Jane Sibbett, who played Ross’ ex-wife Carol on “Friends,” still hasn’t watched the beloved sitcom in its entirety.
“I have not. I confess,” Sibbett told The Post ahead of the 30th anniversary of the NBC series, which first aired on Sept. 22, 1994.
“Obviously, when I was shooting the show, I watched what we were doing, but generally I didn’t watch because I was so busy raising my children. . . . I’m that girl who just doesn’t watch what she’s already done. It’s really terrible.”
When her youngest daughter Violet turned 12, she asked her mom if they could start watching the show, which ended in 2004 after 10 seasons.
“She was the last person on the planet, you know, to see ‘Friends,’” said Sibbett, 61, who lives in Northern California.
The mom of three and grandmother of two only got midway into Season 2, but is planning to resume one day.
“I really should watch it because I know it’s amazing. Every time I watch it, I love it,” she gushed.
Sibbett originally auditioned for the role of Rachel, and although she wowed casting agents, she had to bow out because she was three months pregnant.
“My agent and manager were just like, ‘You got it. You nailed it. They love you. They want you,’” she recalled of the part, which later went to Jennifer Aniston.
“And then I said, ‘Did you tell them I’m pregnant?’”
Another woman was cast as Carol, but Sibbett got a call after delivering her son saying they wanted her to replace the actress, and sent her the pilot episode to watch.
“And I thought it was so amazing. And David Schwimmer was so incredibly funny that I just said, ‘I’ve got to work with this man,”’ recalled Sibbett, whose son was just two days old when she first arrived on the “Friends” set.
Carol was Ross’ pregnant ex-wife, who fell in love with Susan, played by Jessica Hecht.
Sibbett, who was baptized Episcopalian, but “became Presbyterian because the boys were cute at youth group,” recalled the backlash she received from playing a lesbian in the 90s.
“I mean, from my own father hosting Bible study on Thursday nights at 8 so that none of his friends could watch,” she said.
“I also had a friend from my old church say that she wanted to do an interview with me for some magazine that was faith based … we used to teach youth group together. And when I got on, she said, ‘You know you’re gonna burn in hell.’”
The 1996 union of Carol and Susan made history as the first lesbian wedding on television.
“It really helped give a great platform for conversation so that people could finally talk about what did we really believe in,” she said. “And I’m so happy that so many people saw this episode about love and all the foibles of the funny people around us, but not ever making fun of that beautiful relationship that Susan and Carol had.”
Sibbett believes that if “Friends” would have premiered in today’s world, audiences would still have fallen in love with it.
“Given the fact that people have been watching ‘Friends’ now for 30 years — isn’t that incredible — I think it would be wholly embraced,” she said.
“Obviously, we know that the diversity wasn’t existent and it should have been and there would be definitely some expansion. But we are clearly hungry for a show that is uplifting and funny and reflects our friend groups, how they become our family.”
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