You don’t have to go far to find the perfect example of female friendship.
You can watch it on Friends and marvel at how close Monica and Rachel were , as they went from friends who had lost touch to roommates to best friends to eventually family.
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Or, you could look to the real-life friendship of the actors behind these characters, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox!
Jennifer and Courteney’s friendship spans almost 30 years!
The actresses first became friends in 1994 when they joined the ever-popular NBC sitcom, Friends . Since the cast was encouraged to spend time together outside of the show to portray a genuine connection, a real-life friendship soon formed.
Navigating newfound fame at the same time gave them something in common.
“I think it was unspoken but we instinctively felt like we need to be friends, we need get along, we need to connect,” Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe on Friends , recalled on NBC’s Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows in 2016.
“So we started playing poker and Jimmy gave us his room so we could have a bigger hangout room for us.”
While most of the cast went from co-workers to friends, Courteney and Jen went from co-workers to best friends. This meant spending every lunch break together.
Eventually, they even adopted each other’s eating habits.
On the Burrows special, Courteney shared that she and Kudrow started eating what they called the ‘Jennifer’ salad. This is a Cobb salad, but with turkey bacon and the addition of garbanzo beans. Yum!
The girls are so interchangeable, that they were even considered for each other’s roles.
It was The One Who Monica Almost Played Rachel!
While she read for the role of Rachel, she ultimately connected more to Monica . “For some reason, I thought I related more to Monica, which, maybe, it’s because I do.”
The girls know each other so well, Cox’s predictions about Jen crying after the final shot of ‘Friends’ came true.
How could it not? We sobbed, too!
They’ve held a permanent spot in each other’s lives for decades, which means being side-by-side for all of life’s biggest moments.
Like when Jen married Brad Pitt in 2000.
While the whole Friends gang was there for that, only Cox and Kudrow were invited to Aniston’s nuptials to Justin Theroux at their L.A. home in 2015. Cox was even Jen’s maid-of-honor for the affair.
Meanwhile, Courteney married David Arquette in 1999. They have one daughter, Coco.
Sadly, neither of their marriages worked out. One silver lining is how they were there for each other during these difficult times. Jen even leaned on Cox the most during her divorce from Theroux.
“Courteney’s been at her house many times, and has been by her side through it all… ” a source told E! News.
“Many of her friends have known about this for months and knew it was coming. A lot of people didn’t think that Jen and Justin were a good match from the start, but ultimately supported her decision.”
When Jen became the spotlight during Brad’s divorce from Angelina Jolie, Courteney even defended her friend.
“I feel like we’re exacerbating it by even talking about it,” the Cougar Town star told Entertainment Tonight . “It’s not about her,” she insisted.
Since Courteney’s marriage to David gave her a beautiful daughter, Jen has spoiled that girl with so much love.
She was named Coco’s godmother in 2014. She’s always been as proud as can be of the 18-year-old, like when she wished her a happy birthday one year.
“Happy birthday my sweet cocolicious,” she shared one year, along with a photo of her holding Coco as a toddler.
Since Jen has chosen not to have kids, she gets the both of best worlds by being the best godmother. How lucky is Coco!
Since Jen and Courteney are both actresses, they’ve always supported each other’s careers.
Like when Jen made a guest appearance on Courteney’s former show, Cougar Town . Getting to work together again made the experience extra special for both of the besties.
“We just have fun, we laugh, we’re inseparable and it’s great,” Cox said, according to TV Week.
“It’s funny, a lot of really close friends are kind of going through this right now or like Jennifer, [who] has gone through it.”
“I don’t know what’s going on in the planets or what, but things are being shaken up and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but, yeah, Jennifer has been amazing for sure,” she continued.
Jen has equally gushed about her friend at any chance.
“There’s absolutely no judgment in Court,” Aniston told ‘More’ magazine in 2014.
“You’ll never feel scolded. She’s extremely fair, ridiculously loyal and fiercely,” she continued. One has to wonder if she’s a clean freak like Monica, too! Who are we kidding? She’s probably vacuuming her vacuum right now!
“I’ve slept in her guest bedroom a lot,” she added.
“Without giving away too much of my private stuff, all I can say is she’s been there for me through thick and thin.” Some of these thin moments — AKA the happy times — include being each other’s vacation buddy.
They’ve gone all around the world together, like when they soaked up the sun in Mexico in 2013.
We’re sure lots of time was also spent drinking cocktails and getting in some good R&R.
It even pays to be Courteney’s friend, as she once gifted Jen with an expensive bike.
When Jennifer Aniston said she wanted to bike, Court gifted her bestie with a designer one.
It came with eight speeds and a saddlebag that featured the famous Chanel “CC” logo. So thoughtful!
Ugh, can we be both of their best friends, too?!
Everyone needs the Monica/Courteney to their Rachel/Jen and vice versa.
