LIFE IS FUNNY—and so are these two activators who fell deep and immediately in best-friend love when they met in the spring of 2019 on the set of the biopic The Glorias. Was it a meeting of the minds of these mission-driven mamas? Most BFF bonds are forged early and nurtured over time. But sometimes you just know when you know, and it wasn’t long after these two met that they were dancing and laughing their way not just through the iconic Steinem’s life, but also their own. Julianne schlepped her new bosom buddy to a junkyard clambake—appropriate for Midler, the Queen of Cleanup and founder of the New York Restoration Project, which has cleaned up outside spaces all around New York’s five boroughs. Bette followed suit, soon presenting Julianne with her umpteenth award, recognizing her brilliance as both an actor and activist—in this case for mobilizing moms and families across the country to adopt smart gun reform at the 2019 Wall Street Journal Innovators Awards. While they take their causes seriously, they take their blossoming friendship as seriously as two spectacular power gigglers can.