When Jennifer Aniston was announced as one of Variety’s Actors on Actors this year alongside Quinta Brunson, fans were eager to hear what these two sitcom Queens would chat about. After all, it’s a Hollywood icon talking to an up-and-coming one. But, in talking about their respective hit shows, Friends and Abbott Elementary, Aniston couldn’t help but get teary-eyed when remembering her late co-star, Matthew Perry.
In the video, Aniston begins to get emotional after a producer from behind the scenes prompts Brunson with a question. “Will you ask Jen, Quinta, what it’s like watching Friends now?” the producer asked.
Before Brunson could, however, Aniston was already getting teary-eyed. “Oh God, don’t make me cry,” Aniston told Brunson. “I won’t, we don’t make each other cry,” Brunson responded calmly. “You’re already crying. Do you want a minute? We don’t have to talk about-“
“I know, I’m sorry,” Aniston said, tilting her head up so the tears wouldn’t roll down her face. “I just started thinking about-,” she said, to which Brunson said, “I know.”
“Are you sure?” the Abbott Elementary creator asked. “We don’t have to talk about it.”
“It’s happy tears,” Aniston replied, patting away her tears with a tissue. “I’m okay.”
Aniston then quickly composed herself and came back to the question. “It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old,” Aniston said. “Because I remember the day that it was going to premiere on television, on NBC, me and Matthew Perry were having lunch somewhere, and we knew Lisa was getting her hair colored. So we ran into the hair salon, and I snuck up – she was in the sink, the hair bowl – and I took the nozzle from the guy that was supposed to be doing it and just started washing her hair. It definitely flew out of control, and that was unfortunate. But the excitement we had, it feels like yesterday.”
Aniston then continued, talking about how close the cast of the show, including Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, had become over the years.
“The fact that it’s had this long, wonderful life, and that it still means a lot to people is one of the greatest gifts all six of us we never could’ve imagined,” Aniston said.
“I FaceTimed Court last night for like an hour, and Lisa and the boys, it’s a family forever,” she added.
As a reminder, Aniston looked back at her last moments with Perry following his death in October 2023 in another interview in December.
“He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape,” Aniston told Variety. “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.”
“I want people to know he was really healthy, and getting healthy,” she added at the time. “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.”
Knowing we can always rewatch Friends, he always will.
