17 Throwback Photos of Beautiful Birthday Girl and Friend Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston is 56 and fabulous!

The LolaVie founder has been the "It" girl since she first came on the scene back in the '90s and established an outstanding career, giving us classics such as Along Came Polly, The Break Up, Horrible Bosses, We Are the Millers and many more. And while she has been known to bring the funny, the Emmy-winning actress has been flexing her dramatic acting skills in the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ show The Morning Show.

As we celebrated her 56th birthday on Feb. 11, 2025, check out these throwback photos of Jennifer Aniston throughout the years.

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The One with the Hair

Aniston was locked into "the Rachel" for quite some time, and even told Allure in 2011, "I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."

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The One with the Publicity Photos

Aniston turned down a featured player spot on Saturday Night Live to do Friends.

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The One with Jean-Claude Van Damme

Producers had originally wanted Aniston to audition for Courteney Cox's role as Monica.

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The One Where Ross and Rachel …

The 1996 episode in which Ross and Rachel finally consummate their relationship is actually the first episode of the series in which two of the main characters' names are used in the title.

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The One with the '90s Suit

Other aspects of Friends-era style haven't aged quite as well as Rachel's haircut.

06 of 17

The One with the Bullies

Ten years after this episode aired in April 1996, Aniston would guest-star in Cox's series Dirt, playing her rival.

07 of 17

The One Where They're Friends in Real Life

The female Friends trio are still good friends and have been spotted out and about together (and on each other's Insta feeds) frequently.

08 of 17

The One with the Feminist Icon

Marlo Thomas, who played Rachel's mother Sandra in "The One with the Lesbian Wedding," authored the pioneering feminist children's book, Free to Be … You and Me.

09 of 17

The One with Literally Every Single Rachel Outfit

If you're interested, Bustle has took the time to rank every single outfit Aniston wore as Rachel in Friends. But how many are as timeless as she is?

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The One with Central Perk

Central Perk, willed into reality by thousands of Friends fans, actually occupied a corner of SoHo in New York City from September to October 2014, as part of a collaboration between Warner Bros. and Eight O'Clock Coffee. There is now a more permanent Central Perk in Boston.

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The One with the Prehistoric Drama

We just really like this picture of Aniston with a caveman diorama in a museum.

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The One Where Rachel Finds Out

Rachel trails Ross to the airport to tell him she fell in love with him in the show's season 1 finale. Nine seasons later, in the "The Last One, Part 2," Ross chases after Rachel for the same reason.

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The One Where She Went to Greece

Aniston's late father is Greek and a native of Crete; she and her family lived there for one year when she was a child, which she discussed in a 1996 appearance on The Tonight Show.

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The One After the Super Bowl

The show's two-part 1996 Super Bowl special was its highest-rated episode ever, pulling in 52.9 million viewers.

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The One with Ross

Over 10 seasons, Rachel and Ross became one of TV's most iconic couples. Read Entertainment Weekly's take on how and why that happened.

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The One with the Birthday Episode

Aniston and her tight-knit costars were pictured filming their classic birthday episode titled "The One Where They All Turn Thirty" back in 2001.

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The One Where She Pays Tribute to Matthew Perry

On Oct. 28, 2023, news broke that Matthew Perry had in an apparent drowning that was later revealed to be influenced by the acute effects of ketamine, according to an autopsy report obtained by PEOPLE two months later.

"Oh boy this one has cut deep … Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before," Aniston wrote in a tribute post to the actor.

"We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA."