Aniston received the People’s Icon Award at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
For years, Jennifer Aniston has been an icon to millions of fans around the world, and now the 50-year-old actress has a trophy to prove it!
Aniston received the People’s Icon Award at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, where her Murder Mystery co-star and friend, Adam Sandler, presented the honor with a hilarious speech recalling how they first met and showering her with praise.
Aniston returned the love when she took the stage to accept the award, and she could barely contain her emotions in her speech.
"We don't do this for the critics, or each other, or to make our parents proud. We do it for the money!" Aniston said with a laugh. "No, I'm kidding. We do it for you guys, the fans."
"When I first heard that I had won this Icon Award, the first thing I thought was "holy s**t, have I been around this long?'" She added, explaining that if she deserves the award it's only because she was on "an iconic show with an iconic cast and an iconic haircut," referring to her legendary role on Friends.
"You believed in us, and you believed in those impossibly large apartments," she said, thanking the show's legion of die-hard fans. "It paved the way for everything... thank you for being on this journey with me and I love you guys. Thank you for sticking by me."
Aniston is the second recipient of the award, with actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy named the inaugural winner of the title in 2018. She has previously been awarded seven People's Choice Awards.
While Aniston’s recent arrival to Instagram -- during which she crashed the app and broke the Guinness World Record for reaching one million followers the fastest -- is enough to prove the actress’ icon status, her reign of popularity, of course, dates back to Friends.
Just 25 when the series debuted in 1994, the California native’s portrayal of Rachel Green would see her become an inspiration for everything from fashion to hairstyle choices. She also became a beloved role model for aspiring actors and women around the world.
The part also saw her win an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
After the sitcom wrapped in 2004, Aniston continued to bring laughter to fans around the globe via films including Horrible Bosses, We’re the Millers and Dumplin’.
Fifteen years since Friends wrapped, Aniston has now returned to television with her new Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, in which she stars opposite Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell.
Speaking to ET about being so popular that her Instagram debut proved too big for technology, Aniston joked that she had offered to pay to fix the app.
"I said, 'I'll pay for it, I'll fix it!'" she said. "I don't know what it is that I actually broke."
She also added that she had no idea her debut would attract so many followers.
See more on Aniston below.
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