Jennifer Aniston Says She “Didn’t Understand” Matthew Perry’s “Self-Torture” While Filming Friends

Jennifer Aniston explained that she didn't realize the anguish Matthew Perry felt on the set of Friends whenever the audience didn't laugh at his jokes—until he came clean at the reunion.

By Lindsay Weinberg Jun 24, 2021 8:13 PMTags
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Despite starring in Friends for 10 years, Jennifer Aniston admitted that even she learned something new from the reunion show last month.

The Morning Show star, 52, shared one particular revelation from the HBO Max special, which dropped on May 27, that she never knew before. 

"I didn't understand the level of anxiety and self-torture [that] was put on Matthew Perry, if he didn't get that laugh, and the devastation that he felt," she told the TODAY show this week.

But Jen added that the situation "makes a lot of sense."

During the reunion, Matthew revealed that he would sweat and "go into convulsions" on the set of Friends, if the studio audience didn't laugh at the jokes he delivered as Chandler.

"To me, I felt like I was going to die if they didn't laugh," he said. "And it's not healthy, for sure."

The Odd Couple actor, 51, confessed, "If I didn't get the laugh I was supposed to get, I would freak out."

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Friends Real-Life Loves

It seems that was news to much of the cast, as co-star Lisa Kudrow remarked, "You didn't tell us that then."

Jennifer dropped some bombs of her own while filming the special. In fact, she revealed that she and David Schwimmer almost hooked up in real life. As David explained, "At some point, we were both crushing hard on each other, but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship, and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that."

Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images, Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Netflix

Jen noted, "So, we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel."

Fans began expressing their doubts that the duo never got together, which led Jen to address those rumors this week on The Howard Stern Show. She shared, "No, I would proudly say I banged Schwimmer if that happened. But no."

As she told TODAY, "I think there was something about unrequited love and really investing in those [relationships]," explaining, "I think David and I loved each other — we love each other still to this day — so I do think there was something that had to do with that. And you were investing in something that was very relatable: the one that you never could have or the one you wanted to be with but they couldn't quite get it together."

As for Lisa, this was her favorite part of the Friends reunion.