• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Jennifer Anniston speaks about how pay differences would have ‘destroyed’ Friends cast

Home> Entertainment> TV

Published 21:03 23 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Jennifer Anniston speaks about how pay differences would have ‘destroyed’ Friends cast

Not all six stars were going to be paid the same

Niamh Spence

Niamh Spence

Friends star Jennifer Aniston has revealed that only one thing could have 'destroyed' the cast - and that was salary differences.

The beloved sitcom, which began airing in the 1990s, was a huge hit and ran for 10 series, with the stars reportedly earning $1 million per episode by the time the show's finale aired in May 2004.

Not bad.

However, it wasn't always like this - especially at the start.

By the second series, Aniston and co-star David Schwimmer were starting to earn a higher salary than their co-stars - something which the actor said made her feel 'uneasy'.

Advert

Yet, in a true display of friendship and solidarity, they fought for all the six leading cast members to be on equal pay.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal magazine, Aniston explained: "It would’ve destroyed us, I think, if someone was soaring financially."

The Friends stars were all being paid a reported $1 million per episode by the final two series.
Warner Bros. Television

She added: "It was more about, 'We're doing equal work and we all deserve to be compensated in the same way.'

"I wouldn't feel good going to work knowing someone was getting x amount and I was getting something greater."

Advert

Both Schwimmer and Aniston actually took pay cuts so they could all be on equal footing.

However, by series nine and ten, the whole cast was starting to make bank.

When you count all the episodes for both seasons, each of the six main stars had earned a tidy sum of $40 million.

And Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman had previously commented on the whopping salaries, saying: "A million dollars an episode, let's be honest, that's kinda ridiculous. That's a lot of money. It's inflated.

"And there's something unrealistic about it."

Advert

That's a lot of money, indeed.

In the same interview, Aniston also revealed that Adam Sandler sends her flowers every Mother's Day.

How wholesome is that?

Jennifer Aniston says a difference in salaries would have 'destroyed' the cast.
NBC

While the Friends star isn't a mother, she has been open about her struggles with fertility.

Advert

During an interview with Allure in December last year, she recalled the anguish of trying to fall pregnant.

She opened up about how during her 30s and 40s she did everything to start a family.

“All the years and years and years of speculation... It was really hard. I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it," she told the outlet.

"I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, ‘Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favor'. You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed.

“I have zero regrets. I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, ‘Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe'. I don’t have to think about that anymore.”

Featured Image Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty / Warner Bros

Topics: Friends, Jennifer Aniston, TV and Film, News

Niamh Spence
Niamh Spence

Journalist.

X

@missnspence

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

21 mins ago
2 hours ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • 21 mins ago

    Every Scrubs actor who has died as reboot confirmed after 15 years

    The show is returning after 15 years, however some actors involved in the show have tragically died

    Entertainment
  • 2 hours ago

    Superman fans make iconic discovery after former actor brands new film 'woke'

    The most woke thing of all: Arguably the most famously American character of all time

    Entertainment
  • 4 hours ago

    Netflix viewers are being left constantly guessing by mystery mini-series you can watch in one sitting

    The Netflix series is a great binge with a bonkers plot twist

    Entertainment
  • 5 hours ago

    GTA 6 fans think Travis Scott just dropped a huge hint in new music video

    The rapper has left fans hyped after the release of his 2000 Expedition video

    Entertainment
  • Incredible amount of money Jennifer Aniston was making per season while filming friends
  • People can't believe what woman who played Ross and Rachel's baby in Friends looks like now
  • Specific reason Reese Witherspoon said no to Friends return as Rachel's sister revealed
  • Huge amount Friends cast earn each year from reruns of the show