Jennifer Aniston Tearfully Recalls ‘Friends’ Moment With Matthew Perry

Jennifer Aniston recalls a special moment she spent with her Friends co-star, Matthew Perry, the day the show premiered. 

During a conversation with Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson for Variety‘s Actors on Actors, the 55-year-old actress becomes overcome with emotion as she’s asked about the upcoming 30th anniversary of Friends, which also starred Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox. As Brunson is told by a producer to ask about the occasion, Aniston begins to cry before speaking about a special moment she had with Perry before the sitcom even debuted.

“It’s so strange to even think that it’s 30 years old,” Aniston says of the series premiere. “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 colored. 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. But the excitement we had, it feels like yesterday.”

Friends aired for 10 seasons from 1994-2004, and the 30th anniversary falls on Sept. 22, just one month ahead of the year anniversary of Perry’s death. 

Perry was found dead of acute effects of ketamine on Oct. 28 at a house in California, according to his autopsy. He was 54. 

Aniston and her Friends co-stars honored Perry through a series of tributes, and in January, The Morning Show star shared with ET how fans can remember the late actor. “Celebrate him,” she said, smiling in remembrance.

During her Variety interview, Aniston also fondly looks back on the benefit of Friends premiering at a time when there was no social media. She says it allowed for her and her castmates to avoid any extra chatter from the outside world, making them all the closer. 

“It was in the ’90s and 2000s, and we had a luxury of there not being social media or the internet, so we were so isolated and protected,” Aniston tells Brunson. “You weren’t faced with what people are commenting and ripping you apart or whatever. It was a dreamy time.”

“It was really nostalgic,” she adds. “It was really an innocent time, where we could roam about the world a lot easier. Even thought it became a big thing, we were able to be together and support. But again, there weren’t phones. It’s not like hundreds of screens telling you what it is.” 

Brunson — who is the star and creator of Abbot Elementary — agrees with Aniston, who doubles down on the dangers of social media. 

“We should put some legislation,” she says. “Kids shouldn’t be using phones until their 16. If you can’t drive a car until you’re 16…that’s more dangerous. Protect your kids in the world, you got to protect them from the internet. 

In an interview with ET earlier this year, Aniston, who has over 45 million followers on Instagram, shared why she’ll never be on TikTok.

“I don’t have TikTok, nor will I ever. I just won’t,” she said, before quipping, “I’m not gonna subscribe to one more thing that is gonna ruin my life or somebody else’s life.”

Aniston said that she keeps social media “at arm’s length” for good reason.

“It could suck you in and you’ve wasted hours of your life,” she added. “I can’t believe sometimes when I found myself in an absolute wormhole of dog, puppy videos and rescue animals, and babies, and cats. That’s the stuff I enjoy. But then there’s some stuff online I just don’t wanna see.”

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