Friends Creators Knew There Was More to Jennifer Anniston and David Schwimmer’s Chemistry

Fans were thrilled to discover during the reunion that Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer had continued to express affection for one another off-screen and beyond the confines of Friends. Unfortunately, the timing was never right. During the Friends reunion in May 2021, it was revealed that Ross and Rachel had feelings for each other right from the pilot of the 1994 NBC sitcom. During the reunion special shown on HBOMax as reported by The Things, Schwimmer spoke up, "The first season, I had a major crush on Jen," and Aniston added, "It was reciprocated."

Even though the cast members never officially dated, their attraction to one another was never hidden. The producer Kevin S. Bright confessed to the Hollywood Reporter, "It was a very hot topic on the set because the electricity between them in the scenes was like, ‘Oh, my God, they can’t be acting that, there’s got to be something!’ Everybody was suspicious that something was going on. People made up their own rumors at a certain point. But we all thought something might have been going on because they were just so good together. We were so invested in Ross and Rachel, like the rest of you. There was something about them. But like the show, in a certain way, you had to wait a long time, and then it never happened. The happy ending is in the show." Co-creator Marta Kauffman also said to the outlet, "It was pretty obvious, we didn’t know for sure because we never asked either of them, but yes, we thought that perhaps might be going on."

The actress, who had a crush on her Friends co-star, said it wasn't "weird" when they first kissed onscreen in Season 2. Aniston, 54, told Ryan Seacrest in an episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, "It was quite enjoyable, actually." Kelly Ripa mentioned, "You and David in the early years had a crush on each other," to which Aniston replied, "Yes, we did. We just let it play out on TV." She further added, "Sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop, so, we just channeled all of our love and adoration for each other into [their characters] Ross and Rachel."

Later in the interview with Kelly and Mark, Aniston discussed the Friends reunion, noting that it was far more emotional for her than she had imagined. She said, "It was a sucker punch, no one really expected what we were gonna feel. Because in your mind, you’re like, Ooh, time travel! That sounds really cool! And then you’re there and you’re like, Oh, that’s really intense — because so much has happened since." The actress has previously made similar remarks on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast. She said to Lowe, "In your mind, you think, ‘Oh, this will be really fun to time travel,’ It turns out… It’s kind of hard to time travel. Sixteen years ago, we were all sort of wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, and sort of had our whole lives ahead of us, even though we were heartbroken to say goodbye to these 10 years and… the job we all loved to do...It’s nostalgic in a way that’s kind of also a little melancholy, you know, ‘cause a lot has changed."