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Friends reunion: Creators say Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer romance was a ‘very hot topic on set’

‘Everybody was suspicious that something was going on,’ said the show’s director

Annabel Nugent
Friday 28 May 2021 10:08 BST
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Friends Reunion: Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer reveal they almost had off-screen romance

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The creators of Friends have said Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer’s romantic feelings for each other was a “very hot topic” on set.

The actors – who famously portrayed the on-again, off-again couple Rachel and Ross on the hit sitcom – recently revealed that they had “major crushes” on each other during filming.

Schwimmer made the revelation during yesterday’s Friends reunion episode (27 May), in which he said he previously had a “major crush” on his co-star, to which Aniston replied that his feelings were “reciprocated”.

Aniston also said that the pair would “spoon and fall asleep on the couch together” in between filming.

Asked whether they knew about the actors’ feelings towards each other, Friends director Kevin Bright told The Hollywood Reporter: “It was a very hot topic on the set because the electricity between them in the scenes was like, ‘Oh my God, they can’t be acting that, there’s got to be something!’”

Bright added that “everybody was suspicious that something was going on”.

“People made up their own rumours at a certain point,” he said. “But we all thought something might have been going on, because they were just so good together.”

The director continued: “There was something about them. But like the show, in a certain way, you had to wait a long time and then it never happened. The happy ending is in the show.”

In the Friends season 10 finale, their characters end up together after Rachel disembarks her plane to Paris to stay in New York City with Ross.

(HBO Max)

Friends creator Marta Kauffman agreed that the actors’ romantic feelings for one another were “pretty obvious”.

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“We didn’t know for sure because we never asked either of them, but yes, we thought that perhaps might be going on,” said Kauffman.

Fellow Friends creator David Crane, however, said he was in the dark about the subject.

“I didn’t know!” he said. “I was on stage the least. I was always in the writers’ room, so there’s probably a lot of stuff that went on, on stage, that went by me.”

You can follow along with all the live updates from the Friends reunion, including video clips, photos and the best reactions, here.

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