Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow have been close friends for over three decades, ever since they starred together in the iconic sitcom Friends. And that bond extends to their family members.
In a new interview with Variety as part of their Actors on Actors series, Jennifer, 57, and Lisa, 62, reunited 22 years after the conclusion of the show that made them household names.
© Getty ImagesThey were there to discuss once again ruling the TV screen with brand new shows, the former in The Morning Show, and the latter in the final season of The Comeback.
During their conversation, they touched on the memories they forged while making Friends, and the instant bond that the Cake actress formed with her co-star's son Julian Stern.
Julian, now 28, was born in 1998. His mother's pregnancy was used as a plot device on the show, with her character Phoebe Buffay acting as a surrogate for her half-brother Frank and his wife Alice, welcoming triplets on the show.
And he found five new uncles and aunts from the womb itself on the set of the NBC show, with Lisa and Jennifer recalling the full-circle moment of being pregnant with her son while making Friends, then seeing him appear in The Comeback on the very same soundstage nearly three decades later.
"There's Julian. I was beside myself, because that was a surprise for me," Jennifer gushed. "A really good, really amazing surprise. And he's so good. That young man was baked on [Friends]," jokingly using "baked" to refer to her pregnancy.
© Getty Images"Literally. Every huddle. Touched my stomach before we'd go out," Lisa remarked, with Jennifer jokingly calling it the "touch the Floosh belly" moment, and the mom-of-one chiming in: "It's not creepy. It's a sweet thing. You don't get it."
"But imagine growing inside your mother, as a baking child," the Morning Show star remarked. "It's like he grew up hearing laughter all the time," to which Lisa added: "I know. Can you imagine? Just the amount of joy. Because it was the most fun."
Aunt Jennifer then enthused: "And he is today one of the most joyful human beings that I get to spend time with. Like, I love him. I would choose him as a person I would like to spend time with as a friend, not just because he's your son."
© InstagramLisa even noted that Julian had unwittingly developed an instant "connection" with Jennifer even as a child. "When he could first speak, he'd look at the TV, point to Jennifer and say, 'Mommy!' So he had a connection to you," she quipped.
A touched Jennifer replied: "That was weird. He knew, somehow, that that would make me feel good." And decades later, the bond remains as close, with the pair even floating the idea of doing another sitcom together, alongside Courteney Cox.
© NBC"Can we do you, me and Courteney? What would that be?" Lisa asked, to which Jennifer replied: "Girlfriends. Let's pitch it. Let's workshop it in front of all of these wonderful people."
