Brad & Jen's Secret Daughter

Jen’s friends bub had her trying for her own little girl

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of Friends, Jennifer Aniston’s one-time on-screen daughter has paid tribute to her former mum. Now New Idea can reveal how the Friends’ baby inspired Jen and Brad Pitt to want to start a family.

Sixteen years ago, Cali Sheldon and her twin sister Noelle shared the role of Rachel Green’s daughter, Emma, on the iconic sitcom. Now an insider explains how pretending to have a daughter at work, led to Jennifer convincing Brad that it was time for them to have a baby.

“Brad and Jennifer were married and it was that experience at work which made them really desperate to start a family,” says the source.

The now-17-year-old Cali posted a rare photo of Jennifer holding her as a young baby, captioning it “Mom”.

She also put on Instagram a photo of her younger self alongside Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and her screen mum, captioning it, “The one where it all began,” taken during filming for the episode that marks Emma’s 1st birthday. In the photo, she’s standing up with help from Courteney, who played Emma’s Aunt Monica.