‘Friends’ Co-Creator Admits He Was Shocked By 1 of Ross’ Most Popular Scenes — ‘Wow, This is an Iconic Moment’
Friends: The Reunion has finally hit HBO Max. The show’s six stars — Courteney Cox (Monica), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), David Schwimmer (Ross), Matthew Perry (Chandler), and Matt LeBlanc (Joey) — recently got together to reminisce about the iconic sitcom.
Over the course of 10 seasons, there were numerous memorable episodes and iconic moments. One of Ross’ most famous scenes actually shocked the sitcom’s co-creator.
‘Friends’ stars Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer reveal their true feelings
During the reunion special, it came as no surprise that Ross and Rachel’s relationship was a popular topic of conversation. But what shocked fans was Aniston and Schwimmer’s revelation that they had real-life feelings for each other. At the time, though, they were both dating other people. So, they never acted on those feelings.
“The first season I had a major crush on Jen,” Schwimmer said. “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.”
The cast knew they were crushing on each other
Schwimmer explained that when he and Aniston had breaks from rehearsal, there were moments when they would “cuddle on the couch.” He says they would “spoon and fall asleep on the couch,” and he kept wondering how everyone didn’t know they were “crushing on each other.” According to LeBlanc, everyone in the cast definitely knew.
Aniston added that she and Schwimmer would talk about their first kiss, and wondered if it would be in character.
“Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, ‘It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television,” Aniston said. “Sure enough, first time we kissed was in that coffee shop. We just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel.”
Ross has a memorable ‘Friends’ catchphrase thanks to an iconic scene with a couch
Ross had a lot of memorable lines during the 10-season run of Friends. Including “we were on a break” “get off my sister,” and “eighteen pages, FRONT AND BACK.” But there is one scene and one word that created an iconic moment that no one anticipated. Of course, we’re talking about “Pivot!”
Friends co-creator David Crane says that when that scene was in the writers’ room, they weren’t sure it would work. They weren’t sure they could do a simple story about “getting a couch up a flight of stairs.”
“You’re just trying to tell funny stories and have it work. There was never an eye toward, ‘Wow, this is an iconic moment,’” Crane told Entertainment Weekly.
David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, and Matthew Perry could barely get through the scene
When they started filming the scene, Crane remembers that he was watching something special. As Schwimmer, Aniston, and Perry attempted to carry Ross’ new couch up a narrow and contorted staircase, Crane says it was “fantastically funny” even on stage.
“The three of them were just brilliant and it was all they could do to get through it,” Crane recalled.
The ‘Pivot!’ scene was one of the most realistic moments on ‘Friends’
The Friends co-creator also pointed out that the scene was one of the most realistic moments that the sitcom had when it came to living in New York.
“At least once on the show space was a problem,” Crane jokes. “They all lived in those apartments, but try to get a couch up a flight of stairs! That’s New York. That’s where we captured the New York we actually lived in.”
All 10 seasons of Friends — plus the reunion — are available on HBO Max.
