SOMEONE TO LEAN ON

Inside the friendship between Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock and how they've supported each other through thick and thin

- JAIME HARKIN

0n March 30, Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock arrived at the Hayes Theater in NYC to watch their pal Sarah Paulson perform in the play Appropriate. They were accompanied by Bullock's 14-year-old son, Louis, Jason Bateman and his wife, Amanda Anka, Ed Norton and his wife, Shauna Robertson, and Sean Hayes - but spent most of the evening bonding with each other.

"Sandra and Jen were seated next to each other in the theater and were chatting and laughing together during intermission," says an onlooker, noting that the whole group headed backstage after the show to hang with the cast. "Sandra and Jen were linked at the hip all night," the onlooker adds. "They were having a great time together."

The A-listers have been friends since the mid-'90s, but they've grown closer in recent years. Bullock, 59, has been there for Aniston, 55, amid her high-profile divorces from Brad Pitt and Justin Theroux, and Aniston was a shoulder to cry on for Bullock after the Oscar winner lost her longtime partner, Bryan Randall, in August following his three-year battle with ALS.

"There is a lot of love and respect between Jen and Sandra,” says a source. “They have extremely similar personalities and are both fearless.”

INSTANT CONNECTION

The longtime pals detailed their relationship history for an Aniston cover story in