Rachel Zegler had a great night at the People’s Choice Awards on Sunday.
She not only picked up a major award, but she got to sit next to Hollywood royalty, Jennifer Aniston, with whom she has a special connection.
Zegler managed to snag the Action Movie Star of the Year award for her role in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes by beating huge stars such as a Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise, Brie Larson and Jason Mamoa.
But it was her proximity to Aniston that got people’s attention. She was there to receive the Icon Award from Adam Sandler, and she also won the award for best TV Drama Star for her work on The Morning Show.
“Rachel Zegler sitting next to Jennifer Aniston is so iconic because Rachel was named after Jennifer Aniston’s character on Friends, Rachel Green ❤️❤️❤️,” a Hunger Games fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in a post that has had almost 106,000 views.
Aniston played Rachel Green in the long-running sitcom, in a role that shot her to superstardom.
Zegler revealed the meaning behind her name in a 2023 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I was named after Rachel Green from Friends. That is real. That is a real fact, and nobody ever believes me because they think that there’s no way that I’m young enough to be named after [a character from Friends], but I am,” she explained.
Zegler’s mom apparently “loved the way [the name] sounded on Friends for Jennifer Aniston,” with the actress adding that if “Rachel” hadn’t been an option she “could’ve been been named ‘Ross’.”
During her acceptance speech, Zegler declared her love for the filmmaking process.
“I love movies, I love making them, and I am a fan of movies, and I am surrounded by movie fans tonight, and movie fans who voted, and I am so thankful to everyone who’s ever bought a ticket and watched something that so many people have made,” she said.
“For so long in this business, I didn’t think I fit in, but tonight, you made me feel like I don’t have to change myself to be chosen, and I appreciate you so much.”
Zegler was also nominated for Female Movie Star of the Year, but lost that award to Margot Robbie for her role in box-office smash Barbie.
