Ahem, TikTok! Real 'Friends' fans discovered Rachel's viral 'vocal tic' long ago
Unlike Rachel's ever-changing hairstyles and long-winded voicemails, Jennifer Aniston's Rachel Green will never go out of style for long.
In fact, the actress and her iconic "Friends" character went viral this week after a TikTok user pointed out her ubiquitous character trait that might have gone unnoticed by casual fans.
Aniston, who won a Primetime Emmy Award for the role in 2002, frequently, if not always — ahem — cleared her throat before reciting Rachel's lines in an awkward situation. TikTok user @cts.trphe pointed that out back in January and insisted it would "ruin" the lives of "Friends" fans forever.
"Jennifer Aniston has this sort of vocal tic that she does at the beginning of every single sentence that she starts on any [episode] that she's in," @cts.trphe said in the viral clip, displaying a few examples. "It's very specific, and it's very hard to unsee once you notice it."
But the callout isn't new and was confirmed long ago. Eagle-eyed fans of the classic sitcom have been aware of her throat-clearing for years. In 2019, the year the Emmy-winning NBC comedy celebrated its 25th anniversary, one viewer even made a supercut featuring 200 such examples of Rachel's quirk and posted it on YouTube.
After the viral TikTok took off, diehard "Friends" fans took to social media to declare @cts.trphe's epiphany about Aniston "fake news."
"That 'verbal tic' that Jennifer Aniston has in Friends? Yeah, no, that's called acting," tweeted one fan. "She clears her throat when her character is uncomfortable with what she is saying (because it's a lie, or awkward, etc). This is what acting is about."
"Omg anyone at all who knows friends knows the now so called tic," tweeted another. "This is click bait. TikTok user uncovers Jennifer Aniston’s verbal tic in ‘Friends’ – fans think it’s part of her acting!"
Perhaps it's something that could be addressed — or relived — in HBO Max's long-awaited "Friends" reunion special set to be filmed this fall. Whether her vocal tic was a conscious creative decision or not, a rep for Aniston did not respond to The Times request for comment Wednesday.
Here's a look at fan reactions to the so-called Rachel revelation.
Omg anyone at all who knows friends knows the now so called tic. This is click bait. TikTok user uncovers Jennifer Aniston’s verbal tic in ‘Friends’ – fans think it’s part of her acting! https://t.co/vfsPkM40Fw
— sherry (@liverpoolgal) February 23, 2021
The vast majority of lines are delivered without that little cough, precisely because most of the time Rachel is happy with what she is saying.
— Chills Ahoy (@ChillsAhoy) February 23, 2021
Despite what the guy in the video i clicked on said, Jennifer Aniston's vocal tic at the start of every line she says in Friends has not ruined my life, it was ruined already mate.
— Wullie Blake (@wullieblake) February 24, 2021
So many articles about Jennifer Aniston's vocal tic while on Friends. If everyone is saying you can't un hear it then why tf would I want to know what it is?! Leave my old millennial, side hair parting, skinny jean loving ass alone and let me keep something sacred . #Friends
— Sarah Z (@Princsss_Sarah) February 24, 2021
So according to BuzzFeed, people are just now discovering Jennifer Aniston’s vocal tic in Friends - the throat clearing one - and that Elizabeth Olsen is sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley.
I just wanna know what rock these people have been living under so I too can escape humanity.— Amit! (@LicenceToMock) February 24, 2021
Jennifer Aniston's throat clearing tic is so bad it took people 25+ years to notice. People suck.
— Kid Phantasm (@cbbruuno) February 22, 2021
Clearing one's throat is a verbal tic now? If that's the case, why would it "ruin" someone's experience of watching #Friends? TikTok making a mountain out of a molehill like always. This is why I stay on Booktok and Indigenous TikTok. Leave Jen Aniston alone. 🙄
— Sarah the Book Nerd (@harasnicole) February 20, 2021
I'm not even a "Friends" fan and I can tell that it's not a Jennifer Aniston Vocal Tic it's a Rachel tic. Watch Jennifer in interviews and she doesn't do it.
People are silly, for real. pic.twitter.com/9oJNirh4hP— Nicole™ 🍸😷 (@Sassynic) February 24, 2021
Slow news day ?! .... FFS 🤦🏻♀️
To save anyone else the frustration of losing 60 seconds of their life - Jennifer Aniston clears her throat before speaking ... thats it ... thats the entire thing ... pic.twitter.com/gzlKtkQVEG— Ms Anne Thropé (@TinyButMighty17) February 23, 2021
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.