Having been friends for almost four decades, Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler clearly have a soft spot for each other.
For those in need of a reminder, she and the Happy Gilmore actor first met in their 20s, both hoping to emerge as promising young stars in the 1990s entertainment industry.
Whilst Sandler was cast as a regular guest on Saturday Night Live, Aniston, now 56, landed the role of loveable fashionista Rachel Greene on the hit sitcom Friends.
While the pair have appeared in three films together over the course of their careers, their friendship clearly runs deep.
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During a 2022 interview, she revealed that Sandler, 59, has been gifting her bouquets of flowers for Mother's Day for as long as she can remember.
How are Aniston and Sandler friends?
The years that followed saw each star in a seemingly never-ending stream of both television and box office hits.
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Brooklyn-born Sandler became a legend in comedy circuits, starring in the likes of The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, Mr Deeds, 50 First Dates and Grown Ups. Aniston, meanwhile, became hot stuff in the rom-com world, starring in Bruce Almighty, Marley & Me and The Break-Up.
Their two worlds often collided, however, with Aniston landing leading roles alongside Sandler, having featured in several professional projects together, such as Just Go With It and the Murder Mystery movie series on Netflix.
During this time, the two forged quite a friendship, often rocking up on red carpets together and firing gushy statements about each other online.
Aniston previously said that she and Sandler 'must have been a real family in another life', adding of the funnyman on another occasion: "I very much love to take care of him. He's so concerned of thinking of everybody else, which he always does, and he doesn't take care of himself."
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Throughout their friendship, Sandler has also witnessed Aniston endure her fair share of heartache - and not just the romantic kind.
Why does Sandler send her flowers on Mother's Day?
In 2022, Aniston revealed to the Wall Street Journal that her long-time friend and his beloved wife, Jackie, had borne witness to her heartbreaking journey with infertility, which saw her endure several failed rounds of IVF.
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Whilst she opted not to disclose how long the tradition has been going on, Aniston explained that, both during treatment and in the years that followed, the Sandler family treated her to a bouquet every Mother's Day to let her know they're thinking of her.
She told Allure the same year: "I was trying to get pregnant. It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road. All the years and years and years of speculation... It was really hard.
"I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it. I would’ve given anything if someone had said to me, 'Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour.' You just don’t think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed."
What else has Aniston said about her fertility struggles?
In the same year she chatted with the WSJ, she also attempted to combat speculation that her allegedly 'selfish workaholic' nature had impacted her ability to welcome a child of her own in a conversation with Allure.
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On long-standing, cruel rumours that she and ex-husband Brad Pitt had called off their marriage in 2005 over her decision to prioritise her career, she slammed them as an 'absolute lie'.
Aniston also told Harper's Bazaar of critics last month: "They didn’t know my story, or what I’d been going through over the past 20 years to try to pursue a family, because I don’t go out there and tell them my medical woes."
She added: "I knew a lot of women at the time who were trying to have kids, who were dealing with IVF. So it did feel like it was not only for myself, but for any women who were struggling with the same issue."
The movie star went on to claim she's recently forced herself to let go of the narrative that the press often attempts to convey, insisting this 'will happen' itself 'eventually'.
"The news cycle is so fast, it just goes away," Aniston explained. "Of course, there are times when I feel that sense of justice – when something has been said that isn’t true, and I need to right the wrong. And then I think, do I really? My family knows my truth, my friends know my truth.
"That’s not anybody’s business. There comes a point when you can’t not hear the narrative about how I won’t have a baby, won’t have a family."
Topics: Jennifer Aniston, Celebrity, US News
Rhianna Benson