Even today, Friends continues to be one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. The six-time Emmy-winning show boasts a core cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Mathew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer. Throughout its 10 seasons, everyone got to see their characters grow up, fall in love, and eventually, settle down. Fans also got to see the cast get closer on screen and behind the scenes.
More recently, Aniston, Cox, Perry, LeBlanc, Kudrow, and Schwimmer reunited onstage for the Emmy-nominated special Friends: The Reunion. And while they did revisit some of the show’s most memorable moments (and even reunited with some of their other co-stars, including the late James Michael Tyler who played Gunther), some of the cast only have vague memories of Friends today. In fact, one might even say that they don’t remember their time on the show too well.
Here’s What The ‘Friends’ Cast Have Said About Their Memories From The Show
The cast may have worked on the show for 10 long years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they still remember everything that happened on the set to this day. In fact, following their onscreen reunion, Cox revealed that she couldn’t recall when they had shot some of the scenes she’s watched over the years.
"I’m kinda bummed that we didn’t spend more time taking pictures. Because I don’t have a lot to look back at,” the actress pointed out while on Today. "I see it on TV sometimes, and I stop and go, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t remember this at all. But it’s so funny."
And as it turns out, her lack of memory of her time on Friends also left her unable to answer some things during their onscreen reunion. “I should’ve watched all 10 seasons, because when I did the reunion and was asked questions, I was like, ‘I don’t remember being there,’” the actress recalled. “I don’t remember filming so many episodes.”
It also turns out that it’s not just Cox with fading memories of the show. In fact, Kudrow has been experiencing the same thing. “Yeah, Courteney and I are completely in the same boat,” the actress said. “We don’t even remember what the episodes were.” But then, she also pointed out, “I know I haven’t seen all the episodes.”
Aside from these actresses, their co-star Perry also admitted that some of his memories of the show are also faint due to the addiction struggles he faced while filming it. “I don’t remember three years of it,” the actor once admitted while speaking with BBC’s Chris Evans. “I was a little out of it at the time. Somewhere between seasons three and six.”
On the other hand, Schwimmer has also admitted that he barely has memories of certain episodes that they had shot. For instance, when he was asked about the episode where they were throwing around a ball that must never be dropped, the actor drew a blank. “I don’t remember.”
Why Has The Cast Forgotten Their Time On ‘Friends’?
Some cast members may have already forgotten their time on the show, but that’s really nothing to worry about. As it turns out, something like this happening is rather inevitable. After all, they are just humans and memories don’t last forever.
According to a study by Boston College that was published in 2019, the vividness of one’s memory fades as time goes on. Boston College Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Kensinger and post-doctoral researcher Rose Cooper realized this after conducting an experiment that involved participants studying various images. In the end, they found that one tends to suffer from memory deficit after a certain amount of time and that the vividness of one’s memories is also affected.
“We found that memories seem to literally fade: people consistently remembered visual scenes as being less vibrant than they were originally experienced,” Cooper explained. “We had expected that memories would get less accurate after a delay, but we did not expect that there would be this qualitative shift in the way that they were remembered.”
Interestingly, they also found that memories with strong emotional connections also fade from one’s mind over the same period of time as memories that are less emotionally charged.
Because of this, even if Cox and Kudrow had the best time of their lives on the show, forgetting their memories on the set is something that simply cannot be avoided. Good thing Friends is still available on streaming today.
Meanwhile, following the cast’s appearance on Friends: Reunion in 2021, the possibility of doing a similar special seems highly unlikely. Nonetheless, fans can take comfort in the fact that Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Schwimmer, and Perry continue to be as close as can be. And whether they remember much about the show or not, these guys are always going to be there for each other.
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