We don't do a very good job of pretending that we're not obsessed with Friends. While many like nothing more than watching a hot new show, we're busy watching Ross kiss Rachel for the first time. But it turns out that we're not alone: Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow - aka Rachel and Phoebe - also love tuning in to revisit their favourite moments. For them, it seems, the best bits are the bloopers.
As part of Variety magazine’s Actors On Actors series – which asks two A-Listers to interview each other – Jennifer and Lisa dial in for a video chat. They recall the first time they met – Jennifer, adorably, remembers exactly what Lisa was wearing – talk through their favourite moments, and reveal that they genuinely watch classic moments on YouTube.
‘I love stumbling on a Friends episode’, Jennifer explains. ‘This one time I was with Courteney, and we were trying to find something to reference, an old Friends”thing. And then we stumbled on — there’s bloopers online — and we sat there at the computer like two nerds watching these bloopers laughing at ourselves.’
Lisa confesses that she does the same. ‘I’ve done that, hours watching bloopers.’ Any Friends fan will know that the bloopers can be found as extras on DVD or on YouTube. For Jennifer, the moments where they ‘break’ – that’s TV talk for laughing and breaking character – were her most memorable.
‘You and I would always get into these fits of laughter’, Jennifer recalls. ‘You would always turn to the audience and say, “I’m sorry, it’s really funny.”’ Because you as Lisa also thought it was funny, what Phoebe was saying. Which was so endearing. And then I would watch you do that, and then I would break. We were terrible. And then there was the scene when the bagpipes happened.’
Ah, the bagpipes. Remember that one? It’s the episode when Ross announced that he is secretly preparing a musical interlude for Monica and Chandler’s wedding that, he vows, will be a nod to Chandler’s Scottish heritage. Phoebe is so enamoured with the sound that she shrieks along. ‘I couldn’t hold it together’, Jennifer laughs. ‘No one could hold it together.’
Friends will return for a one-off HBO special, with details to be announced. We can’t wait.
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