Jennifer Aniston's Natural Hair Is Worlds Away From Her Most Iconic Style

When it comes to movie and TV hairstyles, there are probably few as iconic as "the Rachel," the bouncy, layered, shoulder-length hair rocked by Jennifer Aniston's Rachel Green in the early seasons of "Friends." While Rachel eventually grew out her honey-blond hair and opted for longer, sleeker tresses for the later seasons of the sitcom, her eponymous hairstyle became a timeless classic that still gets revived as a trend every few years or so. Unfortunately, the truth about "the Rachel" hairdo was that it was Aniston's version of that embarrassing childhood haircut we want to delete from our core memory. "I was not a fan of the 'Rachel.' That was kind of cringe-y for me," she told Glamour candidly in 2015. But aside from not being one of her favorite looks, the style is also completely different from Aniston's natural hair.

Her choppy sun-kissed blond bob continued the evolution of Aniston's hair beyond "the Rachel," but before either of those looks, she used to rock her natural dark brown, wavy tresses. It might come as a surprise considering blond or highlighted hair has become a signature look for both Aniston and her most famous role, but yes, the actor is actually a brunette blessed with naturally voluminous hair. The Hollywood star looked almost unrecognizable in this throwback photo shared on X, which showed a young Jennifer posing with her longtime pal and fellow actor Andrea Bendewald in the '90s. Aniston sported pure dark brown hair that was straight at the top and fell into waves around her chin. Unlike the longer face-framing layers associated with the Rachel haircut, Aniston had shorter wispy bangs that were parted in the middle during her natural hair era.

DAYUM Jennifer Aniston rocked brown hair and floral nighties. pic.twitter.com/cV1ynioW6L

— Ebony Lewkovitz (@ebonylewkovitz) May 21, 2015

While Jennifer Aniston looked stunning as a brunette, we rarely ever saw her sporting her dark brown hair again, save for a few films such as the "Horrible Bosses" movies. She dyed her hair and rocked her signature sun-kissed blond locks throughout her career, even after she began going gray. In a 2019 interview with InStyle, she suggested that she had planned to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. "I'm not gonna lie — I don't want gray hair," Aniston told the outlet.

Aniston later seemingly defended her decision by saying there's no one right way to deal with the effects of time on our hair. "If you want to go gray, go for it! If you want to keep coloring your hair, that's great too," she told Glamour in 2022. "I think everyone should feel confident in whatever choices they make, including embracing natural color or texture. Hair is a creative way to express yourself, and I love that your mood and energy can change with the change of a hairstyle, cut or color. Embrace whatever is going to make you happy."

Despite her comments about not being keen on the gray look, Aniston did once show off her gray hair. While promoting a product from her haircare line LolaVie in 2023, the actor had her tied up in a half ponytail, revealing her gray roots in a video she posted on Instagram. She apparently wasn't ready to rock gray hair full-time as her roots were once again her iconic shade of honey blond when she attended the Emmy Awards a year later, but it might have been a sign that we'll see Aniston wearing her natural hair more often than once in a blue moon.