Jennifer Aniston has fondly reflected on Friends with former co-star Lisa Kudrow, with both expressing interest in a new project featuring the women of the hit sitcom.
The comedy stars were brought together for Variety’s Actors on Actors series of interviews, which pair up various awards contenders for conversations about their past and present work.
Aniston and Kudrow were ostensibly there to discuss Apple TV’s The Morning Show and HBO’s The Comeback, but discussion inevitably landed on their decade of sitcom dominance as Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay, respectively.
To the excitement of fans, both appeared enthusiastic about returning to the multi-camera format (i.e. the term for a traditional sitcom filmed on a soundstage, usually in front of a live studio audience).
“I miss it… I really loved that medium. I loved the [live] audience,” said Aniston, comparing Friends filming days to experiencing “opening night” on a theatre show “every week”.
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Kudrow conceded that she “didn’t love” performing episodes in front of crowds at the time, but would probably enjoy it more now. For her, the big advantage of Friends’ filming style was the fast pace that can be absent from more artsy, meticulous projects.
“When I’m sitting on a set waiting and it’s been a long time? Yes, I do [miss it],” she revealed. “I would love to do another one, if anyone wrote a good one.”
The multi-camera sitcom has largely fallen out of fashion in recent years, with single-camera comedies and comedy-dramas taking up much more attention, from Hacks to Abbott Elementary and Shrinking.
Aniston suggested that they should endeavour to “bring it back”.
“OK, let’s do it… You heard it here [first],” responded Kudrow. “Can we do you, me and Courteney [Cox, who played Monica Geller in Friends]? What would that be?”
Aniston added: “Girlfriends. Let’s pitch it.”
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow in Hollywood as Cox is honoured with a star on the Walk of Fame. Leon Bennett / Stringer / Getty Images
Of course, it would be wise not to raise hopes too high that this idea leads to anything concrete, especially as Aniston and Kudrow go on to detail another proposed collaboration that never saw the light of day – a Friends “rewatch podcast”.
In a similar vein to Office Ladies, where Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey revisit episodes of The Office (US), the project would have seen the women of Friends discussing their legendary sitcom.
“We were going to do that… That was a great idea,” recalled Aniston. “What happened to that idea?”
Kudrow questioned whether it would have been worth listening to, as each episode would likely devolve into the actors “crying laughing” over their favourite jokes.
If you want to hear more from the duo, tune in to their full Actors on Actors appearance below:
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