Jennifer Aniston Reveals Interesting Insight on ‘Friends’ Cast’s Salaries

Jennifer Aniston is spilling the tea when it comes to the salaries among the Friends cast. With a cast like Friends, where there are six leads, and all are equally important to the storyline, you would think that the salaries would be pretty equal as well. Via TVLine, the actress tells WSJ Magazine that “It would’ve destroyed us, I think, if someone was soaring financially.”

Aniston, along with Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc, all fought to earn the same amount beginning with the third season. She and Schwimmer took a pay cut at that time as they were getting paid more than their co-stars during Season 2 because of the focus on Ross and Rachel. All six were paid equally for the remainder of the show’s run and even ended up making a million dollars per episode for Seasons 9 and 10.

In a 2013 interview with Radio Times, Jennifer Aniston said that the negotiations were “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.’” Considering that the did pretty equal work on the NBC sitcom, it makes sense that she and the rest of the cast wanted to fight to make sure they were getting paid what they should. And that no one was getting anything greater or less.

One of the biggest reasons why Friends lasted as long as it did was because of the cast’s chemistry. If the salaries were unequal for a good part of the show’s run, it’s likely it would not have gone for 10 seasons. The cast were so adamant about being paid equally, and rightfully so. It’s a good thing they got their way because who knows what would have happened if they kept getting unequal salaries. It just wouldn’t make sense, though. Whether or not a character or characters have bigger storylines for a season, all six are equally important.

It is interesting to hear the insight on the salariesjennifer-aniston-reese-witherspoons-massive-morning-show-salaries. Friends is definitely not the only show or movie to have salary troubles when it comes to equity, especially when the entire cast is on the same level. Since the cast is still as close as ever, it seems that equal pay really helped. Friends would not be the same without them, and if the salary destroyed them, it would be a lot different.