Most of us know what it’s like to work with a difficult coworker, but having to pretend to be that person’s BFF or lover onscreen every week has to be a lot harder than bearing an annoying person’s presence at a meeting. For many actors, getting up close and personal with someone that you have to work with is part of the contract, making the entire frenemy situation more awkward than many of us can even imagine. Some frenemies have endured such struggles in between takes that they’ve nearly destroyed or even killed a show.
Sometimes the opposite is true: the darkest frenemies onscreen can be the most adorable besties in real life, sometimes even becoming godparents for each other’s children. When we see the selfies these BFFs take and share behind the scenes we can’t help but cheer because not only are we happy for them, but we hope that their ability to get along will also prolong the lifespan of our favorite shows.
Friends and frenemies on the CW are even more dramatic than many networks given the heavy drama they often have to work with. From the deepest friendships to the barely tolerable workplace proximity associates, here are 8 CW Stars Who Are Best Friends (And 7 Who Are Frenemies).
15. Nina Dobrev And Kat Graham (Best Friends)
Kat Graham may not have always seen eye to eye with all of her coworkers but she is best friends with The Vampire Diaries costar Nina Dobrev. The pair have some of the cutest social media posts together, including reactions to revealing episodes of their favorite shows like House of Cards.
Following the eight-season show, Graham says that “We’re all family and you always want to stay together.” After Dobrev left the show two seasons prior, Graham admitted that it was a “long time coming,” but said that it was bittersweet for the friends.
Graham says that in addition to her buddy Dobrev, she talks to her costars from the show frequently and they’ve enjoyed Vampire Diaries reunions together.
14. Chad Michael Murray And Sophia Bush (Frenemies)
It’s one thing when you have to pretend to be in love as actors that are already in love, then you break up and make it all an awkward mess. It’s quite another when you get divorced and still have to be on-screen lovers like Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush had to do in One Tree Hill. The parting made it very hard for the young actors to work together, even after a marriage that lasted for less than half a year.
Bush says that the pair were just two stupid kids who had no business getting married and she regrets being another Hollywood statistic of a brief, failed marriage. When asked if she still talks to Murray, Bush says, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Ouch.
13. Jensen Ackles And Jared Padalecki (Best Friends)
Possibly the most adorable BFFs in this list, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are brothers on Supernatural and very much like real brothers in life. As much as bad boy Dean gives studious Sam a hard time on the show, it’s quite the opposite with the outgoing Padalecki and shy singer Ackles.
The two have lived together, been in each other’s weddings, gone on trips with each other, and have posted so many funny photos of each other on social media that we forget that they aren’t really brothers.
Anyone who has seen the two at a convention knows that they’ve got just as much chemistry off screen, if not more. Throw in Misha Collins as their goofy little brother who gets away with everything and you’ve got one big, happy family.
12. Kat Graham and Ian Somerhalder (Frenemies)
Did you know that Kat Graham and Ian Somerhalder were once arch frenemies? The two hated each other at first, and Graham says it all came down to their different levels of maturity. “I was still finding myself, and throughout the years, he’s helped me find myself and is now one of my greatest inspirations,” Graham says of Somerhalder.
She says that the two are no longer frenemies, however, and that in 30 years he’ll be one of her closest friends.
It seems like a lot of actors let age get in the way of friendship. Patrick Swayze complained about Jennifer Grey’s lack of maturity while filming Dirty Dancing. Do these older men realize that their teen and young adult costars are simply acting their age?
11. Camila Mendes And Lili Reinhart (Best Friends)
On Riverdale, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are the infamous best friends. Their real life counterparts Camila Mendes and Lili Reinhart are such cute besties that we can’t help but follow them on social media and add them to our squad goals.
The two didn’t always click, but since they’ve become such good friends they pretty much dominate the web together while they ride scooters, sing karaoke, and appear on late-night television.
Thanks to social media, we’ve been able to see these besties hanging out in cars, dressing up for the red carpet, carrying each other in silly poses, and even going to Coachella with the rest of the cast. One of the first Instagram photos that Mendes ever shared even featured the pair together.
10. Katie Cassidy and Emily Bett Rickards (Frenemies)
We’ve all witnessed Arrow’s Katie Cassidy and Emily Bett Rickards looking adorable together on social media. Whether the pair are making silly faces, splashing around in the ocean, or just posing for a quick selfie together, they always look like bestie goals.
We’re not all that sure about the two after witnessing the catty comments Cassidy had to voice on Twitter about the Illie/Felicity romance. Once she had a less prominent role on Arrow it seemed as if the cozy glow of friendship may have dulled to frenemies.
The adorable BFF pics sure haven’t been as prominent as they were prior to her role reduction. It’s too bad since they seemed like such close buds, but sometimes friendships fizzle out when work is involved.
9. Melissa Benoist And Chyler Leigh (Best Friends)
Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist and Chuler Leigh play sisters on the show, and the two are as close as sisters off screen as well . You could even say they’re closer than sisters since they don’t fight; in fact, Chyler admits that it’s difficult to film fighting scenes with one another since they care about each other so much!
The two prove that age is just a number. They may be 10 years apart but they still call each other “soul sister” and “joy and grace personified.” They tag each other on social media on every holiday from International Women’s Day to Thanksgiving, and you only do that with true friends.
Their cute use of the #DanversSistersTime hashtag not only demonstrates their close friendship but fuels the fan love, too.
8. Nina Dobrev And Ian Somerhalder (Frenemies)
The Vampire Diaries seemed to have just as much drama off screen as it did on-screen, and some of the most intense drama happened between frenemies Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder.
While the two were lovers in the show, their working relationship took a turn towards doom when the pair broke up in real life. Despite Dobrev’s early departure from the show six seasons in, she insisted that she wasn’t leaving because of their breakup.
Still, writers worked on keeping the two apart and rumors of feud between Dobrev and Nikki Reed fueled the blogosphere following the breakup and Reed’s marriage to Somerhalder. The two continue to insist it’s on friendly terms, despite Dobrev’s silence following the wedding. The trio have even taken photos together to attempt to silence the rumors.
7. Phoebe Tonkin And Claire Holt (Best Friends)
From H2O: Just Add Water to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, Phoebe Tonkin and Claire Holt have had several opportunities to work together. Not only do the two share their Australian heritage but they also have some of the cutest photos of any celebrity BFFs simply because they’ve been buds for so long.
Their bestie pics range from teen snaps in jeans and ponytails to fancy modern photos of themselves shopping, driving around, and just hanging out together. They are even known to use puppy filters together!
True friendship definitely includes willing to be that goofy together. There are so many candid pictures of these two that we have to wonder if there was ever even a time when they weren’t each other’s best bud.
6. Leighton Meester And Jessica Szohr (Best Friends)
Gossip Girl had plenty of gossip both onscreen and off, but as much as Leighton Meester didn’t get along with some castmates (more about that later), she did manage to make a best friend out of Jessica Szohr. Perhaps it helps that Meester and Szohr did not have characters that had to work much together on the show, which can lead to conflict. Instead, the two were together much more often behind the scenes.
Meester has shared some throwback photos from their Gossip Girl days to highlight how much fun the pair had while off the set together. While they aren’t as prolific posters as some BFFs in this list, if Gossip Girl were on today we think they’d probably have a pretty strong following.
5. Lauren Graham And Scott Patterson (Frenemies)
As many people rooted for Lorelai and Luke to get together, the pair were frenemies on the set of Gilmore Girls. Scott Patterson admits that the two had chemistry, but he knew he wanted to keep it professional as soon as he met Lauren Graham. Graham herself said that she wished her character had ended up in the arms of Christopher instead of Luke.
When pressed for details, she kept it professional as well, saying that she and Patterson had chemistry. “I think these characters have a great chemistry and that does mirror our chemistry as people.” She ended her statement with a firm, “We’re not intimates.”
Some speculated the statement was made just to put down any rumors that the two had a relationship but others say it indicates just how unfriendly the pair may have been off screen.
4. Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty (Frenemies)
Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty are not simpatico. There was tension between the frenemies who worked together on One Tree Hill over Sophia Bush, Murray’s ex. When Murray blabbed about Bush’s relationship with Lafferty before the pair wanted the news to be public it proved to be a pretty callous move.
Murray seemed pretty cavalier about the revelation, noting that Lafferty is his friend. “Now it’s just easy, you know you’re just friends and she’s got James and James and I are friends…” This explanation doesn’t make his spilling the beans any less disrespectful to the couple, no matter his feelings toward both of them.
Bush, who admits, “I’ve dated a couple of the wrong guys,” has long since moved on and maintains the higher ground.
3. Phoebe Tonkin and Shelley Hennig (Best Friends)
You’ve seen Phoebe Tonkin and Shelley Hennig together in The Secret Circle, and as polar opposites as Faye and Diana were, #fayana quickly became a fan favorite. The two are close friends outside the short-lived show, posing together for quirky Instagram photos and admitting that they can get to some pretty silly shenanigans as buddies are wont to do.
The two really get up to some funny antics on YouTube, where Henning has done quick interviews with Phoebe. These under a minute videos depict the two doing exactly what best friends do: acting like goofballs in mildly embarrassing situations that they will both laugh and cringe over together when they’re old lady friends.
They’ll probably still make goofy videos together as octogenarians, and hopefully we’ll get to see them onscreen together more often by then.
2. Blake Lively And Leighton Meester (Frenemies)
It’s one of the most famous cases of frenemy-ship on television. Gossip Girl stars Blake Lively and Leighton Meester may not have been the fangs bared, claws-out, hated enemies of one another that the tabloids made them out to be, but the two were definitely not friends.
Even writer/co-producer Joshua Safran said of the pair, “Blake and Leighton were not friends. They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair. Yet the second they’d be on set together, it’s as if they were.”
Perhaps it all started when Meester originally auditioned for Lively’s role, or that Blair became the fan-favorite character over Serena. Maybe you can simply chalk it up to the two being very different people. Either way, as popular as the series was, the two never became buddies out of it.
1. Lauren Graham And Alexis Bledel (Best Friends)
Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel may be everyone’s favorite TV besties. Despite the show’s failure to really shine in its reboot, the pair served as pillars on the network as both teens and adults tuned in to catch their wit, poignant moments and realistic dealings with family drama each week. After seven seasons, it’s so heartening to know that Lorelai and Rory are sill close.
The two kept up with one another following the program, enjoying lunch together and remaining friends. When the reboot went down, Graham happily shared a photo of the pair online, saying, “I’ve missed you, Alexis Bledel.”
When asked about their relationship, Graham said that like the show, the two have always been more like friends than mother and daughter.
Did we miss any CW best friends? Let us know in the comments!
