Celebrity Parents Reese Witherspoon Recalls Bringing Baby Daughter to Friends Set: ‘Got to Put Her on the Couch in Central Perk’ The actress played Jennifer Aniston's sister on the TV series in 2000 By Mia McNiece Mia McNiece Mia McNiece joined PEOPLE in 2010 and is currently the Senior Movies Editor. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 15, 2024 07:30AM EDT Close Reese Witherspoon has special memories from the set of Friends but admits being on the iconic set was a nerve-racking experience. "Being on Friends, still to this day, is one of my scariest moments ever, because it was in front of a live audience, and I had never really done theater. I'd never been in front of a live audience," says the actress who played Jennifer Aniston's younger sister in 2000. Despite any jitters, Witherspoon recalls the sweet moment when Aniston and Courteney Cox met her daughter Ava, 24, who was just a baby at the time. "Jen was just the sweetest to me. I'd just had a baby, and I remember her and Courteney running to my dressing room going, 'Can we see the baby?' 'You have a baby?' I was like, 'I do y'all, I have a baby?' " the actress says in this week's issue of PEOPLE. People 50th Anniversary REESE WITHERSPOON Photograph. Art Streiber "They were like, 'Can we hold the baby?'" Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Reese Witherspoon Shares Sweet Moments from Mother-Daughter Trip with Ava Phillippe to Paris Fashion Week Witherspoon says she still has a special memento of Ava from that time. FRIENDS -- "The One with Rachel's Sister" Episode 13 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Reese Witherspoon as Jill Greene. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images "I got to put her on the couch in Central Perk, and still have a little picture of her at Central Perk," she says of the show's famous coffee shop. The Nashville native, 48, who went on to win an Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter in 2005’s Walk the Line and launched her Draper James line in 2015 and the media company Hello Sunshine in 2016, is the proud mom of three including her sons Deacon, 20, and Tennessee, 11. Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, honoree Reese Witherspoon, and Deacon Reese Phillippe attend The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 Women in Entertainment at Milk Studios on December 11, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Stefanie Keenan/Getty Witherspoon says she will always remember the close bond she witnessed among the Friends cast. "They had this natural rapport and rhythm with each other. It was just these six people working in rhythm together," she says. "You could tell they truly loved each other. It's really lovely to me, that I got to see them." For more on Reese Witherspoon pick up this week's 50th anniversary issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.