Iconic Besties That Met While On Set

Some of the most real friendships can be made in a make-believe setting. Let’s take a look at some of Hollywood’s iconic besties and their personal meet-cute stories.

Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox

Being cast on a show called Friends, producers made it a point to ensure the cast got along. It didn’t take long for the entire cast to hit it off, and those friendships were crucial to their success. The lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry with cast members ultimately transferred to reality. Playing roommates and best friends of the series, Courteney Cox (Monica Geller) and Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) went from playing poker as an ice-breaker to being the godmother of their child. Cox and Aniston immediately connected when they met in 1994: “We fell in love with each other and wanted to hang out,” Jennifer says in the James Burrows tribute.

In almost three decades of friendship, Jennifer Aniston became the godmother of Cox’s daughter, Coco. During her Walk of Fame Ceremony this year, Aniston said, “From the beginning of Friends, she was immediately inclusive, warm, loving, interested in everything about you.”

Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) also plays a large role in their friendship. The girls would eat lunch together every day on set for ten years. Both Cox and Kudrow adopted the well-known “Jennifer salad.” Cox says in an interview with Access Online, “Friends made us inseparable. We just have fun, we laugh, and it’s great.”

Outside of the set, they’ve been seen at Hollywood gatherings and go on vacation together.

They continue to collaborate on projects, including Cox’s series, Dirt, and Cougar Town.

Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson

Black Widow and Captain America became friends long before they became Avengers. They met in 2004 to shoot the comedy The Perfect Score when she was in her late teens and he was in his early 20s. Even though the two did not have many scenes together, Scarlet tells Daily Mail that they found themselves talking to one another about relationships and families. During an interview with SiriusXM, Scarlett mentions that the two have a brother-sister-like dynamic, saying they “laugh so much together” and can “talk for hours.”

Three years later, in 2007, the two starred in a romantic comedy together called The Nanny Diaries. Evans plays Johansson’s love interest effortlessly, as the two have an undoubtedly natural connection.

Johansson was also vital in encouraging Evans to take on his defining role as Captain America. Johansson shares with Variety that she was just hired to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Evans was hesitant to play the superhero role, but we have Johansson to thank for giving us the perfect Captain America.

The two stars have filmed seven Marvel movies together as Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Johansson says their relationship in the movies reflects their real-life relationship. Evans tells Playboy that she is “like a sister to him.” After knowing someone for over ten years, the intimacy comes from “spending a lot of time with somebody and knowing their soft underbelly.”

They clearly have fun together, as seen on the talk show Ellen, where he surprises her during her interview.

Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams

Also known as “Mophie,” Sophie Turner and Maise Williams began their long friendship on the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones. The two play sisters of the Stark family – Williams as Arya and Turner as Sansa. They were both cast on August 7th, 2009 – how do they remember the exact date? They both have it tattooed!

They were both 13 years old when they auditioned for the show and immediately bonded as the two young female stars: “We’re kind of like loners on Game of Thrones, just because the past few seasons Maisie and I have sleepovers every night when we’re shooting,” Turner told Vulture. She mentioned that she read with other candidates for Arya during the audition, but there was something special about Maise. Williams went from Turner’s co-star to her maid of honor when marrying Joe Jonas.

Turner told Insider that she describes their friendship as both “beautiful” and “destructive.” They’ve grown up together and will always have each other’s back – perhaps they truly are sisters. Turner told Glamour UK, “Maisie is definitely my protector, and I’m hers too… Maisie is my strong home.”

One can see their undeniable strong connection when guest-starring in James Cordon’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment.

Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer’s

From office frenemies to on-set besties, Pam and Angela or Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer formed one of the strongest and most iconic friendships from the show. The two became close on the 5th episode of the first season of The Office called “Basketball.” The two actors’ role was to keep score of the office staff playing basketball against the warehouse staff. They both told People Magazine that they started talking after spending hours on the bench together. By the end of the day, they were literally linking arms in the parking lot doing Schlemiel and Schlimazel from Laverne & Shirley.

“We were leaving the warehouse, and we were so giddy. We had this really fun friendship. You don’t expect to make a friendship like this when you’re older,” Fischer told NBC. Steve Carell (Michael Scott) caught the both of them in the parking lot that night and said, “‘No matter what happens, this is what you’ll take with you.”

Award-winning actor Carell could not have been more right. Fischer and Kinsey are still attached at the hip a decade after the show’s finale. In 2019, they started a podcast together called “The Office Ladies,” where they both rewatch episodes of The Office and share their own anecdotes on set.

They also journaled avidly on set and even saved emails they sent to one another, which became useful for their book, Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There. Let’s hope they used paper from the one and only Dunder Mifflin to share their unforgettable experiences with the rest of the world.

Julia Roberts and George Clooney

Hollywood’s reigning King and Queen, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, have starred in six movies together. Their friendship began 23 years ago in their first movie Ocean’s Eleven. Clooney told Jimmy Kimmel that they “became instant friends.” They’ve collaborated on multiple movies where Clooney directed and produced films starring Roberts, including
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Osage County. The Academy-Award winners were also co-chairs at the 2008 Met Gala.

In their recent movie, Tickets to Paradise, Roberts told Entertainment Tonight that they both read the scripts at the same time and reached out to each other saying, “‘I’ll do it if you do it.”

The two filmed the movie in Bali, and Clooney told the New York Times that he would start his morning shouting, “Caa-caa,” to Roberts, to which she would appropriately reply, indicating to bring her some coffee. Their fun and playful relationship is definitely exhibited on the screen.

For some, movie and television magic can exist off-screen to create unbreakable bonds and unforgettable experiences. These stars have their co-stars cheering and supporting them on and off set.