Twins Who Played Rachel & Ross’s ‘Friends’ Baby Reflect on Show 22 Years Later

Twin sisters Athena and Alexandra Conley had a taste of fame early in life when they were cast on Friends as baby Emma, the daughter of Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston).

The sisters, now 23, were just six months old when they landed the role on television’s biggest show. Speaking to People about how the gig came about, Athena explained, “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.”

“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,” Athena added, noting they grew up in Long Beach, California.

 

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The audition featured “a bunch of twins”, and the sisters had their photos taken. “And then [the casting directors] were like, ‘Okay, we’ll send you guys an email to let you know who got it,'” Athena shared. “And when we were walking out, they stopped us and said, ‘You guys got the part.'”

Athena and Alexandra featured in ten episodes, making their debut at the end of Season 8 and continuing in the role through Season 9. They were later replaced as the character of Emma grew older.

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“Funny story, actually: they ended up replacing us because I did cry too much,” Alexandra quipped.

Athena explained, “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.”

 

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The sisters would film their scenes one day per week, with their mom and grandmother taking them to the set. “My mom was happy to go because, I mean, it was Friends — the most iconic show,” Alexandra said.

“[Our mom] said that all of the cast members were so nice and they were all hilarious, just cracking jokes the whole time,” Athena added. “She felt like she was like watching the show even when filming wasn’t taking place.”

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As for what the twins are up to now, they recently graduated from California Polytechnic State University. Athena works as an investment control reconciler in Denver and is also a part-time Denver Broncos cheerleader. Alexandra lives in Los Angeles and works in social media and marketing for a beauty brand.

The twins recently shared a TikTok video where they revealed they played baby Emma on Friends, something many of their own friends didn’t even know about.

“It’s just like a fact that we don’t really bring up all that often,” Athena shared. “Or I just assume people know it by now, but they all freak out when they find out.”