Jennifer Aniston Said the Friends Reunion Was "A Little Melancholy"

The much-anticipated (much-delayed) HBO Max Friends reunion offered up a retrospective on one of the most beloved sitcoms, ever, but according to Rachel Green herself, the cast felt a mix of nostalgia and melancholy when they all got back together. Jennifer Aniston said that the get-together "really took us all down way harder than we anticipated," since everyone had taken on so many different roles and since the show last aired 17 years ago.

During an appearance on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast, Aniston explained that nobody knew what to expect. Even though Aniston and her pals Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer all knew that fans wanted the reunion, none of them anticipated the way that producer Ben Winston would do it without losing the magic the show had for viewers.

"Why unwrap the perfectly packaged [series]? You know, leave it where it was. Let's not disrupt it," Aniston told Lowe. "So when Ben Winston, our producer-director, came to each of us with his idea, it just resonated with all of us. And it didn't sound like something that would cheapen or tarnish something that was perfectly left in its place."

Photo by Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images

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"Going back there, it's nostalgic in a way that's kind of also a little melancholy, you know? Because a lot has changed and we have all gone down different roads, not so easy and some easy ... for each of us," she continued. "There was a period where we were all kind of in a puddle."

Viewers know that just about everyone shed a few tears during the reunion special — though Aniston noted that Schwimmer managed to hold back. LeBlanc, on the other hand, didn't have his co-star's steely resolve.

"Even LeBlanc broke at one point. You know, Mr. Tough Guy. You know, our brother. Mr. Impenetrable. Our big brother who would kill anybody if they looked at you wrong. Even he got a little misty," Aniston added.

Aniston's next project is the second season of AppleTV+'s The Morning Show, which premieres tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 17. In an interview with E! News, Aniston said that if she had the chance to turn the tables and conduct a celebrity interview, she'd opt to grill Julia Roberts, adding that she'd love to throw back a few glasses of wine and have fun with it.

"I'm so in," she said. "Sort of like a Hoda [Kotb] and Kathy Lee [Gifford]? Yeah, I'm into it."