Jennifer Aniston gets emotional as she reminisces 30 years of ‘Friends’

Jennifer Aniston welled up on camera when discussing the oncoming 30th anniversary of “Friends,” just months after the sudden death of co-star and close friend Matthew Perry. During their appearance on Variety’s annual “Actors on Actors,” “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson was prompted to ask Aniston, 55, what it’s like these days to watch the iconic NBC sitcom, which premiered on Sept. 22, 1994. “Oh God, don’t make me cry,” said Aniston. Brunson, 34, promised they “won’t make each other cry.”

Then Brunson pointed out that Aniston was already crying, and said they didn’t have to discuss it, but the “Morning Show” actress threw her head back to stave off tears.

“No, sorry, I just started thinking about…” Aniston trailed off, clarifying she was shedding “happy tears,” before she was given a tissue from off-stage and joked that, like the show, she too is turning 30.

“It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old,” she said. “The excitement we had, and it feels like yesterday. … 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. You know, we see each other, FaceTimed with [ Courteney Cox] last night for like an hour and Lisa [Kudrow] and the boys. … It’s a family forever.”

Aniston also noted that “Friends” airing before the advent of social media enabled the stars to be “so isolated and kind of protected” from online commenters and instead be “about the show.”

“It was just … an innocent time,” she said. “Even though it became a big thing … we then were able to be together and support.” In late October, 54-year-old Perry was found dead in his hot tub, due to the “acute effects of ketamine.” His death — which remains under investigation, as federal authorities probe how he got access to the drug — was ruled accidental. Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc all attended the five-time Emmy nominee’s funeral in early November, after releasing a joint statement regarding his death. The “utterly devastated” actors noted in the statement that they “were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”

Meanwhile, Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston, who found international fame as Rachel Green in “Friends,” said that she “never thought” the sitcom would become such a huge success and still be popular 30 years on from its debut.  Speaking during an interview at Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Aniston said: “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. “Friends” ran for 10 seasons from 1994 until 2004, and Aniston reminisced about that on the day the first episode premiered, she and Perry went to play a prank on Kudrow, who was getting her hair coloured in a nearby salon, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Agencies