When Friends Co-Creator Expressed Disappointment Over Jennifer Aniston & Others’ Over High Paycheck Demands! ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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Like most Hollywood celebrities, Jennifer Aniston and the cast of Friends also had to fight for their salaries. The six members were paid a sum of only $22,500 during the initial seasons of the show. They renegotiated their remuneration for the final two seasons to $1 million per episode. Co-creator Marta Kauffman once broke her silence on their massive paychecks and called it ridiculous. Scroll below for all the details!
Friends went on-air in 1994. The show revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s who live in Manhattan, New York. Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) and Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) led the sitcom.
Friends cast salary
All the 6 members were initially paid the same salary. However, in the following seasons, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston got more remuneration than the rest of the cast mates. Our Rachel and Ross truly considered Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry as their family and fought for equal pay for each leading actor.
Friends wrapped up in 2004. But Marta Kauffman expressed her disappointment over the $1 million paycheck in a 2015 interview. As per the Wrap, Friends co-creator at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour said, “A million dollars an episode is kinda ridiculous. Let’s be honest, that’s a lot of money.”
Friends co-creators slammed the leading cast’s unrealistic demand!
Marta Kauffman was seemingly pissed as she added, “I think it’s inflated. And there’s something unrealistic about it. Not everybody is going to get a million dollars an episode. So I think actually what we’re all doing (at Netflix) is actually more reasonable and makes more sense.” The American Television writer and co-producer worked with Netflix as the showrunner of Grace and Frankie then.
All’s well that ends well, and we’re sure Friends creators must have agreed to pay the salary they did because Jennifer Aniston and her co-stars deserved every penny of it!
Matthew Perry’s untimely demise
The cast mates witnessed a huge blow when Matthew Perry passed away in his hot tub in October 2023. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and Lisa Kudrow were devastated. They united for his funeral in Los Angeles.
