In the ten years that Friends was on the air, it had plenty of plot twists and surprises, from Monica and Chandler getting together in London to Rachel and Joey (briefly) doing the same.
Among the biggest shocks was not only when it was revealed that Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel was pregnant, but after some deliberation, it was unveiled that Ross was the father.
That baby turned out to be Emma Geller-Green, and now, over 20 years later, the twins that first played her are opening up about what it was really like.
© GettyHow it came to be
Athena and Alexandra Conley, now 23, grew up in Long Beach, California, not too far from Hollywood. Speaking to People about how they were cast on arguably one of the most famous shows of the time, Athena said: "My mom's friend from church was a part of a twins club, and everyone in this club knew about this Friends audition that was happening locally," adding: "So she told my mom about it and she was like, 'You should just take your daughters to L.A. just for one day.' And it wasn't far from us at all, so she did."
"So we just went and I guess there were a bunch of twins there, and we all had photos, and they took us to the back room. And then [the casting directors] were like, 'Okay, we'll send you guys an email to let you know who got it.' And when we were walking out, they stopped us and said, 'You guys got the part,'" she continued.
They eventually got replaced
Athena and Alexandra filmed ten episodes of the show — they were the first Emma — before they had to be replaced; they filmed an episode per week. "Funny story, actually: they ended up replacing us because I did cry too much," Alexandra joked.
© Getty"They couldn't use just one baby the whole time due to child labor laws, so they had to replace us after season 9 with a new pair of twins," her sister added.
What it was really like
Though of course the ladies don't exactly remember their time on the show, Alexandra said: "My mom was happy to go because, I mean, it was Friends — the most iconic show."
© InstagramAthena added: "She said that all of the cast members were so nice and they were all hilarious, just cracking jokes the whole time. She felt like she was watching the show even when filming wasn't taking place."
Where they are now
Last year, both of them graduated from California Polytechnic State University. Athena now lives in Denver, where she works as an investment control reconciler for a financial services company, as well as a Denver Broncos cheerleader, part-time.
© InstagramAlexandra lives in Los Angeles, and works in social media and marketing for a beauty brand.
They have since of course watched the show. "Now I'm obsessed with Friends — it's one of my favorite shows ever. So watching it now and seeing ourselves I'm like, 'This is crazy,'" Alexandra said.
