Rachel Green encyclopedia topics

Background

Rachel appeared in the Pilot episode running into Central Perk in a rain-soaked wedding dress in search of her high school best friend Monica Geller, with whom she had evidently lost contact with either during her university years or shortly after. Rachel, unlike Monica, was popular during high school, and had always been promiscuous, which is steadily reflected in a comical sort of way throughout the series until the last couple of seasons. Prior to the series Rachel had fled her wedding to Barry Farber (or Barry Finkle, as he was initially known) having discovered she desired the gravy boat that she had been given as a wedding gift more than she desired Barry. Consequently, Rachel was stuck in a state of arrested development, an adult woman who emotionally had not outgrown adolescence. Like Ross and Monica, Rachel is believed to be Jewish.

Rachel's parents are rich and generally cynical of her attempt at an independent life in the city. Her mother, played by Marlo Thomas, was comically snobbish and her lack of hands-on mothering skills came into when she offered to be the nanny to Rachel and Ross's baby. Her father, Dr. Green was stern and intimidating, as seen in his behavior toward Ross when Ross and Rachel were dating, and again when Rachel revealed to him that she was pregnant.

In comparison to her sisters, however, Rachel was definitely the most grounded and down to earth Green daughter. Although this only really became evident after she moved in with Monica and became financially independent from her parents for the first time. Her sister Amy (played by Christina Applegate), was rude and shockingly tactless, while her other sister Jill (played by Reese Witherspoon), was spoiled and vain.

Rachel's on-again and off-again relationship with Ross eventually produced a baby daughter, Emma. Rachel's pregnancy was actually the second one of the group after Phoebe had acted as a surrogate to her brother's children. The show ended with Rachel getting back together with Ross after contemplating a move to France to work for Louis Vuitton in Paris. It is unknown whether or not they would marry again (They had drunkenly married on a trip to Las Vegas at the end of season 5). However a hint is dropped in the season premiere of the spin-off Joey where Joey states that all his friends were married, settled and started a family.

Rachel's catchphrase or famous line is "huh? noooooooo!" which is used mostly in the later series. In one episode, Rachel and Monica are discussing something to do with Ross at his apartment, Monica says "huh? noooooo" to which Rachel responds with her line "I KNOW!."

Personality

Rachel's personality evolved somewhat over the series. Early on, the focus was on her as a spoiled daddy's girl stereotype, although later in the series, especially after having her baby, Rachel became less self-absorbed. However, she was still the friend most focused on image and could be selfish. She was often described as one of the most popular but also one of the snobbiest girls in school, and (Aniston's then-husband) Brad Pitt even once guest-starred as a jilted enemy from high school still angry at her treatment of him.

Image-conscious Rachel had a nose job at some point when she was a teenager, due she claimed, to a deviated septum. Flashback episodes show the teenage Rachel with her much larger nose and the insinuation is that the operation was for image rather than necessity, a fact seemingly confirmed by a flippant comment from her sister Amy regarding Emma - "Do you ever worry that she's going to get your real nose?" (in which she does worry). After an unhappy stint as a waitress, she was encouraged by her friends to follow her interests into the world of high fashion. Her focus on image and fashion often came at the expense of any domestic skills, of which she was mocked for having few. In one episode, for example, she memorably used meat when making the group a trifle for Thanksgiving dessert after misreading the recipe (the pages were glued together).

Relationships

Ross

Rachel is perhaps most famous for her turbulent relationship with Monica's brother Ross Geller. Ross had apparently harbored a crush on 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." After an argument over Rachel's friendship with a male co-worker, Rachel suggested taking "a break." Ross, thinking that Rachel was ending the relationship, got so drunk that he slept with "the hot girl from the copy place," Chloe. When Rachel found out, she broke up with Ross in a scene that involved Ross and Rachel arguing in Monica's living room while the other four friends were trapped in Monica's bedroom. This incident is on the episode "The One with the Morning After." (The scene was so emotional that both David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston actually cried after it was shot.) From then on, the two shared an almost-on again-almost-off again relationship. When Phoebe fixes Ross up with her "bald friend Bonnie," Rachel is clearly jealous when she sees that Bonnie is no longer bald, and in fact has quite long hair. In the episode at the beach, where Phoebe learns the true identity of her birth mother, Rachel convinces Bonnie to shave her head again. When Ross asks her why she did it, Rachel admits that it's because she still has feelings for him and finds it hard to see him with other women. While Ross is next door breaking up with Bonnie, Rachel pens a rather long letter to Ross ("18 pages, front and back!" as Ross repeatedly said throughout the episode), asking him to take responsibility for their first break-up. However, Ross falls asleep while reading the letter, and later bluffs that he agrees with what the letter has to say. Afterwards, after reading the entire letter, which basically asks him if he will take responsibility for all the things that went wrong in their relationship, he finds out he strongly disagrees. He tries to swallow his pride and act like he accepts it; however, when the pair are in bed, and Rachel is saying she's glad she didn't accept her mother's advice that "once a cheater, always a cheater," he finally snaps. A very loud "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" is heard being shouted by Ross from the bedroom, and they angrily break up again.

Rachel's history of only realizing her true feelings for Ross when he meets another woman appears again when Ross meets Emily, the niece of Rachel's boss at Bloomingdales. When Ross and Emily get engaged and plan a wedding in London, Rachel decides not to go, lying to Ross that she has to work, but admitting to her friends that the true reason for her absence is that watching Ross get married would be too difficult. However, she later changes her mind and against the advice of Phoebe (who tried to chase her to stop her leaving, but is unable to do so as she is pregnant with the triplets at the time) she flies to London to tell Ross that she loves him and tries to stop the wedding. She arrives just in time to see Ross before the ceremony kissing Emily. When Rachel sees this, she realizes she cannot tell Ross her true feelings, and instead gives Ross her blessing. This results in Ross saying Rachel's name instead of Emily's at the altar, much to Emily's horror. When Ross's new bride does not appear at the airport for their honeymoon a few days later, Ross instead invites Rachel to accompany him to Greece. However, Emily appears at the last minute, sees Rachel getting on the plane as Ross's companion, and runs away. Ross chases her, subsequently abandoning Rachel on the plane to Greece. When Rachel returns from Greece, she is determined to tell Ross what she didn't get a chance to tell him in London - that she still loves him. Despite Monica trying to talk her out of it, she tells him, but immediately realizes how funny it sounds, leaving a bemused Ross to consider the comical state of his marriage thus far.

Later, on a trip to Las Vegas, the two got married after getting drunk together. The morning after, neither of them initially remember anything about the previous night, and are perplexed as to why they wake up in bed together. They only recall what happened when they meet the other friends downstairs in the hotel for breakfast. They later get a divorce after Ross lies to Rachel about already getting the marriage annulled. He wants to remain married to Rachel as he apparently cannot face being divorced for the third time. Phoebe believes the real reason he wants to keep his ties to her is because he still loves her. She even seeks the opinions of three strangers in the coffee house in hopes that Ross, upon hearing their take on the situation, will realize that he is still in fact in love with Rachel. One time, when Phoebe had all three backups with Joey, Chandler, and Ross, should Phoebe still be single at 40, she says she would marry one of them. Rachel also wanted to have a backup, and approached Ross saying if she and Ross remain single at 40, they'll marry each other. Ross tells Rachel that Phoebe was his backup, making Rachel mad at Phoebe for having more than one backup. In the end, Rachel's backup is Ross, while Phoebe's backup is Joey. Rachel and Ross later had a baby, Emma, who was conceived after a one-night stand, although they chose to remain just friends and live together to raise Emma (until after a disagreement, Rachel moves in with Joey). Eventually, in the final season, Rachel and Ross finally get together for good after she almost moved to Paris for a new job with Louis Vuitton.

In the first Episode of the spin-off Joey, Joey hints that Ross and Rachel eventually got married by saying that all of his friends are wed.

Joey

Later on in the series, Joey and Rachel have a brief relationship. In the episode "The One with the Donor," Phoebe learns about Rachel's feelings for Joey. Then in the episode "The One in Barbados, Part One," Ross and Charlie (his female work associate) discover that they have a lot in common, while Joey and Rachel discover their feelings for each other. Earlier on in the series, Joey was jealous of Chandler and Monica's love for each other, so he thought that he might be able to have a relationship with Rachel since they are already friends, and another incident in the episode "The One with All the Resolutions," Joey was picking out who should kiss who and claimed that he would kiss Rachel. Then in the episode "The One in Barbados, Part Two," Joey and Rachel finally decide they are going to be a couple. In the episode "The One with Ross's Tan," Joey and Rachel decide that dating each other is too weird. But in between that, in the episode "The One Where Ross is Fine," Ross pretends to be fine with Rachel dating Joey, but really isn't, so he acts really crazy when he and Charlie decide that they were going to have a relationship and had Rachel and Joey over for a "Double Date."

Monica

The other friend Rachel was closest to was Monica, her friend since high school. In their high school years, it is revealed that Rachel was a popular cheerleader with a string of boyfriends, while Monica was her less attractive and overweight best friend. They lost contact for a number of years, but became close again when Rachel jilted Barry before their wedding and chose to move in with Monica.

It is revealed that Monica didn't expect to become close friends with Rachel again, as during a flashback episode, set shortly before Rachel's scheduled wedding to Barry, Monica and Rachel have a chance encounter, resulting in Monica remarking: "Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life."

During the period that they lived together, Rachel is revealed to be an exceptionally good roommate. As Monica tells Phoebe, Rachel has sweet little quirks, such as folding back the pages in catalogues of things she thinks Monica would like. She also leaves messages on the mirror when Monica takes a shower, and lets Monica borrow her hundred-plus pairs of boots.

Their living situation lasted for the first 5 seasons until eventually Chandler moved in with Monica during Season 6. Rachel's moving out drew the two women to tears. Later, they had a near falling out when, on the day of Monica's engagement to Chandler, Monica caught Rachel and Ross kissing, and accused Rachel of always trying to "steal her thunder."

Chandler

Rachel and Chandler met in the 80s when she was introduced to him through her best friend Monica's brother Ross. Their first meeting was at a Thanksgiving celebration at the Geller home. The pair met again at a party a Ross and Chandler's college in the winter of '87, as revealed in the Season 10 episode "The One Where The Stripper Cries." At this party, Chandler and a drunk Rachel shared a kiss (but it was revealed that the only reason Chandler kissed Rachel was to get back at Ross for kissing a girl he liked). In '91, they met again at a bar which would be torn down to make room for the gang's frequent hangout spot Central Perk. Rachel hadn't seen Monica, Ross, or Chandler since her days in high school. At the bar, Chandler overhears Rachel talking to some friends about how she wants to have one last night of meaningless sex before her marriage to Barry, and that she wants to have it with the first guy she lays her eyes on, which happens to be Chandler. They never did hook up, but Rachel did fantasize over him, regretting not letting him take her, but by this time it was too late. This was shown in the Season 3 episode "The One With The Flashback." At the start of the show, Rachel and Chandler would cross paths again, this time in '94, when Rachel, having just left Barry at the altar, storms into Central Perk looking for Monica. Through the course of the series, Rachel and Chandler's relationship grows, and they share a close friendship, often consoling and confiding in one another. In the season 10 episode "The One With Rachel's Going Away Party," Chandler and Rachel share a strong private moment, and Chandler tells her that he loves her, and is going to miss her, and is sad that she's leaving for Paris, to which Rachel responds tearfully "I love you, too."

Family

Like all the main characters, Rachel has slight problems within her family.

In a way quite reminiscent of Monica's mother, Mrs. Green has a way of being quite dominating and unpleasant without going too much overboard. She's also quite harsh when it comes to her opinions (such as, for instance, when she suggested moving into Ross's apartment after Emma's birth and saying that his "dinosaur things" belonged in the garbage). It is implied that Rachel was quite like Mrs. Green before she decided to turn things around and start a life in the city, running away from her marriage, whereas Mrs. Green actually got married to "her Barry." During her first visit, she actually says that Rachel's life is what she wants.

Dr. Green, however, is quite a dominating but nonetheless equally harsh man when it comes to speaking. He's very concerned about discipline. He has a striking sense of sarcasm and what he deems right or wrong, but he's not afraid of spoiling his daughters (as shown in one episode when Rachel reveals that her father bought her "her own boat" to cheer her up after her "pony was sick"). However, when disagreeing with them, he disables their unlimited use of money. However, despite being quite generous when it comes to his daughters, he shares very little of his wealth with others, as reflected when he leaves a 2% tip at a restaurant after going out to eat with Rachel and Ross.

Rachel's parents have had barely any love life, as they married for the sake of money; according to Rachel, they barely even spoke (except when they argued) and ended up getting divorced in Season 3. They could not be in the same room as each other, as shown when the Friends throw Rachel two birthday parties at the same time; one with Rachel's mother in Monica's apartment and one with her father in Joey and Chandler's.

Rachel also has two sisters, Jill and Amy, with whom she has a typical sibling-rivalry relationship; when they were younger, they would constantly pull pranks on each other. Jill is supposedly her "favorite" sister, despite being extremely spoiled, and during her visit when their father decides to financially cut her off, Jill decides to start dating Ross, but ends up doing it to get back at Rachel.

Unlike Jill, who at least found Ross "cute, but nerdy," Amy does not even recognize him and believes he's a falafel-seller. In spite of her tactless nature, it is also revealed that Amy is the "bitter" one, as questioned by Phoebe in the Thanksgiving episode in which Amy comes to spend the holidays with the Friends. Rachel also doesn't seem quite as close to Amy as to Jill; when Amy visits during Emma's first Thanksgiving in the ninth season, she only says Hi, but then tells her she came by to borrow a hair-straightener, and saying how "Emmett" is cute, then realizing the baby is a girl.

In "The One with Rachel's Phone Number," some guys in a bar live in her grandmother's building. Her grandma's name is Ida Green. Rachel says that she has "no sense of personal space, kinda smells like chicken, looks like a potato!"

Career

Rachel gets her first job as a waitress at Central Perk. She turns out to be hopeless, taking long breaks to sit with her friends and regularly mixing up orders. In the third season, after encouragement from Joey and Chandler she quits her coffee shop job to enter a career in fashion, working as a personal assistant at Fortunata Fashions. Later on, she gets a job as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's with the help of colleague Mark, but after Mark leaves and her boss Joanna dies, her department is closed out and she is demoted to personal shopper. She then becomes a buyer at Ralph Lauren, where she memorably has an affair with her assistant, Tag Jones. In a few episodes, when acquaintances are impressed by Rachel's occupation and query whether Rachel knows Ralph Lauren himself, she always says that she does. However, when they reply "really?" she admits she actually does not. In the final episodes of the last season, Rachel is fired from Ralph Lauren when her boss overhears her having a job interview with Gucci. She is then offered a lucrative job in Paris with Louis Vuitton by her ex-colleague Mark. Upset by Rachel's impending move to Paris, Ross, through bribery, manages to convince Rachel's old boss from Ralph Lauren to give Rachel her job back for more money than the offer in Paris. Initially, Rachel declines this offer and decides to accept the job with Louis Vuitton. However, she cancels her plans to leave New York after she realizes she is still in love with Ross.

Surname

Some inconsistency in the spelling of the surname has led to confusion as to the correct spelling. In the credits it is spelled as "Green" when referring to the surnames of her parents. However, within the show itself it has been spelled "Greene," including when her name was written on an invitation sent out by Ross and a subsequent RSVP. The name plate on her office door also says Greene.

The subtitles of the DVDs change: in the earliest seasons' DVDs it's spelled Greene, then changing it to Green.

Birthday

In one episode, Rachel tells Gunther that her birthday is May 5 (and the birthday is celebrated in various episodes in May), but in another episode, a policeman looks at her driver's license and finds that she is an Aquarius, suggesting that her birthday lies between January 21 and February 19. In "The One With The Fake Party" which aired March 13th, 1998 Rachel says she is a 28 year old cheerleader which would make her birth year 1969, the same year as Monica's, and one year younger than Ross & Chandler which coincides with several flashback episodes throughout the series. That also makes the May 5th date more plausible as she would turn 29 on May 5th 1998.

There are some inconsistencies though. In 2001 she celebrates her 30th birthday, implying a birth year of 1971.

Production

Two of Jennifer Aniston's real life partners portrayed characters on the show: Tate Donovan as Rachel's boyfriend Joshua during the fourth season and then-husband Brad Pitt as Will, a high school classmate whose intense dislike of Rachel was revealed when he came to Thanksgiving dinner in "The One with the Rumor."

Notes and references

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Last updated on Thursday July 24, 2008 at 09:46:32 PDT (GMT -0700)
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