BEHIND THE SCENES SECRETS — REVEALED!
NO ONE TOLD THEM LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAY — FILLED WITH ON-SET SQUABBLES, INFIGHTING AND POWER STRUGGLES.
WHEN Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer stepped out in front of a live studio audience for the first time to film the pilot episode of Friends in the summer of 1994, things just gelled. “We were like six pieces of a puzzle,” recalls David, who played lovable neurotic Ross Geller in the hit series. “It just felt like, ‘OK, this works.’” And it would continue to work for 10 years, garnering numerous awards and amassing millions of fans worldwide. It also catapulted its cast of mostly unknowns to stardom. “It was,” says Jennifer, who brought stylish and loyal Rachel Green to life for a decade, “the greatest job I ever had.” But behind the scenes it wasn’t always smooth sailing. And as the show celebrates its 25th year since first hitting the airwaves, a source tells Star that
some major drama played out when the cameras weren’t rolling. From secret hookups to vicious rivalries to drug abuse, things got quite tense on set, the insider says. “Everyone thinks they know everything that went down during the filming of Friends,” says the source, “but they don’t know the half of it!” JEALOUSY STRIKES
One major source of contention was all the attention heaped on Jen. She’d quickly become the show’s breakout star — and that didn’t go over well with her castmates. Courteney, who played obsessivecompulsive nurturer Monica Geller, and Lisa, who won an Emmy for her por
trayal of the eccentric Phoebe Buffay, “got very jealous,” says the insider. People were buzzing about Jen — and, of course, her trademark hairstyle. “Everyone wanted to interview Jen, and her ‘Rachel’ hair became such a phenomenon that it was the only thing people talked about,” says the source. “They were supposed to be a team, but all anyone cared about was Jen and her stupid hair. It got very annoying!” Soon enough, her costars were acting out, says the source. “The boys gave her a hard time,” reveals the insider, who says Matthew (whose Friends alter ego was sarcastic wisecracker Chandler Bing) and Matt, who played dim-witted actor Joey Tribbiani, made mean-spirited jokes at Jen’s expense. “They could be cruel, and it hurt Jen.” Courteney and Lisa threw shade as well — they thought Jen’s success was going to her head. Jen, meanwhile, was struggling with pressure to remain thin — she’d had to lose 30 pounds to land Friends, and she needed to keep it off. “They felt she thought she was better than they were,” says the insider. Fortunately, over time they mellowed. “They eventually realized the whole fame thing was out of their hands,” explains the source, “and they grew up and grew closer as a cast.”
MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS Then came fights over salaries. By 2002, the actors were a united front, each demanding (and ultimately getting) $1 million per episode. But in the early days, when some were making considerably more than others, tensions simmered. “They fought over the differences in their paychecks,” says the insider. Things got ugly before they finally joined forces. “Managers and agents got involved, and feelings were really hurt,” the insider adds. “It wasn’t always the cordial conversation they made it seem like!”
AFFAIRS & DRUGS
They were young, attractive and on the hottest show on TV — which made it the perfect breeding ground for some messy romantic entanglements. And though Matthew told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that there was no funny business on set, he and Jen reportedly had a fling. “Everyone was whisperwhile, was known as the player among the cast and crew. “It became a guessing game, who he was hooking up with,” says the source. But Matthew topped him with his unexpected dalliance with A-list guest star Julia Roberts. “That shocked everyone,” says the insider.
As did Matthew’s admitted drug problem. The actor — who’s confessed he’s struggled with addictions to Vicodin and alcohol — reveals he doesn’t remember filming three whole seasons of Friends. “I was a little out of it at the time,” he says, “somewhere between seasons 3 and 6.” The insider says Matthew’s demons affected the whole cast. “It wasn’t a secret on the set. He wasn’t as funny anymore, he’d lost all this weight, he was a different guy physically and mentally,” says the source. “It was heartbreaking to see.” It caused some resentment at first. “Some of the cast and crew felt he was being selfish — that he was making a choice, and ruining the show through his actions,” says the insider. But they rallied around him. “It showed how close they were,” says the source. “They were urging him to get help.”
STILL CLOSE
The cast went through a lot in their decade on top. But since then, their bond has miraculously remained intact — a rarity in Hollywood. “They’ve been though marriages, divorces, ugly rumors, you name it,” says the insider. “But at the end of the day, they’ll always be a family. They may drift apart here and there, but they’ll be friends forever.”
‘The hookups among the cast, crew and guest stars became hot gossip.’ — a source tells Star