Jennifer Aniston just made a rare public comment about Brad Pitt, and for longtime fans, it was enough to bring back a very specific piece of ‘Friends’ history.
The actress reunited with her former co-star Lisa Kudrow for Variety and CNN’s ‘Actors on Actors’ series, where the two looked back on the sitcom’s 10-season run, their friendship, and their current projects. The conversation stayed light for most of the interview.
Then Pitt’s name came up.
It happened while Aniston and Kudrow were discussing old ‘Friends’ episodes, including the show’s famous Thanksgiving specials.
Lisa Kudrow Brought Up Brad Pitt’s ‘Friends’ Episode
Aniston first teased Kudrow about only recently watching parts of ‘Friends.’
“I actually remember thinking to myself, Really? How could she never watch ‘Friends’?” Aniston said. “Except for when we would gather in the very, very beginning, back in the 1900s. We would watch the show at one of our homes.”
Kudrow explained that watching herself on the sitcom once felt too uncomfortable. “There were whole episodes that I hadn’t seen,” Kudrow said. “I just couldn’t sit there at home and have anybody walk by seeing me watching a show that I’m in. Because it felt embarrassing to me. I have watched it now.”
Aniston later asked if Kudrow enjoyed the Thanksgiving episodes. Kudrow did, and she immediately brought up Pitt. “Yes. Those were great, the Thanksgiving episodes,” Kudrow said. “When Brad was on, that was hilarious.”
Aniston Kept The Brad Pitt Remark Short
Pitt appeared in season 8, episode 9, ‘The One with the Rumor.’ He played Will Colbert, a former high school classmate of Ross and Monica who helped create the “I Hate Rachel Green Club.”
That joke hit harder because Pitt and Aniston were married at the time.
Aniston did not make the moment dramatic. She simply agreed. “I know. How funny,” she said.
Then she shifted into a broader memory about major guest stars appearing on the sitcom. “The movie stars that came on ‘Friends,’” Aniston said. “Brad, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts. Isabella Rossellini. We had so many, Sean Penn. They were always nervous. Remember? I always found it fascinating how nervous they were.”
Their Marriage Still Draws Fan Attention
The comment was brief, but Aniston rarely speaks about Pitt publicly. That is why even a casual mention still gets noticed.
Aniston and Pitt began dating in 1998 after their managers set them up. They got engaged in November 1999 and married in July 2000. In January 2005, they announced their separation, and Aniston filed for divorce that March.
At the time, Aniston said she hoped they could eventually be friends again. “I really do hope that someday we can be friends again,” she said in 2005. “I will love [Brad] for the rest of my life. He’s a fantastic man. I don’t regret any of it, and I’m not going to beat myself up about it.”
Years later, fans got a glimpse of that friendlier dynamic when Aniston and Pitt shared a backstage hug at the 2020 SAG Awards.
Aniston later married and divorced Justin Theroux. Pitt married and divorced Angelina Jolie. Aniston is now dating hypnotist Jim Curtis, while Pitt is with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon.
Still, for some fans, one small ‘Friends’ comment was all it took to reopen the Brad-and-Jen memory vault.
