Friends: The Reunion: See All the Highlights
In the run-up to Thursday’s premiere of Friends: The Reunion on HBO Max, the internet has was with anticipation. And despite the constant updates, the news just keeps coming—to the point that you may have trouble keeping track. The entire original cast—Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc—was there, though not as their beloved characters. Instead, they play a nostalgic game of Friends trivia on how well they remembered the show (some cast members, much better than others), reminisced about the original set props, chatted with James Corden, and welcomed a star-studded list of cameos, including Reese Witherspoon, BTS, Kit Harington, Cara Delevingne, David Beckham, Malala Yousafzai and more. Oh, and there was a fashion show, too. Here—spoiler alert—a guide to all the highlights.
Courteney Cox admits she had cheat sheets for her lines.
Matt LeBlanc revealed that Courteney Cox would write her lines on the Friends’ kitchen table or hide them in the fruit bowl. At one point the cast mentioned how there was always a script in the sink. It allegedly belonged to Cox, who joked she had memory problems.
Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer admit they had a real-life crush on each other.
“I remember saying to David, It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television,” Aniston said. “Sure enough, first time we kissed was in that coffee shop.” Schwimmer was even more open about his early feelings for his costar. “The first season I had a major crush on Jen, and at some point, we were both crushing on each other,” he said. (To which Aniston added, “It was reciprocated.”) “But it was like two ships passing, because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary. We always respected that.” So instead, Aniston explained, “we just channeled all our love and adoration for each other into Ross and Rachel.”
Lady Gaga duets with Lisa Kudrow.
The pair reprised “Smelly Cat,” which Gaga asserts is one of her favorite songs. She dressed for the occasion, with long blonde hair tied up into messy buns. “Not bad,” Kudrow assessed of her performance. But “I still think it’s better when it’s just me.”
Justin Bieber, Cara Delevingne, and Cindy Crawford star in a Friends fashion runway show.
The cast went with only the best to reprise some of the show’s funniest looks. Among the most notable: Bieber as Ross’s tuber, Spudnik; Crawford in Ross’s impossible-to-wear leather pants; and Delevingne in Rachel’s bridesmaid dress, complete with it tucked into her underwear, as well as Ross’s Holiday Armadillo.
Matt LeBlanc reunites with his hand twin played by Thomas Lennon.
And once he stepped out from the lineup, you might recognize his double: It’s Thomas Lennon, aka Lieutenant Jim Dangle from Reno 911!
BTS popped by to share their love.
K-pop group BTS shared their personal relationship with the hit series with member RM crediting it for helping him learn English.
Kit Harington says he identifies as a Geller.
The former Game of Thrones star revealed that he can relate to Ross and Monica in particular. “I’m incredibly anal,” he says, ticking off the similarities on his fingers. “I’m neurotic as hell, and I wear overly tight trousers.”
David Beckham reveals he’s a clean freak like Monica.
Beckham has something in common with a character, too. “I have to say, I’m most like Monica—I’m a bit of a clean freak,” he said. Beckham also shared that The One Where Everyone Is Late is his go-to comfort viewing for when he’s missing his family or “feeling a little bit low.”
The cast predicts the future.
It’s been 17 years since we last got any sort of update on Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, and Ross. But the cast has a pretty good idea of how their characters have spent the nearly two decades since—including Kudrow, who admits she was too “mortified” watching herself to watch several seasons of the show. She’s convinced that Phoebe would be married to Mike (played by Paul Rudd), living in Connecticut, and advocating for “all the kids who are a bit different than others.” Perry predicted that Chandler and Monica would still be married with kids with Chandler “making [her] laugh every day.” She noted that Monica’s neuroses would still be very much alive: “Her kids have probably graduated but she is still in charge of the bake sale in elementary school.”
Unsurprisingly, Aniston and Schwimmer presumed that Rachel and Ross, who would stick to “playing with bones” per his profession as a paleontologist would marry and have a couple of kids. As for Joey, LeBlanc imagines that Joey is following his dreams: “[He] will probably open a sandwich shop.”
