The cast of Friends shared a special bond, but a dispute once threatened to “destroy” their relationship.
It was about the issue of money, and American actress Jennifer Aniston, 55, who played Rachel Green, revealed that the show’s bosses once suggested giving two of the show’s main characters a higher salary.
Given their increased airtime over the past few seasons, bosses suggested that Jennifer and David Schwimmer, 58, who played Ross Geller, be paid more.
The pay increase did not extend to the beloved comedy’s other main characters, Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) and the late Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing).
However, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Last year, Aniston said, “I think it would have destroyed us if anyone was doing better financially.”
The show of commitment to their friendship allowed the team to have a relationship beyond business.
Lisa echoed Jennifer’s sentiments earlier this week and admitted that each member had to work on the friendship.
The 61-year-old actress spoke about her relationship with her co-stars in the Armchair expert podcast and said that “the six-way relationship took some work” and that they “worked hard to be friends.”
Jennifer Anniston revealed the producer’s suggestion that could have “destroyed” her friendship with the cast (pictured: clockwise from bottom left, Courteney Cox as ‘Monica Geller’, Matt LeBlanc as ‘Joey Tribbiani’, Lisa Kudrow as ‘Phoebe Buffay’, David Schwimmer as ‘Ross Geller’, Matthew Perry as ‘Chandler Bing’, Jennifer Aniston as ‘Rachel Green’ in a ‘Friends’ group portrait)
Speaking on a podcast this week, Lisa Kudrow (pictured in December) said the six-way relationship “took work.”
She noted that the result was genuine chemistry between her and Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and the late Matthew Perry.
She said that over the course of the television series’ 10 seasons, she and her co-stars became friends in real life.
For that reason, they had to make an effort to “really talk things out” whenever they had any misunderstandings between them.
“If someone said or did something, it didn’t get too big because they’d say, ‘Can I talk to you?'”
He said he had trouble with the open communication style and explained that “it wasn’t usually me” who initiated the conversation first.
“I had to learn to say, ‘Can I talk to you about something?'” She said it was “difficult” because she wasn’t familiar with honest, direct dialogue.
He explained that he “never knew that was allowed,” but he learned about “respectful communication” from his co-stars.
“I saw him modeled very well by Courteney, Jennifer and Matt,” the 61-year-old said.
She told Shepard that “the six-way relationship took some work” and that they “worked hard to be friends.”
She said that over the course of the television series’ 10 seasons, she and her co-stars became friends in real life. For that reason, they had to make an effort to “really talk things out” whenever they had any misunderstandings between them.
In the photo, from left to right: Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) and Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) from ‘Friends’.
It comes months after she revealed she started re-watching Friends to keep her late co-star Perry’s memory alive following her tragic death in October 2023.
Kudrow starred alongside Perry’s wisecracking character Chandler Bing on the show from 1994 to 2004.
Following his tragic death at the age of 54 in October 2023, she said she began watching episodes to celebrate her late co-star and friend.
“Honestly, I couldn’t watch it because it’s too embarrassing to watch for yourself,” he said. The Hollywood Reporter in June. “But if I make it about Matthew, then it’s fine.”
She continued, “And it’s just celebrating how fun he was, and that’s what I want to remember (about him).”
She said the talent of her co-stars blew her away, saying of Perry, “Nobody knew that comedic cadence or rhythm before him.”
Kudrow also reflected on days on set with Perry, who she said often made her cry with laughter.
“You’re basically laughing all day, between scenes, because they’re funny people,” he recalled. ‘
And especially someone like Matthew, whose goal was: How many laughs can I get in real life every day? So we always laughed so much that tears came down our faces.”
In October, Jennifer shared never-before-seen photos of Matthew Perry to mark the one-year anniversary of his shocking death.
In the first image, the two were seen 30 years ago, when Friends was becoming a hugely successful television show.
Jennifer still had her Rachel haircut while wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt with a gold watch. Matthew wore a white T-shirt and sweatshirt while playing with food in a photo booth.
Two other images saw them on the set of Friends and the last was a single image of Perry smiling.
In her caption, the movie icon wrote “1 year” while sharing the name of her foundation. There were also emojis for a red heart, a Band-Aid, and a dove.