Jennifer Aniston was recently brought to tears during an interview, when she was asked about her time on Friends.
The moment took place during a new interview between Aniston and Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson. It was held as part of the Actors On Actors series by Variety, which sees two different stars sit down each episode and discuss their time in the industry.
In the latest episode, which arrived yesterday (June 6), the Morning Show actor was asked for her thoughts on the hit sitcom Friends turning 30 this year. The show provided Aniston with her breakthrough role, as she took on the character of Rachel Green.
The interview also comes just months after the unexpected loss of co-star Matthew Perry. The actor, who is best known for playing Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, died on October 28 in his home in California, aged 54. His cause of death was from “cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression”, from the acute effects of drug use, and following the news each of his co-stars shared a moving tribute message.
In the interview, a person offscreen can be heard asking Brunson to ask Aniston what it is like to watch Friends now, two decades after the last episode aired.
“Oh god, don’t make me cry,” Aniston responded, getting visibly emotional. “I’m sorry I just started thinking about…” she added, before going on to joke that she is also turning 30 this year.
After declining Brunson’s suggestion that she take a minute off camera, Aniston went on to recall how she vividly remembers the day that the show was set to air its pilot episode.
“It’s crazy, 30. It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old because I remember the day that it was going to premiere on NBC,” she began. “Me and Matthew Perry were having lunch somewhere and we knew Lisa [Kudrow] was getting her hair coloured so we ran into the hair salon and snuck up. She was by the hair bowl and I took the nozzle and started washing her hair.”
“The excitement we had, it feels like it was yesterday. So the fact that it’s had this long, wonderful life, and it still means a lot to people is one of the greatest gifts I think all six of us could ever imagine. We still see each other. I talked on FaceTime with Court [Courteney Cox] last night for like an hour. And Lisa and the boys, it’s a family forever.”
She also went on to compare how the world was different when the show aired compared to Brunson’s experience with Abbott Elementary, which debuted in 2021.
“It was in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, and we had the luxury of there not being social media or the internet. So we were so isolated and protected. We weren’t faced with what people were commenting and ripping you apart.
“It was a dreamy time, and I know I sound nostalgic but we were really about the work. We were about the show,” she continued. “It wasn’t about who was the best, it was just an innocent time where we could roam about the world a lot easier. Even though it became a big thing a year into it, we were really able to be together and support each other.
Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, and Lisa Kudrow of the primetime comedy series ‘Friends’ pose for a picture at the Golden Globe Awards, January 1996. (Photo by William Holz/Fotos International/Getty Images)
The interview arrives following Aniston also speaking to Variety back in December – the first interview she did since Perry’s death – and opened up about her final conversation with her late co-star.
Revealing that she had been texting with him in the morning of the day that he died, she said: “He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy — that’s all I know.
“I was literally texting with him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
She continued: “I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy. He was on a pursuit. He worked so hard. He really was dealt a tough one. I miss him dearly. We all do. Boy, he made us laugh really hard.”
Just a month before then, she shared a touching post about Perry after hearing about his death, celebrating his funny nature.
“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” she shared.
“We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.”
Last month it was reported that police and authorities had launched a criminal investigation into the actor’s death.
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