From Costars to Best Friends: 13 Lifelong Friendships That Started on Set

Parks and Recreation‘s Kathryn Hahn and Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler and Kathryn Hahn found a kinship in each other while costarring on the hit NBC series Parks and Recreation, but Hahn “didn’t anticipate” them staying friends after the show ended in 2015.

“I’ve been in a lot of projects where you get, like, intimate really fast, and then everybody says goodbye,” Hahn said during an episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler in 2025. “I did not anticipate that you would want to continue to be my friend after we did it! And then the fact that it’s gotten deeper and deeper … I’m so grateful for you in my life.”

Poehler added, “We’ve been through a lot of tough times together. We’ve been very honest together. I think we’ve really taken great pains to see each other.”

“It’s so important to have women in your life that aren’t family, to grow old with in a way that — it’s like you said — feels very honest and also hilarious,” Hahn said. “But also doesn’t feel like we have to keep up anything together, like, keep up any sort of front. … Like to walk into these next chapters together just feels like it’s not as terrifying.”

Victorious‘ Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies

Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies have come a long way since sharing the stage in 13: The Musical on Broadway in 2008. The longtime friends went on to star together on Nickelodeon’s Victorious — with Grande playing Cat Valentine and Gillies as Jade West — and have remained close ever since.

Over the years, they’ve continued to support each other’s careers, from Gillies joining Grande for a duet on her Sweetener World Tour in 2019 to Grande watching her perform in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors in 2025. (They even dressed up for Halloween together as characters from the 2000 film Best in Show.)

“We make a real effort to see each other,” Gillies told PEOPLE in 2024. “We laugh, we reminisce and we make new memories. I think a lot of the time, when you have friends from childhood, you need to make new memories to keep a friendship going. Otherwise, you’re just reminiscing about the past and getting together once a year.”

Gillies continued, “I see Ariana all the time, and we’re constantly doing things, having new experiences and adding chapters to our book. I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to share in this wild ride together, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

The Parent Trap‘s Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix

They may have played on-screen rivals Chessy and Meredith in The Parent Trap, but Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix have been joined at the hip ever since.

Since starring in the beloved 1998 remake, the two actresses have fostered a decades-long friendship that, according to Walter, has always come naturally.

“People always talk about, ‘Oh, you make time for your friends, and you have to make it important,’ ” she told PEOPLE in 2023. “It was never a chore. It was never something that I had to schedule.”

Walter has referred to Hendrix as her “life partner,” saying, “She just was the person that I called. Everybody has a person they check in with about everything in their life. And Elaine is it for me.”

Dawson’s Creek‘s Busy Phillips and Michelle Williams

Philipps and Williams have been BFFs since meeting on the set of Dawson’s Creek, and their working relationship has since developed into one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting friendships. Over the years, they’ve stood by each other through career highs, personal heartbreaks and motherhood, with their daughters considering each other as “sort of like cousins, in a way.”

“We just know each other and get each other in such a deep, fundamental way at this point,” Philipps told Page Six of Williams. “When you have a friend like that, you’re blessed.”

Williams echoed that sentiment in 2016 when she told PEOPLE they’re “in love” with each other, adding, “She’s [Philipps] proof that the love of your life does not have to be a man! That’s the love of my life right there.”

Alias‘ Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber

It makes sense that Victor Garber and Jennifer Garner formed a close bond while playing father and daughter on Alias, and that connection has only gotten stronger over the years.

Since starring together on J.J. Abrams’ hit spy series from 2001 to 2006, the pair have supported each other through major life events and sweet reunions. Garber officiated Garner’s 2005 wedding to Ben Affleck (and remained a presence through their divorce), and Garner watched him perform for numerous stage productions.

Years after Alias ended, the duo reunited on-screen in 2023 for Apple TV+’s The Last Thing He Told Me — and for Garner, it was a joyful full-circle moment.

“We’ve wanted to work together again, obviously, forever,” Garner told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “The only problem was, I couldn’t stop smiling at him.”

She added, “I was just grinning ear to ear. I was so happy he was there.”

One Tree Hill‘s Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton

The on-screen chemistry between Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton as best friends Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer on One Tree Hill wasn’t just acting — it mirrored a real-life friendship that’s only deepened with time.

The two actresses have remained close since the show wrapped, supporting each other through life’s highs and lows.

“Showing up for each other in fun random ways…… that’s real love, babes,” Burton wrote of Bush on Instagram in 2024.

Now, the duo co-hosts their One Tree Hill rewatch podcast, Drama Queens, alongside former costar Bethany Joy Lenz. They’ve also been working on developing a potential OTH reboot — this time around told through a more “female lens.”

Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul gave Emmy Award-winning performances as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively, on the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad; however, their connection is far from an act. Over the years, the pair have expressed appreciation for each other as friends, mentors, godparents and business partners for their mezcal company, Dos Hombres.

“Bryan, he is my mentor, one of my best friends on the planet,” Paul told PEOPLE in 2022. “I’ve learned so much from this guy. To be able to tackle something yet again with him, that was really our own brainchild — a dream come true.”

The Office‘s Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer

Their characters on The Office were far from forever friends. However, Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer forged an unbreakable bond behind the scenes throughout the mockumentary sitcom’s nine-season run.

“We had this really fun friendship,” Fischer told PEOPLE in 2021 about the origins of their connection. “You don’t expect to make a friendship like this when you’re older.”

Since the show ended in 2013, Kinsey and Fischer have maintained the show’s legacy through their podcast, Office Ladies, on which the pair shares stories and exclusive commentary from their time on set. The duo even coauthored a book detailing their personal experiences and favorite memories from filming The Office.

The Cheetah Girls‘ Kiely Williams and Sabrina Bryan

Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams starred in all three Cheetah Girls movies in their Disney days of the aughts. They also performed and recorded music together in the girl group of the same name.

After the film franchise ended, the “Cheetah Sisters” kept up their friendship, with Bryan and Williams remaining as tight as ever. Williams even served as Bryan’s matron of honor when she married in 2018. They have continued to lean on each other while raising their kids. In 2019, Williams shared a nostalgic video of the two serenading her son with a Cheetah Girls hit-turned-lullaby via FaceTime.

“Kiely has been one of my best friends since the start to end,” Bryan told E! News in 2024. “From the first movie, we really connected. And we were so sad when filming ended because we thought that was gonna be it. And then when we picked up with doing performances and then into the Christmas tour and beyond — continuing seven years — we’ve stayed so close.”

The Modern Family Cast

After playing one of TV’s most beloved families for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020, the Modern Family cast has remained incredibly close.

Over the years, the cast has reunited for special occasions, including Sarah Hyland’s wedding ceremony in 2022 and an on-screen family gathering at Sofía Vergara’s home in 2023. Though everyone can’t always attend every get-together —especially Ty Burrell, who often misses due to scheduling conflicts — the group stays connected.

“We are such a close unit,” Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cameron Tucker, told PEOPLE in 2025, confirming a group text chain. “We all are in communication with each other. It was no doubt from the beginning of that.”

Stonestreet added, recalling one of his first memories of the cast, “This is dark and macabre, but I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I have a whole lot of new people that I’m going to grow old with and know for the rest of my life.’ ”

The Vampire Diaries‘ Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley

Somerhalder and Wesley played blood-thirsty brothers on TV. However, after The Vampire Diaries wrapped in 2017, they maintained their friendship off-screen — their relationship serving as the title inspiration for Brother’s Bond, the craft bourbon they created together.

In 2021, the castmates-turned-business partners discussed their friendship and entrepreneurial evolution, telling PEOPLE the collaboration was natural considering their shared love for bourbon and complementary personalities.

“This is not like a friendship. This is like a brotherhood; it’s like a marriage,” Somerhalder said. “We’ve been in it together for so long.”

Friends‘ Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox

The cast of Friends has certainly lived up to their show’s name: The six stars have reunited several times since the series finale in 2004. However, the duo behind on-screen BFFs Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) stand out as the sitcom’s closest cast members.

Cox and Aniston’s friendship has proved strong over the years. The pair reunited in 2022 for charity, with Aniston posting a video on Instagram of them wearing Friends-themed shirts. They’ve also shared earnest moments from their time spent together during the holidays.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Cast

The only thing more magical than the Traveling Pants is the real-life bond between the four “sisters” who wore them: Blake Lively as Bridget, Alexis Bledel as Lena, America Ferrera as Carmen and Amber Tamblyn as Tibby.

The four actresses met filming The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants — the 2005 flick based on the novel series of the same name — and they’ve continuously shown their love and support for each other.

“We have a Sisterhood text [group chat] that’s been going for 20 years now,” Ferrera told PEOPLE in 2024. “We’ve all had kids. We’ve all gotten married. We were at each other’s weddings. We’ve been through a lot of life together.”

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2018, Bledel shared the group’s interest in a third Sisterhood movie, saying that revisiting the franchise “would be the best thing.”