Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix Share How They Navigate Conflicts in Their Long-Term Friendship (Exclusive)

The ‘Parent Trap’ stars have been close friends since meeting on the set of the 1998 movie

NEED TO KNOW

• Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix spoke to PEOPLE at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees Celebration about how they navigate conflicts in their friendship
• The Parent Trap stars have been close friends since meeting on the set of the 1998 movie
• “When it happens, we weather it and we move on,” Hendrix said

Lisa Ann Walter and Elaine Hendrix are sharing how they “weather” conflicts in their nearly 30-year friendship.

The actresses — who first met and became friends on the set of the 1998 film The Parent Trap — caught up with PEOPLE at the Warner Bros. Television Group’s 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominees Celebration on Sept. 13. Walter, 63, said that while fans “just assume” that the two don’t fight, they do sometimes have moments of tension in their relationship.

“I think we’re always like a seesaw with each other. So when she’s hot, I’m cold. When I’m hot, she’s cold,” Hendrix, 55, explained. “And so we each have our bursts, and then we’re also very quick to let them go because we know what’s going to set each other off. And so when it happens, it’s like we expect it, so we weather it and we move on.”

She emphasized that she and Walter try to stay “vigilant” about protecting their friendship.

“That’s it,” Walter agreed, adding, “And be empathetic and vibe-check everything. And so we can feel it when the other one is stressed out or if they’ve got too much going on and they might pop. So we just try to help the rollout.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Hendrix went on to share that she’s also become close with Walter’s kids. (The Abbott Elementary star is mom to son Jordan, 39, daughter Delia, 35, and twin sons Spencer and Simon, 25.)

“I just saw them the other night, and they came in and they were telling me about their dates and school and all this,” she said.

Walter said Hendrix is “family at this point” for her and her children.

Walter previously opened up to PEOPLE about her close friendship with Hendrix in a 2023 interview, describing it as effortless.

“People always talk about, ‘Oh, you make time for your friends, and you have to make it important.’ It was never a chore. It was never something that I had to schedule,” she said.

And, as it turns out, the two women have a surprising connection that dates back nearly a century before they even met.

While exploring her family roots on New York City’s Lower East Side in the premiere episode of Ancestry’s YouTube series, unFamiliar, Walter discovered that Hendrix’s great-grandparents lived just blocks away from her own great-grandparents on Elizabeth Street during the early 1900s.

Hendrix surprised Walter with the revelation during the unFamiliar installment.

“Of course they knew each other,” Hendrix said in response to the news. “It was fate.”

Reflecting on what makes her friend so special, Hendrix told PEOPLE that meeting Walter “is like walking into a great big hug” — before adding, “Although I will say — and this is also one of the things I love about her — is that she’s that way unless you’ve crossed or done some s— to her or one of her friends, and then watch out because then mama bear comes out and back off.”

Walter described Hendrix as her “life partner” and the person she’s always called with any news, big or small, about her life.

“I have to call my life partner, Elaine, and tell her that this thing happened or I’ve got this audition coming or I’m sobbing because some jabroni broke my heart,” she told PEOPLE. “She just was the person that I called. Everybody has a person they check in with about everything in their life. And Elaine is it for me.”

Read the full article here