History Main / FriendshipOnTheSet

* Creator/JohnTravolta and Music/OliviaNewtonJohn became close friends while making ''Film/{{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 "Film/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.

* Ronnie Barker and Creator/DavidJason became close friends while making ''Series/OpenAllHours''. Barker described making the show as one of the happiest times of his life and Jason considered Barker a mentor.

* On ''Series/{{Martin}}'', lead actresses Creator/TishaCampbell and Creator/TichinaArnold had previously worked together before (even appearing as the background singers in the film version of ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors''), but them playing {{Heterosexual Life Partner}}s Gina and Pam respectively only deepened their existing friendship. Arnold also became close friends with Creator/MartinLawrence and they remain good friends to this day, which is ironic given their characters' [[SitcomArchNemesis antagonistic relationship]].

* Creator/TohruFuruya, Creator/ShuichiIkeda, and Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki became good friends and drinking companions after working in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. When Suzuoki died in 2006 due to lung cancer, Furuya and Ikeda were devastated.

* Creator/JohnTravolta and Music/OliviaNewtonJohn became close friends while making ''Film/{{Grease}}''. He was greatly saddened by her death in 2022, with him tearing up during the ''In Memoriam'' sketch at the 2023 Oscars.

** Creator/TinaFey and Creator/AmyPoehler have remained close friends, even creating the hit film ''Film/MeanGirls'' together.

* Creator/JerryLewis and Creator/KathleenFreeman. Freeman was a theater actress who did occasional movie roles (eg. as the elocution coach in Film/{{Singing in the Rain}}). Her friendship with Lewis began when she had a small part in the 1955 Martin and Lewis movie Film/{{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 Film/{{The Ladies Man}}, and in The Errand Boy. By the time Film/{{The Nutty Professor1963}} began shooting, "Katie" was being given a generous per diem to stay on after her scenes were completed 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.

* Creator/JerryLewis and Creator/KathleenFreeman. Freeman was a theater actress who did occasional movie roles (eg. as the elocution coach in Film/{{Singing in the Rain}}). Her friendship with Lewis began when she had a small part in the 1955 {{Martin and Lewis}} movie Film/{{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 Film/{{The Ladies Man}}, and in The Errand Boy. By the time Film/{{The Nutty Professor1963}} began shooting, "Katie" was being given a generous per diem to stay on after her scenes were completed 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.

* Creator/JerryLewis and Creator/KathleenFreeman. Freeman was a NYC-based theater actress doing occasional movie parts (eg. as the elocution coach in Film/{{Singing in the Rain}}). In 1955 she met Lewis in the penultimate Martin and Lewis movie Film/{{Artists and Models}}. By 1961 Lewis was an established film-maker and that year cast "Katie" in leading roles as a comic foil in Film/{{The Ladies Man}} and in The Errand Boy. She later appeared in his mopst successful movie Film/{{The Nutty Professor1963}}, by which time she was being paid per diems just to be on set to keep Lewis company: as he observed: "I always feel better, work better, when Katie is here."

* ''Series/ShineALight'': 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:

* After ''Film/HomeAlone'', Creator/MacaulayCulkin called Creator/CatherineOHara "mom".

* Wrestling/AJLee and Wrestling/{{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.

** One of the first (and possibly the strongest) close friendships was between Creator/JohnBelushi and Creator/DanAykroyd. Aykroyd was devastated after the frmer's 1982 death (and he was initially to play Venkman in ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'').

* The cast of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' all insisted on equal pay 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 devasted after Creator/MatthewPerry's passing in 2023, [[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67260551 issuing a joint statement to pay tribute to him]], saying "We were more than just castmates. We are a family.".

* The cast of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' all insisted on equal pay 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.

** A behind-the-scenes version: Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner 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 RomanceOnTheSet with Creator/MichelleThomas, who appeared as his date in one episode, and although they had broken up, he was ather side when she died from stomach cancer in 1998.

* ''Series/LongWayRound'': DiscussedTrope. Creator/EwanMcGregor and his cohost Charley Boorman talk in the first episode about how they became best friends after both appearing in the same movie, and how it's unusual to make a friend for life on a film set.

* Depsite voicing archenemies in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Creator/KevinConroy and Creator/MarkHamill 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 ''Franchise/StarWars'' co-star Creator/CarrieFisher, Hamill was devastated by Conroy's passing. In fact, it got to the point where Hamill [[https://www.gamingbible.com/news/mark-hamill-finished-joker-following-kevin-conroy-passing-099294-20230119 retired from his long-time role as the Joker]], feeling that he could not play the role without Conroy's Batman.

* ''Film/TrueLies'': Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/TomArnold became very good friends because of this film. Tom Arnold 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 UndyingLoyalty to each other.

* ''Film/TrueLies'': Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/TomArnold became very good friends because of this film. Tom Arnold thinks this is because they both grew up in a small town and made something of themselves.