Filming for the "Friends" reunion special was so overwhelming at points for Jennifer Aniston that she had to get up and walk off the set on several occasions.
The actress admitted during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that initially it seemed like a fun idea to reunite with former "Friends" co-stars Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry and did not anticipate how emotional it would be returning to the re-created apartment sets.
"I think we were just so naive walking into it, thinking, How fun is this going to be? They’re putting the sets back together, exactly as they were," Aniston said in reference to the HBO Max special. "Then you get there and it’s like, Oh right, I hadn’t thought about what was going on the last time I was actually here."
Aniston explained that once the reality set in, things were a little different than she had expected.
"And it just took me by surprise because it was like, Hi, past, remember me? Remember how that sucked? You thought everything was in front of you, and life was going to be just gorgeous, and then you went through maybe the hardest time in your life?" she recalled. "It was all very jarring and, of course, you’ve got cameras everywhere, and I’m already a little emotionally accessible, I guess you could say, so I had to walk out at certain points. I don’t know how they cut around it."
During the interview, Aniston also spoke about her life post "Friends," saying that while her career was a source of joy, there were moments in her personal life that challenged her.
"The career was one thing. I didn’t know what was coming, and that’s been nothing but blessed. It’s a different caliber of work but I love it, no matter what, even if it’s a terribly reviewed, dumb comedy, it doesn’t matter if it brings me joy. It was more personal stuff that I had expectations about that sort of shape-shifted, so to speak," she said. "That was what was jarring, that we all had an idea of what the future was going to be, and we were going to go hunker down and focus on this or that and then it all just changed overnight, and that was it."
In hindsight though, Aniston said she believed things happened for a reason.
"But again, everything’s a blessing if you’re able to look at life’s ups and downs in that way," she continued. "And if it all hadn’t happened, I would not be sitting here the woman that I am."
Aniston's personal life has been the subject of many headlines, particularly her split with Brad Pitt and then from husband Justin Theroux in 2017.
Her dating life has drawn much speculation, with many wondering if the star had plans to settle down again after her disappointments. In a September interview with Bruce Bozzi on the SiriusXM podcast "Lunch with Bruce," Aniston said she felt ready to share her life with someone.
"No one of importance has hit my radar yet," she said, according to InStyle. "But I think it's, I think it's time. I think I'm ready to share myself with another."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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