Jennifer Aniston Reflects On Returning To 'Friends' Set: 'Sucker Punch In The Heart'

Jennifer Aniston, who portrayed the beloved character of Rachel Green on the popular sitcom, "Friends," opened up about the "Friends: The Reunion." which aired on HBO Max on May 27.

The 52-year-old actress appeared on SiriusXM’s "Gayle King in the House" show Friday and reflected on visiting the "Friends" set that felt like "time stopped."

"It was a sucker punch in the heart in a way," the actress replied to the host who mentioned how emotional it was to watch the reunion. "It was for all of us, I think. Even Courteney [Cox] we got tears out of."

The actress further explained that she and other cast members including Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and Lisa Kudrow were "very naive in what we were expecting" when they reunited on Stage 24 of Warner Bros. Studio.

The sitcom originally aired from 1994 to 2004. Since then, it was the first time when all the actors were reunited in a room, which made the reunion so special.

"We romanticized it, but you also have to remember we haven’t been there [since the series finale]," Aniston said. "And that time was a very specific time when we were saying goodbye to something that we didn’t want to, we cared deeply about, but we knew it was the time to say goodbye."

"Our lives were ahead of us. We had our future ahead of us," she continued. "It almost felt like time had stopped and we time traveled. And there’s good in that, and then there’s heartbreak in that."

HBO Max announced the unscripted "Friends: The Reunion" in 2020 but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed. Besides the actor spoke about their memories on the show, the reunion also featured Justin Bieber, Tom Selleck, Reese Witherspoon, and Cara Delevingne as guest appearances.

"It’s really hard to put that into a sentence, except it filled my heart,” Aniston added. "The amount of love that people have for these six characters is something that you can’t really explain the meaning of it. Being reminded of the amount of happiness this show brought to people, that’s a special thing to be a part of."

On the work front, Aniston is currently filming the second season of "The Morning Show."