It’s been 25 years since the premiere of Friends, and its cast are still as close as ever.

At a SAG-AFTRA event honouring Jennifer Aniston’s career and charity work in Los Angeles this week, her former co-stars (and forever friends) Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox turned up to pay tribute to their pal.

“Courteney and I are here to present an award to our f–” Kudrow began, pausing for comedic emphasis on the all-too-meaningful ‘f’. “Forever cherished person,” she concluded, as the audience laughed.

“Didn’t want to say friend?” Cox joked.

“Well it means something different in the context of us,” Kudrow fired back.

“It’s too bad, because we really are friends,” Cox reassured everyone.

The pair went on to speak about Aniston’s many achievements, both in the charity space and in her acting career. Their words of praise were a poignant reminder of how important it is to always remind your friends – or, you know, forever cherished people – how special and valued they are.

“We’re not the only ones who know that Jen is a remarkable person,” Cox said. “We all love her because she radiates warmth and joy and humour and love.”

Added Kudrow: “When they asked us to present this award to Jen tonight we were thrilled to celebrate her.”

“Bottom line, we show up because Jen shows up for so many others in so many incredible ways,” Cox concluded. 

Accepting her award, Aniston reflected back on how important her friendship with the cast of Friends has been in her life.

“Friends was lightning in a bottle… I don’t mean the ratings,” she said. “It was a very rare environment where there was truly no competition, no egos, we were just six relatively unknown actors learning on the job together and thanking our lucky stars to be on this rocket ship of a show.”

She added: “We went from Friends to a family. That experience set the bar for the rest of my career and it taught me to surround myself with supportive people who make me better. Not only a better actor but a better person.” 

It’s been a month of Friends reunions, with Aniston joining Instagram with a now-famous snap of her former castmates all together. On 7 November, Courteney Cox shared a photo of herself and Matthew Perry sharing lunch.

“Guess who I had lunch with today….I KNOW!! Could I BE any happier? #realfriends,” she captioned the picture.

Real friends,and real forever cherished people, too. 

Images: Getty, Friends