Selena Gomez and Jennifer Aniston’s unlikely friendship defies age

There may be 24 years between them but they've got plenty in common!

Selena Gomez and Jennifer Aniston have a 24-year age gap between them. But that hasn’t kept them from being BFFs.

Despite the fact that Aniston, 49, is old enough to be the 25-year-old singer’s mom, they’ve forged an unlikely celebrity friendship. Gomez has said she idolized Aniston growing up and even that the “Friends” star inspired her own career.

“I was shaking!” a then 16-year old Gomez told Just Jared of encountering her hero at the 2009 Women In Film Crystal and Lucy Awards. “I ran into Jennifer in the bathroom and she goes, ‘Hi!’ My legs started to shake and I ran. I didn’t know what to do because I freaked out.”

jennifer aniston selena gomez photo — Getty Images | Ari Perilstein

Gomez said that while they were playing clips of Aniston’s work during the ceremony, she was quoting all her lines. “People were sitting there laughing at me and they’re like, ‘Wow, you’re obsessed,'” she told Just Jared.

The two stars eventually met properly through their manager, Aleen Keshishian, whom they share, and got to spend time together at a Golden Globes after-party. “She’s just like a little cherub that I feel like I wanna take care of,” Aniston told E! News in 2015 of her younger friend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQTrvYLh_P_/?hl=en&taken-by=aleenkeshishian

Despite their generational divide, both Aniston and Gomez have had to learn to live their lives under constant scrutiny from the media, especially when it comes to their personal lives. I’m guessing Aniston could provide Gomez with some helpful guidance on how to navigate everything from rumors about your relationships to the constant presence of paparazzi.

The two are also passionate about some of the same causes, including March for Our Lives and WE Day California, an annual event for the WE Movement, which is dedicated to offering educational resources and campaigns to help young people create positive social change.

In addition to taking career tips from her idol and bonding over causes they care about, Gomez has also cited Aniston as a fashion influence, telling InStyle last year that she takes a cue from her friend’s style when she wants to project “instant confidence.” She also refers to the iconic, simple black dress as, “just a simple, Jen Aniston-type of dress.”