Jennifer Aniston says filming 'Friends' reunion was 'brutal' and 'melancholic'

The cast of Friends made our year when they got together to film a reunion special with HBO Max, but according to Jennifer Aniston, the experience was ‘brutal’ for the stars themselves.

Months after Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer came together to film Friends: The Reunion that aired on HBO Max in May, Jennifer Aniston has revealed how hard it was for the cast to go back in time. read more

Talking to Rob Lowe on his Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast, Aniston shared, “I think it really took us all down way harder than we anticipated, because, in your mind, you think, ‘Oh, this will be really fun to time travel.’ It turns out, oh, ouch – it’s kind of hard to time travel.”

The 52-year-old went on to explain that it was especially hard to take it all in because the set was put back in exactly the same way as it was 16 years ago when the show wrapped up in 2004. “Down to the little tchotchkes on the shelve and little tiny things that had been in a storage space for this whole time,” said Jennifer Aniston.

“Going back there, it’s nostalgic in a way that’s kind of also a little melancholy, you know… Because a lot has changed and we have all gone down different roads, not so easy and some easy,” she reminisced, adding, “It was brutal, and also you can’t turn it off. There are cameras everywhere and I can’t stop crying… There was a period where we were all kind of in a puddle.”

A slew of guest stars ranging from Justin Bieber to Lady Gaga and soccer star David Beckham joined the Friends: The Reunion special, hosted by James Corden, on HBO Max. The show featured bloopers, a trivia quiz, reminiscences from the show’s creators, and some surprises.

The 105-minute special was reportedly watched by approximately 29 per cent of streaming households in the United States upon its release on HBO Max.

Friends, which began in 1994, was the top-rated comedy in the United States for six years and aired in more than 200 nations. The finale was watched by some 52 million Americans, eight million more than watched the Oscar ceremony that year.