Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

This entry is trivia, which is cool and all, but not a trope. On a work, it goes on the Trivia tab.

Following

Friendship on the Set

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/truelies_arnold_and_tom3.png
"We get along so well, I love Jenna. She's one of my closest friends. I think we have a different dynamic off-screen, but I still don't think its any less important or deep or beautiful than Enid and Wednesday's."
— Emma Myers on her friendship with Jenna Ortega, formed during the filming of Wednesday

Being on the set of any film, television or cartoon production could have plenty of outcomes. On average, actors are simply associates who work together and then go their separate ways once the project ends with no ill will towards their coworkers. Of course, Romance on the Set may happen between coworkers and, on the opposite end, so does Hostility on the Set.

This trope lies in the middle, where someone becomes close to their coworker either as a good friend or even a best friend. Obviously, this can change the trajectory of their lives/careers, even to the point of making several projects together or later guest-starring on the costar's latest show. Also, while a friendship may develop between coworkers, it can still end through a non-death manner.

Compare with Mean Character, Nice Actor, Heterosexual Life-Partners, Platonic Life-Partners, True Companions, Undying Loyalty, Best Friends-in-Law, Like Brother and Sister, Fire-Forged Friends and Bash Brothers. Contrast with The Rival, Vitriolic Best Buds, With Friends Like These... and All of the Other Reindeer.

Please remember when writing examples that Examples Are Not Recent.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 

    Film — Live Action 
  • The African Queen: Though she didn't appear in the film proper, Lauren Bacall accompanied her husband Humphrey Bogart to Africa for the shoot, and while there began a lifelong friendship with Bogart's co-star Katharine Hepburn.
  • A League of Their Own: Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell first met while filming the movie. Since it was produced at the height of Madonna's fame (and controversies), O'Donnell initially thought she'd be The Prima Donna. But instead, Madonna got on well with the cast and crew and particularly cliqued with O'Donnell. The two women remain good friends to this day.
  • Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. became close friends while making Air America. Gibson later insisted that Downey be cast in The Singing Detective despite his issues with drugs and alcohol. And Downey Jr. once stated before Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that the only reason why he'd do an Iron Man 4 is if Gibson was director.
  • Almost Heroes: Chris Farley and Matthew Perry became such good friends while making the movie, to the point where Perry was so upset by the news of Farley's death in 1997 that he punched a hole through the wall of Jennifer Aniston's dressing room on the set of Friends.
  • Sigourney Weaver and Carrie Henn became friends while making Aliens and stayed in touch.
  • Val Kilmer befriended Jim Carrey while making Batman Forever. They bonded over the fact that they had both lost their fathers. Carrey also befriended Nicole Kidman, who considers him her best male friend.
  • Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson became good friends following the Blade Trilogy.
  • Adèle Exarchopoulos and LĂ©a Seydoux developed a very close friendship during filming Blue Is The Warmest Color, which helped them get through the film's gruelling production.
  • Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston became friends making The Bodyguard. They bonded over growing up in the Baptist Church and he told her a story about getting caught sneaking grape juice from the communion glasses. He later gave the eulogy at her funeral.
  • Even though they had completely different acting styles, Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard became lifelong friends after making Breakfast at Tiffany's.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger became friends while playing lovers in Brokeback Mountain. Gyllenhaal became the godfather of Ledger's daughter.
  • Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu became good friends while starring together in Charlie's Angels (2000). Years later, when Drew started hosting her own daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, she invited Cameron and Lucy as her first guests, introducing them as her sisters.
  • Dick Van Dyke brought Benny Hill onto Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and they quickly became friends, bonding over their mutual love of silent comedy. They both lamented that they weren't around during the silent era.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones became friends while making Conan the Barbarian. Jones gave Arnie acting tips, while Arnie gave Jones body-building advice.
  • DC Extended Universe:
    • Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot became friends when filming Wonder Woman. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Jenkins was initially frustrated at the idea that Gadot, a model, was cast as Diana/Wonder Woman. She changed her mind when watching her in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and working with her, and the rest is history.
    • Zack Snyder, who's already known as one of the gentlest directors to work with, befriended both Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher when making Justice League. The two actors have defended the director afterward, crediting him for being an important step in their careers and being the first cast members to call for his version of the film to be released between 2017 and 2020.
  • Sandra Bullock later said that Sylvester Stallone was like an older brother to her while making Demolition Man.
  • Sean Connery and Ursula Andress remained good friends after making Dr. No together, with her even making him her son's godfather.
  • The younger cast of Dune: Part Two (TimothĂ©e Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, and Florence Pugh) became close friends during filming and on the subsequent press tour, with Zendaya's boyfriend and fellow up-and-coming movie star Tom Holland being added to their friend group whenever he visited the set.
  • Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans became good friends while working together in Earth Girls Are Easy. It was for this reason that when the Wayans siblings went on to create the sketch comedy series In Living Color!, Carey was invited to audition, and the show became his Starmaking Role.
  • Vin Diesel and Paul Walker became close friends while making The Fast and the Furious series and Diesel was devastated by Walker's tragic death in 2013.
  • From Here to Eternity: Montgomery Clift befriended Frank Sinatra and James Jones and they would go on drinking binges. Clift coached Sinatra on how to play Maggio during their more sober moments, for which Sinatra was eternally grateful. Sinatra also formed a lifelong friendship with Burt Lancaster, crediting both him and Clift with helping him find his feet as an actor.
  • Despite butting heads due to their difference in acting styles, Vincent D'Onofrio and Matthew Modine became and have remained great friends on the set of Full Metal Jacket.
  • Much like their characters, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell became close friends while making Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In fact, Russell was the only one who could entice Monroe out of her trailer.
  • Giant: Elizabeth Taylor formed a lifelong friendship with Rock Hudson. She also befriended James Dean and was devastated by his tragic death in 1955. Some nights they would sit up late as he vented his frustrations with his life as an actor, the restrictions of Hollywood life, and past traumas. Dean also befriended Dennis Hopper on Rebel Without a Cause.
  • Russell Crowe and Richard Harris became friends while making Gladiator, bonding over their mutual love of rugby.
  • At least two of The Goonies, Ke Huy Quan and Jeff Cohen, formed a friendship that lasted into adulthood; solidified when Cohen agreed to become Quan's lawyer when Quan decided to begin acting again. When Quan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once, he thanked Cohen for helping him get the part.
  • John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John became close friends while making Grease in 1978. Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland whom he met when she played his character's mother in the 1976 TV movie "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and was already suffering with the breast cancer that killed her in March 1977. At the time Travolta was filming "Saturday Night Fever" in NYC and was unable to be with her. Her death, followed by the whirlwind of global stardom that followed greatly affected him and to Olivia he could unburden his feelings. He was visibly moved during the In Memoriam sketch dedicated to her at the 2023 Oscars.
  • Steve McQueen and James Garner became friends while making The Great Escape, bonding over their mutual love of motor-racing.
  • Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan became friends while making The Green Mile, to the point that Hanks would deliver the eulogy at Duncan's funeral in 2012.
  • Rather fittingly, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson all grew to be close friends after their time as Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Harry Potter series. It actually got to the point where Watson described her Big Damn Kiss scene with Grint as being particularly tough to film because she thought of him as practically a brother by that point. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) also has also enjoyed a close relationship with them as well, in stark contrast to his character who is a constant thorn in their characters' sides.
  • Robert Mitchum was worried about working with Deborah Kerr on Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, fearing that she would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at John Huston during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. They would co-star in three more films and formed a lifelong friendship.
  • Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery became such good friends while making Highlander that Lambert would only return for the sequel if Connery did.
  • After Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin called Catherine O'Hara "mom". She was even in attendance when he received his Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023 and gave a speech honoring him.
  • The cast of It very quickly became a close knit group of friends, especially the actors who played the Losers. There is plenty of behind-the-scenes video that show them hanging out together and having fun. There have also been many instances where the cast have posted their support for each other's projects outside of the film series. They write that they are "best friends", and encourage their followers to watch/support their work. Even years after filming they consistently stay connected through social media.
  • It's a Wonderful Knife (2023): Jane Widdop (Winnie) and Jess McLeod (Bernie) quickly bonded after meeting. Both actors have said very kind things about each other in interviews, and say that the chemistry which the characters had stems from their bond.
  • Yul Brynner hand-picked Deborah Kerr to be his costar in The King and I after seeing her onstage. They became lifelong friends afterwards.
  • Jerry Lewis and Kathleen Freeman. Freeman was a theater actress who did occasional movie roles (eg. as the elocution coach in Singin' in the Rain). Her friendship with Lewis began when she had a small part in the 1955 Martin and Lewis movie Artists and Models. Impressed with her comedic and dramatic skills, in 1961 Lewis - now an established film-maker - cast "Katie" as his comic foil in The Ladies Man, and in The Errand Boy. By the time The Nutty Professor1963 began shooting, "Katie" was being given a generous per diem to stay on after her scenes were completed, mostly to keep Lewis company. As he observed: "I always work better, when Katie is here." They made 11 movies together and their friendship lasted until her death in 2001.
  • While making The Klansman, Lee Marvin boasted to Richard Burton that he got top billing, to which Burton replied that he was being paid more. The pair often got drunk together to the point where Burton claimed that they met again at a party and couldn't remember making the film.
  • Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider became friends with one another while making Last Tango in Paris, later finding solidarity in their shared feelings of sexual humiliation regarding Bernardo Bertolucci's treatment of them on set. The two remained friends until Brando's death in 2004.
  • Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif became fast friends while making Lawrence of Arabia. Upon learning his name, O'Toole declared, "You can't be called that, there isn't a movie star in the world named Omar Sharif. Your name must be Cairo Fred". They would often go out drinking together.
    • O'Toole also befriended Jack Hawkins, much to David Lean's annoyance, as their character are supposed to be enemies. They would annoy Lean by ad-libbing material.
  • Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale became good friends while filming The Legend of Frenchie King, no doubt frustrating the paparazzi that had hoped their onscreen rivalry (which includes a pretty long Cat Fight) was fed by Reality Subtext.
  • The four main actors of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels became friends.
  • The cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings became this thanks to the three years they spent filming the movies back to back/concurrently in New Zealand. Also, while the entire cast became close, smaller groups of true companions formed between the actors playing the four hobbits (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd), and between the trio who played Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and John Rhys-Davies).
  • Corey Haim and Corey Feldman met and became best friends while making The Lost Boys. Precluded from the nightly parties held by the older actors, they stayed in the hotel watching movies and visited the local arcade.
  • The Magnificent Seven (1960): Yul Brynner befriended Brad Dexter, while Steve McQueen (actor) befriended James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Eli Wallach.
  • Richard Harris and James Coburn got along very well while making Major Dundee and would often go out drinking together. Coburn recalled, "When he wanted to, he could hit the liquor like no one I knew."
  • Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster became Platonic Life-Partners after appearing in the 1994 film version of Maverick. Even as his reputation entered a rut, Foster gave him the lead role in The Beaver.
  • David Bowie became fast friends with James Malcolm during location filming in Auckland, New Zealand for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Bowie openly referred to Malcolm, who played his character's brother in the movie, as his "New Zealand brother," and when he revisited Auckland during the supporting tour for Let's Dance the following year, he invited him on-stage to release a peace dove together.
  • Marilyn Monroe befriended Montgomery Clift while making The Misfits, saying "It's great to meet someone who's in worse shape than I am".
  • The main cast of the Mission: Impossible Film Series (Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ving Rhames) seem to be quite close, especially Ferguson and Pegg, who have frequently posted pictures on social media of them goofing off on set, as well as her and Cruise, whose warm and loving real-life friendship has been largely credited for their characters' strong onscreen chemistry.
  • Unlike their characters, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Freddie Boath got along with each other while making The Mummy Returns.
  • Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson became friends when they first starred together in The Perfect Score.
  • Sylvester Stallone and Richard Crenna became good friends following the first three Rambo films. So much that Stallone refused to recast the role of Col. Trautman following Crenna's death.
  • James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo and Nick Adams were an inseparable foursome while making Rebel Without a Cause. Dean even encouraged Mineo to play his character as gay.
  • Maureen O'Hara became such good friends with John Wayne during the filming of Rio Grande, they went on the star together in four more films. They were known to have similar interests and confident attitudes, to the point that Wayne joked that she was the greatest guy he knew. When he died in 1979, O'Hara fell into a deep depression that lasted for several years.
  • The young cast of The Sandlot became fast friends, with many of them saying the filming was a lot like summer camp since they got to play baseball all the time.
  • The School for Good and Evil (2022): In interviews to promote the film, Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington revealed that they became incredibly close friends while filming. Despite having never met before, both actresses have said that they had a instant chemistry and bond due to their shared experiences as mothers and spent a large part of the press for the film gushing about their friendship. Both actresses also became co-moms towards the younger cast of the film.
  • Ted Levine and Brooke Smith respectively played Serial Killer Buffalo Bill and his victim Catherine Martin in The Silence of the Lambs, but became great friends on the set of the film, to the point where Jodie Foster jokingly nicknamed her Patty Hearst. They became so close that, when Smith improvised her I Want My Mommy! line as Catherine pleading with Buffalo Bill, Levine is visibly trying to hold back tears.
  • Just like in their movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the four main actresses (America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel) became best friends in real life. It helps that they also attended each other's weddings.
  • The Sound of Music: The actors who played the seven von Trapp children truly did become family during filming, and upon the deaths of first Charmian Carr and later Heather Menzies-Urich noted that it did feel as though they'd lost a sibling.
    Nicholas Hammond: What Bob Wise set out to do was create a family — and he did.
  • The four main actors of Stand by Me, Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell became close friends, reflecting the camaraderie you see in the film.
  • William Shatner and Patrick Stewart became friends while making Star Trek: Generations. Shatner, a passionate and world-class equestrian, advised him how to ride a horse properly.
  • Star Wars:
    • During the production of the original trilogy, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who played Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa respectively, became friends in real life (fittingly as their characters ended up as siblings). Hamill often referred to her as his "Space Sister" and was absosutely devastated by Fisher's death.
    • Hamill also experienced this trope with Ian McDiarmid (who played the Big Bad, Emperor Palpatine), as they bonded over their appreciation of British comedy.
  • The five female leads of Sucker Punch - Emily Browning, Jamie Chung, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone - all became Fire-Forged Friends throughout the filming process, with Jamie Chung listing it as her favourite role in large part because of the friendships she made making it. Jena Malone declared during press junkets "I have four sisters right here".
  • In Yuen Woo-Ping film Tiger Cage 2, real life Martial Artist Robin Shou befriended his fellow acting pal and known host of the show Go West David Wu while filming the fight scene between him and David. In an exerpt linked on Robin's page, Robin spoke about how spliced between the fight was a body double who would land punches onto Robin during the fight sequence and David taking Robin's punches and kicks. A example of this was Robin leaping up and kicking David in the jaw before the fight began. Despite David taking Robin's hits, they still remained as friends after filming finished.
  • The two stars of Titanic (1997). Leonardo DiCaprio had to wear a long coat for most of his shoot. James Cameron recalled, "He would, like, fart in it and then sweep the coat over her face. I mean, if anybody else in the world did that, they'd get slapped, and the other person would walk away and not talk to them for a week. With Leo, Kate would just crack up."
  • Gregory Peck and Mary Badham became lifelong friends while making To Kill a Mockingbird and kept in contact for the rest of his life. Peck always called her "Scout", while Badham called Peck "Atticus".
  • Oliver Reed and Keith Moon became friends while making Tommy and engaged in numerous pranks, to the point where they were kept in a separate hotel from everyone else. They remained friends until Moon's death, which left Reed devastated.
  • True Lies: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Arnold became very good friends because of this film. Tom thinks this is because they both grew up in a small town and made something of themselves, and has more than once spoken of their Undying Loyalty to each other.
  • Speaking of Jim Carrey, his 1998 role in the ambitious dramedy The Truman Show, saw him costarring with Noah Emmerich, who plays an actor who plays Truman's best friend. Carrey hit it off with Emmerich very well and has referred to him as his best friend.
  • During production of Valley of the Dolls, the three stars, Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke and Sharon Tate, became exceptionally close to the point of both women serving as bridesmaids in Tate's wedding.
  • The five child actors of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory became friends into adulthood, even recording the film's DVD Commentary.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Patrick Macnee became friends with all his co-stars on The Avengers (1960s). Diana Rigg claimed that Macnee and her chauffeur were her only friends onset.
  • The cast of Band of Brothers became just as close to each other during filming as the real men of Easy Company did during the war. They hold a cast reunion every year and frequently participate in USO tours and World War II historical events together.
  • Barney & Friends: Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato befriended each other while acting in Season 7. They were best friends for many years afterwards, leading to other collaborative projects when they became Disney Channel stars. However, they eventually grew apart.
  • Buffyverse:
  • Charmed (1998):
    • Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs were already best friends when the show started, and the former had even fought for Holly to be cast as Piper when the network execs didn't think she had enough "star power". Shannen however admitted that they lost touch in the 2010s, though fortunately, the two would resume their friendship later that decade. Interestingly enough, Shannen would later become good friends with Rose McGowan, who played her half-sister Paige in the same decade despite never starring in the show together, due to the latter's character replacing the former's character after her death in season three.
    • Holly Marie Combs and her on-screen husband Brian Krause are still close twenty years later, frequently doing panels together at conventions. They also bonded with Drew Fuller, who played their Kid from the Future, and eventually set up a podcast together called House of Halliwell.
    • Kaley Cuoco describes her first day on set as Alyssa Milano coming up to her with a hug and saying "welcome to our show". Notably, Billie was introduced as Paige's charge, but soon bonded more with Phoebe; reflecting the actresses' real-life connection.
  • While Community was rather infamous for the on-set tensions between Chevy Chase and his co-stars, nearly everyone else in the main cast got along incredibly well. In particular: Troy and Abed's iconic friendship is said to have been inspired by Donald Glover and Danny Pudi becoming good friends off-set (Troy was originally supposed to become best friends with Pierce instead). Pudi is also known to be very tight with Alison Brie, which led to them reuniting in the film Somebody I Used to Know, written and directed by Brie and her husband Dave Franco. Meanwhile, Joel McHale and Ken Jeong would go on to host their own podcast together, and numerous other Community alums would show up as guest panelists on Jeong's game show I Can See Your Voice.
  • Quite a bit on The Cosby Show:
    • Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad became good friends while appearing on the show as husband and wife, so much that they reunited to play husband and wife again on his later series Cosby.
    • A behind-the-scenes version: Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Cosby's only son, Ennis (who Warner's character Theo Huxtable was based on) became best friends. After Ennis' tragic 1997 murder, Malcolm called him "[his] brother, and I love him". Warner also had this and a Romance on the Set with Michelle Thomas, who appeared as his date in one episode, and although they had broken up, he was at her side when she died from stomach cancer in 1998.
  • Dad's Army: While The Vicar only just tolerated the Verger, Frank Williams became very close friends with Edward Sinclair behind the scenes, recalling:
    Edward Sinclair was the kindest of men and we became close friends - so did Bill Pertwee. Over the years, the three of us became a kind of unholy alliance on and off-screen.
  • Doctor Who:
  • The majority of the cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air became close friends. In particular, Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro became best friends and their characters' relationship was rewritten to reflect that.
  • The cast of Friends all insisted on equal pay and screentime, and if they were nominated for awards, you could not nominate one of the cast for Best Lead and another for Best Supporting Cast Member. They were utterly devastated after Matthew Perry's passing in 2023, issuing a joint statement to pay tribute to him, saying "We were more than just castmates. We are a family.".
  • The cast of Full House became close during the show's eight-year production and remained close years later. This is why they took Bob Saget's untimely passing in 2022 so hard. When Jodie Sweetin became addicted to meth, her fellow former cast members all helped intervene to get her into rehab.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, who played sisters Sansa and Arya Stark, developed a deep and abiding friendship which has lasted long after the end of the series. Williams describes Turner as her "favorite person" on the show and says that because they played sisters, they became like sisters.
    • Jason Momoa and Emilia Clarke - who played onscreen love interests Drogo and Daenerys - became friends after meeting on the show. Clarke mentioned that the more experienced Momoa looked out for her on-set and supported her during nude scenes, including demanding she be treated better and encouraging her to speak up if she was uncomfortable. Although the last time they appeared together on the show was in Season 2, they stayed in contact and remained friends long after the show ended.
    • In a bit of truly delicious irony, Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Hannah Waddingham (Septa Unella) — two characters whose relationship is extremely antagonistic, to say the least — became fast friends on set and are still close years after the show ended.
  • Michael Sheen and David Tennant became lifelong friends during the filming of Good Omens, and collaborated on Staged during the Covid-19 pandemic. They happened to have baby daughters born only weeks apart, and their families are close as well. Neil Gaiman has stated that initiating their friendship is one of the greatest accomplishments of his life.
  • John Ritter and Billy Bob Thornton became good friends while shooting Hearts Afire. Ritter appeared in Thornton's riskier indie projects to support his friend's artistic ambitions and Thornton was devastated when Ritter died not long after they wrapped Bad Santa.
  • Lucille Ball initially gave Vivian Vance a hard time on the set I Love Lucy due to her being cast as Ethel without her consent. She was expecting someone far less pretty and glamorous to play the role of the dumpy land-lady. However as Vance shown her talents, Lucy began to warm up to her, and over time the two became such close friends that Ball insisted that Vance join her on her next project The Lucy Show in a co-starring role. Their friendship lasted the rest of their lives, with Lucille Ball being among those by Vivian's side while she was on her death bed.
  • The four main actors of The Inbetweeners became friends during the series.
  • Interview with the Vampire (2022): By all accounts, Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid became very close during the production of the first season, and during the press tour spent time together as friends doing things like going to sticker shops and getting ice cream.
  • The Last of Us (2023) co-stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey formed a friendship comparable to the surrogate father/daughter bond Joel and Ellie develop in the first season. Ramsey also became very close with co-showrunner Craig Mazin and developed a similar surrogate father-daughter relationship with him. The credits of the sixth episode reflect this, as a cover of Depeche Mode's "Never Let Me Down Again" plays over it, sung by Mazin's biological daughter Jessica and used to represent a character played by Ramsey, who Mazin considered to be his adopted childnote .
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe became the Like Brother and Sister variety while working together in the show's ten-year production.
  • Long Way Round: Discussed Trope. Ewan McGregor and his cohost Charley Boorman talk in the first episode about how they became best friends after appearing together in the 1997 film The Serpent's Kiss, and how it's unusual to make a friend for life on a film set.
  • The cast of Married... with Children became very close to each other, with Ed O'Neill almost becoming a surrogate father to Christina Applegate, whose own parents were divorced. On one occassion, O'Neill surprised Applegate with a visit to her on an unrelated show while being in-character.
  • On Martin (1992), lead actresses Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold had previously worked together before (even appearing as the background singers in the film version of Little Shop of Horrors), but them playing Heterosexual Life Partners Gina and Pam respectively only deepened their existing friendship. Arnold also became close friends with Martin Lawrence and they remain good friends to this day, which is ironic given their characters' antagonistic relationship.
  • Miami Vice: Much like their characters Switek and Zito, Michael Talbott and John Diehl became very good friends during production and remain so to this day.
  • The Mickey Mouse Club:
    • JC Chasez and Tony Lucca became best friends while appearing on the show together.
    • Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling became good friends on the show, even with Ryan (who's Canadian) staying with Justin and his family during the taping of the show in Florida.
  • NCIS: Pauley Perrette and Meredith Eaton have become just as close in real life as their on-screen characters Abby and Carol.
  • On Night Court, Harry Anderson and John Larroquette became good friends during production (as well as both men being born and raised in New Orleans).
  • Once Upon a Time:
    • Jennifer Morrison became good friends with the people who played her parents on the show, Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas, to the point that the three even jointly dressed as the main trio from Harry Potter one Halloween. Jennifer also became incredibly close friends with Colin O'Donoghue, which helped their chemistry as lovers on-screen.
    • Lana Parrilla and Jared S. Gilmore became incredibly close during the filming of the show. Jared even once described their off-screen dynamic as very similar to their characters' on-screen one and said that Lana was a second mother to him. Lana also grew close to the actress who plays her sister, Rebecca Mader, and the two often call each other their best friend.
    • Sean Maguire and Robbie Kay ironically didn't appear on-screen together, but they ended up becoming close friends simply through doing convention panels together. At one point, the former announced that he was adopting him as a joke. He also became close with Rebecca Mader, and the two did a podcast together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The relationship between Richard Wilson and Angus Deayton was the polar opposite of their characters in One Foot in the Grave. The two became extremely close friends over the course of the series and Wilson even became the godfather to Deayton's son.
  • The cast of Only Fools and Horses became close friends, particularly David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, who would often play pranks onset. Jason described them as "a pair of silly Buddhas" in his autobiography and would call his costar "Nick".
  • Ronnie Barker and David Jason became close friends while making Open All Hours. Barker described making the show as one of the happiest times of his life and Jason considered Barker a mentor.
  • Daniel Craig and Mark Strong became close friends while making Our Friends in the North, while Christopher Eccleston befriended Peter Vaughan.
  • After Picket Fences, Costas Mandylor considered his costar Tom Skerritt to be his best friend.
  • James Roday Rodriguez and DulĂ© Hill who lead Psych have become close friends like their characters Shawn and Gus.
  • The Real World: During the third season in San Francisco, Judd Winick, Pam Ling and Pedro Zamora all became good friends before his passing. While the former two also fell in love and married, they went to say their goodbyes when the latter passed away.
  • RuPaul's Drag Race: While most examples of contestants working together outside the show are queens that were already friends beforehand, there are a few that bonded during their season and became good friends afterwards. One of the most notable examples are the Season 6 finalists Adore Delano, Bianca Del Rio, Courtney Act, and Darienne Lake.note  Not only was this the first season to lack any sort of rivalry among the finalists as they all had nothing but love and respect for each other, but a few years after the season, the four queens embarked on the "ABCD" Tour.
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch's three lead actresses - Melissa Joan Hart, Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick - are still close friends twenty years later, with Melissa and Beth guest-starring on Caroline's talk show, and doing many convention panels together. They've described themselves as essentially like family in real life.
  • Saturday Night Live:
    • One of the first (and possibly the strongest) close friendships was between John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd was devastated after the former's 1982 death (and he was initially to play Venkman in Ghostbusters (1984)).
    • Similarly, there was David Spade and Chris Farley who also went on to star in Tommy Boy and Black Sheep. Notably, Spade was not at Farley's funeral since, as he put it, he didn't want "to be in a room where Chris was in a box".
    • Tina Fey and Amy Poehler became close friends and created a double act that has expanded across multiple hit films, well-regarded hosting gigs, and stage performances.
  • Saved by the Bell: While their characters were initially written as rivals, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Mario Lopez became good friends during production to the point that their characters were rewritten as being close friends.
  • Zach Braff and Donald Faison became best friends when they starred in Scrubs. They even made a podcast entitled, "Fake Doctors, Real Friends With Zach and Donald"
  • Shine a Light: Timothy Bateson and Tony Selby had nothing in common but (unlike their characters) were best of friends on set. In a newspaper interview, Selby remarked:
    We're great friends. Just fancy having to go out on the lighthouse and hate.
  • David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser became best friends while making Starsky & Hutch.
  • Star Trek:
  • Millie Bobby Brown and Noah Schnapp became friends during season 1 of Stranger Things.
  • Supernatural: While playing brothers Sam and Dean Winchester throughout the long-running series, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki became so close that they've both stated they regard themselves as brothers.
  • The cast of Torchwood became close friends, with all of them and Russell T Davies attending John Barrowman's wedding.
  • Dan Castellaneta and Tracey Ullman became good friends while appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show and it was her who was able to get him the role of Homer Simpson.
  • Su Pollard and Claire Faulconbridge became close friends during filming Two Up, Two Down, with Faulconbridge helping Pollard throughout filming as it was her first TV series.
  • The Vampire Diaries: Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder who plays the Salvator brothers have become close friends.
  • Wednesday: Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers became incredibly close friends while filming the show. Even after the show's production ended, Ortega and Myers continued to regularly comment on each other's Instagram posts.
  • On the set of The Witcher (2019), Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) and Joey Batey (Jaskier) describe themselves as best friends both on and off the set, having grown very close during filming. They frequently give interviews together and have a lot of fun.

    Music 
  • During the Troubled Production of The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon, Charlie Watts went through by bonding with percussionist Jim Keltner (a veteran who recorded with among other artists three of the Beatles), and they even recorded an album together a few years later.
  • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails met while Ross's band 12 Rounds were working at Reznor's Nothing Studios after being signed onto his label. As Reznor put it, something clicked between them in the studio and they became friends, leading to him bringing Ross on for future NIN albums and collaborating for film scores together, and Ross becoming the only other permemant member of NIN alongside Reznor. Ross has also called Reznor his "closest frend" in his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptence speech.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • A.J. Lee and Kaitlyn's friendship off-screen was just as real as it was on screen, having been close ever since their days on NXT Season 3. Kaitlyn even spoke about how delighted she was that AJ got to win her first WWE title by defeating her, and her last match was against AJ for these reasons.
  • Bella Twins:
    • They described Melina as like a sister to them, and they pitched for her to be placed in a stable with them called 'Latina Heat'. They also say she was a locker room leader.
    • Maryse - who Brie describes as "our little Momo" - lived on their couch for several months while they were all in developmental, and even learned some of her English from them (she is a native French speaker). They joke that, since she had two siblings who were twins, she understood their constant bickering.
    • They became very close with Natalya, crediting her with helping them learn more about wrestling, and they in turn taught her how to do the "Diva thing".
    • Nikki said that Kelly Kelly was her best friend, and loved the 2011 period when they were all feuding together.
    • Nikki also loved working with Paige, and named her as one of her favourite people to wrestle.
  • Trish Stratus and Lita quickly became best friends, which was eventually reflected in the 2003 period when Lita returned from injury and the two appeared frequently as a tag team together. Even after retiring from WWE, they would tour conventions together as 'Team Bestie'.
  • Michelle McCool and Layla became very close when they were paired together as LayCool.
    • Low Ki, who competed on Season 2 of NXT as their rookie Kaval, admitted to have enjoyed working with them, citing them being positive influences on his personality and having his back in the competition.
  • Lisa Marie Varon is known for being one of those WWE employees that other former Divas have nothing but praise for, and many of the Diva Search girls she had to help put over credit her with helping them out in their early days. Michelle McCool had such great respect for her that she begged the bookers to let her put her over in her 2009 retirement match.
  • Tyson Kidd and Cesaro revealed that they were put together as a tag team by WWE without their input but they were able to click personally and became close friends.

    Theatre 

    Western Animation 
  • In spite of playing rivals on Jem, Samantha Newark (Jem/Jerrica's speaking voice) and the late Patricia Alice Albrecht (Pizzazz's speaking voice) became good friends. Newark even said that she and the other voice actors were mentors to her, as she was only a teenager when she first portrayed the title character.
  • The child voice actors of Ready Jet Go! became friends during the show's run, since they tended to record in the same room. Jaeda Lily Miller (Mindy) and Vienna Leacock (the second Sydney) have posted pics of them hanging out, and they have also starred on When Calls the Heart together.
  • Andrea Libman and Tabitha St. Germain became good friends through working together on many shows, to the point where Andrea joked that she normally relied on Tabitha for food at work; as she would frequently bring snacks to the studio from all the best bakeries in the area.
  • Despite voicing archenemies in Batman: The Animated Series, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were ironically friends in real life, with Hamill even stating he often agreed to return as the Joker in several projects Conroy returned as Batman in because he enjoyed working with Conroy — and like with the death of his Star Wars co-star Carrie Fisher, Hamill was devastated by Conroy's passing. In fact, it got to the point where Hamill retired from his long-time role as the Joker, feeling that he could not play the role without Conroy's Batman.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top