Jennifer Aniston opened up about why major movie stars—right down to Brad Pitt—often looked nervous when appearing on Friends, recalling how she and Lisa Kudrow laughed about the Thanksgiving episode cameo that landed in 2001.
Jennifer Aniston didn’t have to talk about Brad Pitt on Friends—but when she did, it came with a mix of humor and a clear memory of what it was like to watch big-screen names step into a sitcom.
On Wednesday, June 3, Variety debuted a new “Actors on Actors” episode featuring Aniston, 57, and her former Friends co-star Lisa Kudrow, 62. In their conversation. they revisited the string of celebrity guest appearances that made the NBC series feel even bigger than its cozy living rooms—especially the Thanksgiving episodes.
Kudrow pointed to one of them first. “Those were great, the Thanksgiving episodes. When Brad was on, that was hilarious,” she said.
Aniston agreed, then widened the frame with a roster of cameos she clearly remembers: “I know. How funny. The movie stars that came on Friends. Brad, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts. Isabella Rossellini. We had so many — Sean Penn. They were always nervous. Remember?. I always found it fascinating how nervous they were.”.
Kudrow said she recognized that mindset among the stars who joined the show. “Well, because what’s the tone?. It’s not theater; it’s for TV. It’s not a movie. What the hell is this?. And it’s a good question. And I remember someone asked one time. I didn’t know how to explain it, so I said, ‘Oh, just talk louder. Same intention, just —,’” she explained.
Aniston finished the thought with a laugh: “Just louder!”
Pitt’s guest appearance came in 2001, during the Thanksgiving episode in which he played Ross Geller’s (David Schwimmer) friend from high school. At the time the episode aired, Pitt and Aniston were married—having wed in 2000. Their marriage ended in 2005.
The conversation also nodded to how long certain parts of their story have lingered. The material notes that in an interview from October 2025, Aniston addressed a longstanding rumor about her divorce from Pitt.
Jennifer Aniston Brad Pitt Friends Lisa Kudrow Actors on Actors NBC Thanksgiving episode celebrity cameos