Actors are good at playing nice with their co-stars in front of the camera – it is in the name – but we often hear about stars who played best friends on screen not feeling quite the same way behind the scenes.
For all the horror stories, what about the co-stars that are best friends in real life? Especially the ones you’d never expect – Helen Mirren and Russell Brand anyone?
See more celebrity BFFs in the gallery below
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler: The best friends are an unstoppable force in everything from TV shows, movies and even hosting the Oscars, but the duo actually met way back in 1993 at an improve class. When Tina got a job as a writer on Saturday Night Live she begged Amy to join the cast, which she eventually did and the rest is, as they say, history.
Kate Hudson and Lea Michele: Despite rumours that the pair butted heads during their time on Glee, just how close they were became apparent after Lea’s fiancé tragically died. “I called her and said, ‘I don’t know where I’m going to go because my house is swarmed with reporters. She was like, ‘Oh, you’re going to stay at my house’, like it was nothing,” Lea explained. She continued: “She let my family stay there, and any of my friends. She made sure that in the refrigerator were my favourite juices. I’ll never really be able to thank her, truly, for what she did for me.”
Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway: When accepting her Oscar for best supporting actress in Les Miserables, Hugh was one of the first people Anne thanked. The pair first spoke at the 2011 Oscars and Hugh said he “instantly” loved Anne when they met.
Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz: Two of Charlie’s Angels actually met long before the 2000 film. When Drew was only 14 and Cameron 16, they met in a coffee shop and Drew was instantly impressed with the model’s charming personality. The pair still likes to “bro out” and Cameron quickly shut down Kyle Sandilands in 2014 when he made jokes about Drew’s past.
Emily Blunt and Anna Kendrick: After getting to know each other on Into the Woods, the pair forged a strong friendship. Anna was especially taken with the Brit’s toilet humour. “She’s real self-deprecating. You think she’d be cool and English and icy. [But] she’s the kind of gal that loves a fart joke, and I appreciate that.”
Russell Brand and Helen Mirren: This unlikely pair met on the set of Arthur and have remained good friends ever since. When the film wrapped, Helen said: “He is the archetypal bad boy, who is really just the best, goodest boy you could possibly meet”.
George Clooney and Julia Roberts: The Money Monster co-stars have known each other since starring in 2001 Ocean’s Eleven and they’ve been close friends ever since. “What a relief we’re not Hollywood friends,” Julia said in Cannes. “I just said to him an hour ago, ‘Thank God we really do like each other, or we’d be in hell.’”
Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek: The Latina actresses have known each other for more than twenty years, meaning they met long before they starred in Bandidas together. “She’s one of my best friends. We call each other huevos [eggs]. It was because when we were working together, we didn’t have children yet, so we used to sleep much more than now. So it was a way to call each other lazy,” Penélope confessed. “We slept in the same bed so many times, and it was like she was always trying to wake me up and call me huevos.”
Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox: These Friends co-stars are exactly that. Jen has talked about sleeping in Courteney’s guest bedroom while times were tough and praised her friend for being “extremely fair, ridiculously loyal and fiercely loving”. The love is clearly returned, with Courteney appointing Jen as godmother to daughter Coco.
Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller: The British actresses met on the set of The Edge of Love and bonded so much over their “nerdiness”, they rented a house together in Wales.
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