It is a truth universally acknowledged that Friends is one of the most beloved television shows of all time—but is it possible that the series might not have been nearly as good if it had taken in place in 2017 instead of 1997? According to star Jennifer Aniston, the answer is "yes."
In an interview with Arianna Huffington for the premiere episode of iHeartRadio's Thrive Global podcast, the actress spoke at length about how technology and social media have evolved over the past couple decades—and why she believes these advances would have completely ruined Friends.
"We were jokingly saying that if Friends was created today, you would have a coffee shop full of people that were just staring into iPhones," she said. "There would be no actual episodes or conversations."
While most Friends fans might disagree with her stance—after all, most of us would do just about anything for more of our favorite five-some—she does have a point; and later in the interview, Jennifer also delved into how modern technology has affected her off-screen, too. Most notably, she explained why it's so important to her that she stays off social media.
"For me, it's self-preservation not to be on social media. There's enough written about me out there and enough that's not true," she said. "Look, the mystery of who you are as an actor is already sort of taken from you. This is the one place I actually have that is protected and mine, this little sanctuary."
You can listen to the entirety of Jennifer's interview with Thrive Global right here.
