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Jennifer Aniston explains why she found the Friends reunion ‘brutal’ to film

‘We have all gone down different roads – some easy and some not-so easy,’ she said

Jacob Stolworthy
Saturday 18 September 2021 14:58 BST
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Jennifer Aniston has explained why she found the Friends reunion so “brutal” to film.

The actor reunited with her sitcom co-stars for a one-off special in May.

Among the episode’s many revelations was that Aniston and David Schwimmer, who played Rachel and Ross, had “a major crush” on each other while filming the show in the 1990s.

Now, reflecting upon the episode, Aniston has admitted to finding it difficult to film due to the emotions and nostalgia the event dredged up.

“We didn’t know what it would look like,” Aniston told actor Rob Lowe during an appearance on his podcast. “I mean, we’d been hearing about it for a long time, [and] we knew that people wanted it – fans really wanted kind of a reunion.”

She continued: “I think it really took us all down way harder than we anticipated. In your mind, you think, ‘Oh, this will be really fun to time travel.’ It turns out… it’s kind of hard to time travel.

“All of a sudden, here you are, and, you know, 16 years… a lot has gone on for each of us. Sixteen years ago, we were all sort of wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, and sort of had our whole lives ahead of us, even though we were heartbroken to say goodbye to these 10 years and… the job we all loved to do. So, going back there – it’s nostalgic in a way that’s kind of also a little melancholy, you know, ’cause a lot has changed.”

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc in the ‘Friends’ reunion
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc in the ‘Friends’ reunion (YouTube/HBO Max)

Aniston said: “We have all gone down different roads – some easy and some not-so easy, for each of us.”

She described the experience as “brutal”, adding: “And you also can’t turn it off! There are cameras everywhere, and I can’t stop crying.”

Aniston can currently be seen in the second season of Apple TV+ series The Morning Show.

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