The Rachel Green depicter claims she and her TV co-stars were 'very naive in what they were expecting' when they returned to the original set of their former show.

• Jun 1, 2021

AceShowbiz - The "Friends" reunion was much more emotional for Jennifer Aniston than she expected.

Returning to the set, which was recreated for the HBO Max special, was like "a sucker punch in the heart" for the actress.

The entire cast of the hit sitcom - Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc - reunited professionally for the first time since the show ended 17 years ago, and four days after the TV special aired, Aniston told radio show host Gayle King, "It was a sucker punch in the heart in a way. It was for all of us, I think. Even Courteney we got tears out of."

Aniston, who played Rachel Green in the sitcom, admitted she and her co-stars were "very naive in what they were expecting" when they returned to Stage 24 at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, to film the reunion, and when they saw all the same props and set pieces, used in the original series, they were overcome with emotion.

"We romanticised it, but you also have to remember we haven't been there since the series finale," she added. "It almost felt like time had stopped and we time travelled. And there's good in that, and then there's heartbreak in that."

The actress is still struggling to find the words to describe just how important Friends is to her. "It's really hard to put that into a sentence, except it filled my heart," she added. "The amount of love that people have for these six characters is something that you can't really explain the meaning of it (sic). Being reminded of the amount of happiness this show brought to people, that's a special thing to be a part of."