Jennifer Aniston 'couldn’t believe' this about her 'Friends' namesake Rachel Zegler
AUSTIN, Texas — Call it “The One Where Rachel Green Hangs with her Namesake.”
At Saturday’s premiere of “Y2K” during Austin’s SXSW festival, Rachel Zegler, star of the nostalgic disaster film, dished on sitting beside Jennifer Aniston at the People's Choice Awards on Feb. 18. As Zegler shared during a November appearance on “The Tonight Show,” her mom named her after Rachel on “Friends,” the beloved NBC sitcom that ran for 10 seasons (1994-2004).
“My mom loved the way it sounded on ‘Friends’ for Jennifer Aniston,” Zegler told Jimmy Fallon, “and then that was my name.”
The “West Side Story” actress, 22, described Aniston Saturday as a sweetheart of a seatmate at the awards show, where both ladies walked away with trophies. Aniston won drama TV star of the year for “The Morning Show,” and Zegler was named action movie star of the year for her performance in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”
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“She said that she had read about (me being named after her), and she didn’t believe it because she said it made everybody feel very old,” Zegler said. “And that’s what I get a lot when I tell people I was named after ‘Friends.’ They say you’re not young enough to be named after ‘Friends.’ I’m like, 'I am, though.'"
Zegler added that she was so happy for Aniston’s victory that evening, and one thing about the "West Side Story" actress Aniston in disbelief.
“She couldn’t believe I don’t watch reality television,” said Zegler. “That was something she kept saying. She was like ‘The Bachelor?’ ‘Real Housewives?’ I was like, ‘No, never seen it.’” Zegler said Aniston is a fan of the genre.
Zegler, however, is a fan of the 90s music featured in her new film.
“The music is just my favorite thing (from that time),” she said. “There’s never been a better modern era of music that’s been made.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jennifer Aniston 'didn’t believe' Rachel Zegler got name from Friends
