The 'Friends' Cast Explains The Secret Behind Their On-Screen Chemistry

"How I Met Your Mother," "Happy Endings," "New Girl," "Friends With Better Lives."

Those are just a few of the many series that have tried to replicate the formula "Friends" so flawlessly executed for 10 seasons, but few (if any) have come close to besting the bond shared between Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe. 

In the upcoming NBC tribute to famed sitcom director James Burrows, which is basically the closest thing to a "Friends" reunion we're ever going to get, five out of the six "friends" -- Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc -- explain the secret behind their off the charts on-screen chemistry. 

"[Burrows] encouraged us all to get along and get to know one another and be kind to one another and support one another and watch one another and help one another," LeBlanc explained to the audience about the director's influence on the cast in an exclusive video from E! Online. 

Burrows, who co-created "Cheers" and is partly responsible for the success of other shows like "Will and Grace," "Frasier" and "3rd Rock From the Sun," directed 15 episodes of "Friends," including the series' pilot, between 1994 and 1998.

"We would do anything for Jim Burrows because he really gave us the opportunity of a lifetime and probably the best 10 years of our acting careers that we will forever remember," Aniston remarked. "We experienced friendship, family, heartbreak, babies, everything together. We also sort of had a wonderful experience with the world loving us, as well. They connected with us."

"We really wanted to connect. I think it was sort of unspoken, but we instinctively felt like we need to be friends and we need to get along," Kudrow added.

And the rest was history.

Watch another sneak peek of the NBC's tribute to James Burrows below before the special airs Feb. 21 at 9 p.m. EST on NBC. 

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