Jennifer Aniston broke down in an interview months after Friends co-star Matthew Perry's death as she dove into the nostalgia of working on the beloved sitcom, calling the close-knit cast a "family forever," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Perry's unexpected death at the age of 54 last October left fans and Friends stars heartbroken, though the actor had been candid about how his decades-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction had ravaged his body.
On Thursday, Aniston, 55, sat down with Quinta Brunson, 34, for the latest episode of Variety's Actors on Actors series. This series features one-on-one conversations between stars who ask each other about their work.
As the Abbot Elementary creator and actress detailed how she brought ABC's mockumentary sitcom to the small screen, Brunson told Aniston, "I just want you to know, I learned about the beauty of an ensemble through watching Friends."
"Well, you just gave me goosebumps," Aniston replied, adding, "That's why I think I love watching your show, because I feel that joy of watching an ensemble and I know the fun that is happening with all of you guys, and you really do all seem to have a really beautiful relationship and chemistry, it's just perfection."
"Yeah, so did you all," Brunson chimed in, referring to the close bond between the six leads on Friends: Aniston, Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.
When Aniston was asked about how she feels watching the sitcom now, nearly 30 years after it first aired, the actress who played Rachel Greenbroke down. "Oh God, don't make me cry," she said, choking up.
"Do you want a minute?" Brunson asked, to which Aniston responded, "No no I'm sorry, I just started thinking about—"
"I know, yeah. Are you sure? We don't have to," Brunson reassured a teary-eyed Aniston, who replied, "No I'm OK. It's happy tears." After a long pause, Aniston dried her eyes and collected herself, taking a deep breath before continuing, "OK. And we're back."
"So, Jen, Friends is turning 30," Brunson then said, calling it "one of the best shows on television."
"It's so strange to think that it's 30 years old, because I remember the day that it was gonna premiere," Aniston explained, recalling spending that day, September 22, 1994, with Perry.
"Me and Matthew Perry were having lunch somewhere and we knew Lisa [Kudrow] was getting her hair colored, so we ran into the hair salon," she said, adding that "the excitement we had — and it feels like yesterday — that day just feels...and so, 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, ever, we never could imagine, you know?"
Aniston went on to explain that she was still in regular contact with Kudrow and Cox, adding, "It's a family forever."
Weeks after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home, an autopsy revealed that Perry died from the "acute effects of ketamine," with "drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects" listed as contributing factors.
Exactly a year before his death, Perry opened up about his bitter struggle with drug and alcohol abuse in a tell-all interview with Diane Sawyer. He revealed that at the height of his addiction, he was taking as many as 55 pills a day and that his colon burst after years of heavy opioid use.
Aniston broke her silence about Perry's death last November, writing in an Instagram post, "Oh boy this one has cut deep... Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before."
"We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep.”
“And we loved him deeply,” Aniston continued. “He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.”