Sandra Bullock was told she could not like Jennifer Aniston or other actresses: “We were from that time in the business where no one wanted the ladies to be friends—it was about pitting everyone against each other. We were told we weren’t supposed to do that—meaning like and respect and honor each other.”

Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston both got their Hollywood starts in the late 1980s before skyrocketing as Hollywood mega-stars in the mid-’90s and 2000s. They even have the same breakthrough year. It was in 1994 when Bullock starred opposite Keanu Reeves in the blockbuster “Speed” and when Aniston debuted as Rachel Green on NBC’s “Friends.” And yet, it was only 15 years ago that they crossed paths and became friends. In a new Vanity Fair cover story on Aniston, the duo says that it was all by Hollywood’s design, more or less.

“We were from that time in the business where no one wanted the ladies to be friends—it was about pitting everyone against each other,” Bullock said. “We were told we weren’t supposed to do that—meaning like and respect and honor each other.”

Bullock and Aniston became friends 15 years ago when they ran into each other at a mutual friend’s wedding and spent the night heavily drinking. As Bullock explained: “We were just like, ‘Oh my God, we need to meet and cut loose.’ And we did.”

Aniston proceeded to bring Bullock into her circle of friends, meaning she got all the invites to dinner parties, vacations, holiday get-togethers and more. They relate to each other deeply over their shared Hollywood experiences, including a pair of frightening incidents related to stalkers. Bullock’s home was broken into in 2014 while she was home. Aniston was at her home earlier this year in May when a 48-year-old man drove his car into her gate.

“It makes me think, ‘Do I really have to go outside and navigate the world?’” Bullock said. “There’s the cases where they got into the house, the cases where they’re outside the house, the cases where you’re on a film set and they figured out where you are, and the cases that no one hears about. It’s ongoing. It’s not a one-off. And it does create a mindset where your home also unfortunately becomes your fortress.”

Bullock credits Aniston with helping her overcome these fears. The two push each other to get out of the house, she said while adding, “There’s a motivation of going, ‘Okay, we need to go somewhere. Where are we going?’”