Long before Molly Shannon and Jennifer Aniston became household names, one was waiting tables while quietly watching the other chase her Hollywood dreams.
During the July 14 episode of “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” Shannon looked back on her early days as a struggling actress, revealing she worked at several restaurants before landing her breakout role on “Saturday Night Live.” One of those jobs happened to put her face-to-face with a future television icon.
Shannon recalled working at the Los Angeles restaurant Cravings, where Aniston was a regular customer before she became a star on “Friends.”
“I worked at this place Cravings and Jennifer Aniston would always come in before she was really famous,” Shannon said. “And I would study her. I was like, ‘Wow, she’s like a real actress.'”
Jennifer Aniston Left a Lasting Impression Before Finding Fame
Shannon said Aniston stood out from everyone else who came through the restaurant. She remembered her looking polished, confident and completely focused every time she came in.
Shannon recalled that Aniston often arrived with her hair freshly blown out and would take her agents to lunch. She also couldn’t help but notice Aniston’s striking appearance.
“She’d have her hair blown dry straight… She took her agents all out for lunch and she had, like, crystal blue eyes,” Shannon said. “And I was like, ‘Whoa, she is all business.'”
Rather than simply serving her table, Shannon admitted she used the experience as a learning opportunity while pursuing her own acting career.
“So I would stand at my hostess stand, studying what it was like to become a superstar, studying Jennifer Aniston,” she recalled.
Not long after those restaurant encounters, both women found the career breakthroughs they had been working toward. Aniston was cast as Rachel Green on “Friends,” which premiered on NBC in September 1994, while Shannon joined “Saturday Night Live” as a midseason replacement in 1995 and remained on the sketch comedy series for six seasons, according to People.
Their Careers Eventually Came Full Circle
Years after watching Aniston from across the hostess stand, Shannon would end up sharing the “Saturday Night Live” stage with the actress.
Aniston previously revealed she nearly joined the “SNL” cast herself before “Friends” changed everything. Speaking on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast in October 2025, she recalled meeting with creator Lorne Michaels but turning down the opportunity because she believed the show was too much of a “boys’ club.”
Looking back, Aniston admitted she was “young and dumb” and laughed at what she described as her “self-righteous” attitude at the time. Instead, her career took a different path when she landed “Friends,” eventually returning to Studio 8H as a guest host in 1999 and again in 2004, per People.
Shannon has also spoken fondly about working with Aniston once their careers intersected. During “Saturday Night Live’s” 50th anniversary celebrations, she described the actress as “very laid back,” “easygoing” and “really fun” behind the scenes. According to Page Six, Shannon remembered Aniston wearing her large engagement ring from then-fiancé Brad Pitt during her first hosting appearance and praised her calm, professional demeanor throughout the week.
Today, both actresses are celebrated television veterans, but Shannon’s latest story offers a glimpse at the years before either became a household name, when one aspiring actress was quietly watching another and imagining what success might look like.
“I would stand at my hostess stand, studying what it was like to become a superstar, studying Jennifer Aniston.”
