Oh. My. God. The stars of Friends are no longer on a break!
On Friday, April 2, David Schwimmer, who played Ross on the original sitcom, revealed that he and his fellow cast members plan to film the show's highly anticipated HBO Max reunion special next week. The TV project, which will mark the first time all six stars will appear together onscreen since the show ended its 10-season run in 2004, was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"After this, I'm going to Los Angeles," Schwimmer said in a video interview on The Graham Norton Show. "We're going to be shooting the Friends reunion next week, so I'm hopping on a plane this afternoon or the evening and yeah, I'm gonna see everyone next week for the first time in many years."
When asked if he will play his character on the special, the actor said, "I'll be myself. I'll be David."
"There's nothing scripted. We're not in character. We're all ourselves, the real people," Schwimmer explained, echoing similar comments co-star Lisa Kudrow said in a podcast interview in January.
The actor added, "Although there is one section of it that I don't want to give away, where we all read something."
Host Graham Norton asked Schwimmer if he has been watching old episodes of Friends in preparation for the project. He replied, "It's really funny. I should have been doing that and I really have very little excuse, but I haven't been able to bring myself to catch up on the 236 episodes. I need to, I guess I need to watch a lot over the next five days."
Following months of rumors, HBO Max announced in February 2020 that Schwimmer, Kudrow and fellow Friends cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry would star in an unscripted reunion special for the comedy series. But after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic weeks later, production of the project was delayed.
In January, Kudrow confirmed on the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast that filming was set to begin in spring 2021. "I pre-shot something for it already," the actress said. "So we're definitely doing it because I already shot a little something."
"It's not like a scripted thing," Kudrow continued. "We're not portraying our characters. It's us getting together, which doesn't happen a lot and has never happened in front of other people since 2004, when we stopped [filming Friends]."
While many members of the Friends cast have reunited, mainly off-camera, over the years, the HBO Max project marks the first Friends-branded special with all the stars since the show ended its run. In 2016, Kudrow, Aniston, Cox, Schwimmer and LeBlanc appeared on an NBC special to honor show director James Burrows. Perry, who was in London starring in a play, appeared in a video to introduce his former cast mates.