Emma. In the final episode, Ross was encouraged by Joey and Phoebe to declare his love to Rachel before she left to pursue her career in Paris. His plea was successful and the two once again entered into a relationship.

For most of the series, Rachel lived in Monica's apartment. They had a likeable, enduring chemistry which was to become one of the main elements of the show. However, when Chandler moved in with Monica, Rachel moved out to give them some privacy. From here she moved in with Phoebe Buffay. The two got on just as well but, when Rachel accidentally caused a fire in Phoebe's apartment, she spent some time living with Joey. By the time Phoebe's apartment was repaired, Rachel was enjoying living with Joey so much that she decided to stay. This decision was actually initiated by Phoebe, who realised that she could now have a bedroom twice as large as before, as the fire had destroyed a false wall which had separated their rooms. When Rachel became pregnant with Ross' child, she moved in with him. However, things became awkward after the birth, and she soon moved back in with Joey.

Shortly after moving to the city, and before dating Ross, Rachel engaged in a purely sex-based relationship with an Italian model named Paolo. In the seventh season, she moved in with Joey and he quickly fell in love with her. In later seasons, she began to reciprocate these feelings. However, despite some close encounters, the relationship came to nothing.

Rachel's parents went through an acrimonious divorce beginning in Season 2. Rachel is the middle of their three daughters: her older sister is Amy Green, played by Christina Applegate, and her younger sister is Jill Green, played by Reese Witherspoon.