Jennifer Aniston says returning to the 'Friends' sets was a 'sucker punch in the heart'

The Friends Reunion special episode premiered recently on May 27, 2021, and it was a rollercoaster of emotions for not just the six lead cast members but for all the ardent fans as well. The reunion episode saw all lead actors including Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc in a room together after 17 years. The iconic Friends set was recreated once again in a studio at Warner Bros and all the cast members got emotional seeing it after almost two decades.

Jennifer Aniston talks about returning to the Friends set

During a recent appearance on Gayle King's SiriusXM show, Gayle King in the House, Friends cast member Jennifer Aniston spoke at length about what it felt like to be back on the sets of the iconic sitcom after such a long time. The actor stated that it was like a sucker punch in the heart in a way and that being in that space took an emotional toll on not just her, but each one of the other five cast members. Aniston added that it was emotional for everyone, specially Courteney who shed a few tears after seeing the sets.

The Horrible Bosses actor mentioned that while everyone involved in the reunion knew the production crew would be recreating the Friends sets for the two-hour special episode, she wasn't prepared for about accurate those recreations would be. Jennifer said that everybody was very naive in what they were expecting and that the sets were built right down to the shelves and the little tchotchkes details. Talking about how she felt before entering the studio, Aniston quipped that it was very exciting to be walking onto the set and all the props being brought out of the storage and put back together. 

Jennifer also brought to attention that each of the six cast members felt a rush of emotions as none of them had been on the sets after having filmed the finale back in 2004. She concluded by saying that it was a very specific time when they were saying goodbye to something that they didn't want to, cared deeply about, but they knew it was the time to say goodbye. She added that back then they thought that they had their whole lives ahead of them but revisiting the sets felt like time had stopped and they had time traveled.

Image - Jennifer Aniston's Instagram Account