"I didn't even know Michele before we started the show but we became great friends, and still are"
About this Quote
There is a studied modesty in Van Ark's phrasing: a soft rebuttal to the myth that TV casts are instant families and a quiet flex about a friendship that survived the machinery. “I didn’t even know Michele” foregrounds how artificial the starting line was. It punctures the fan fantasy of preexisting chemistry and reminds you that what audiences read as intimacy is often built on call times, blocking, and shared pressure, not destiny.
The sentence is also calibrated for the kind of celebrity storytelling that feels sincere without getting messy. She doesn’t name drama, negotiations, or rivalries; she names time. “Before we started the show” situates the relationship inside a workplace, not a social circle, which makes the outcome feel earned: the bond is a byproduct of labor. “We became great friends” is the emotional payoff, but the real emphasis lands on “and still are” - the add-on that converts a pleasant memory into a credential. In Hollywood, longevity is the rarest proof of authenticity. Friendships are supposed to expire when the production wraps; this one didn’t.
Context matters: Van Ark comes from an era of long-running network television where actors were locked together for years, their private dynamics endlessly speculated on. The quote works as reputational maintenance and as fan service. It’s a clean, generous narrative - no backstory required - that signals professionalism (we didn’t need to know each other to do the work) and warmth (we chose each other anyway).
The sentence is also calibrated for the kind of celebrity storytelling that feels sincere without getting messy. She doesn’t name drama, negotiations, or rivalries; she names time. “Before we started the show” situates the relationship inside a workplace, not a social circle, which makes the outcome feel earned: the bond is a byproduct of labor. “We became great friends” is the emotional payoff, but the real emphasis lands on “and still are” - the add-on that converts a pleasant memory into a credential. In Hollywood, longevity is the rarest proof of authenticity. Friendships are supposed to expire when the production wraps; this one didn’t.
Context matters: Van Ark comes from an era of long-running network television where actors were locked together for years, their private dynamics endlessly speculated on. The quote works as reputational maintenance and as fan service. It’s a clean, generous narrative - no backstory required - that signals professionalism (we didn’t need to know each other to do the work) and warmth (we chose each other anyway).
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
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