Jennifer Aniston has shared a sweet memory of playing a prank on Friends co-star Lisa Kudrow with the help of Matthew Perry.
The actor, who is known best for her portrayal of Rachel Green in the seminal Nineties and early Noughties sitcom, recently spoke to Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson as part of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series.
Aniston, 55, and Brunson, 34, discussed several elements of being a part of successful ensemble comedy casts, as well as the differences between audience responses in the years before social media, and today.
During their conversation, the stars noted that Friends turns 30 this year, having aired its first episode in September 1994.
Aniston admitted that it was “strange” to think of the show’s premiere being so long ago, as she has a clear memory of spending time with the late Perry, who played sardonic jokester Chandler Bing, and Kudrow, who played massage therapist and aspiring singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay, the day it aired.
“It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old,” she said, “because I remember the day that it was going to premiere on television, on NBC: Matthew Perry and I were having lunch somewhere, and we knew Lisa was getting her hair coloured.
“So we ran into the hair salon, and I snuck up – she was in the sink – 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,” she continued. “But the excitement we had, it feels like yesterday.”
Aniston went on to note that the sustained popularity of Friends, nearly 20 years after its end in 2004, still feels like a privilege.
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“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 five of us – all six of us – we never could imagine,” the Morning Show star said.
And we see each other. I talked on FaceTime with Court [Courteney Cox, who played Monica Geller] last night for an hour, and Lisa and the boys, and we just have a really – it’s a family forever.”
Last October, Perry died aged 54 at home in his jacuzzi. His cause of death was reported to be due to the “acute effects of ketamine”.
Since his tragic death, his Friends co-stars have paid tribute to him together and individually, as well as giving occasional updates on their grief.
Cox, whose character Monica was married to Perry’s Chandler, revealed last month that she “still talks” to her late friend and co-star.
