Jennifer Aniston On The 'Very Sad' Latest 'Friends' Reunion Update

From ELLE

Update 10/09:20: Jennifer Aniston Reacts To Friends Reunion Postponing (Again)

After initially being scheduled to take place in March - which was then disrupted due to the Coronavirus lockdown - a reported new attempt to film the long-awaited Friends cast reunion this month has now been pushed back too.

According to Deadline, August 17th was planned to be the next date for filming the six actors - Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc and Matthew Perry - reuniting for an unscripted TV special in front a studio audience. However, as the threat of Covid-19 still looms, this has been postponed again.

Speaking about the latest decision, Aniston told the entertainment outlet that while it was 'very sad' news, safety comes first.

'It was, "How do we do this with live audiences?" This is not a safe time. Period. That’s the bottom line. It’s not a safe time to do it,' Aniston - who, of course, played Rachel Green in the 10-season sitcom - said.

However, the actor said that she is choosing to see the situation as a 'glass half full one' promising an even better show for fans when filming does take place.

'It’s going to be super... This has also given us more time to make it even more exciting and more fun than it would have been. So I choose to see it as the glass is half-full that it got postponed. Look, we’re not going anywhere. You’re never going to get rid of Friends, sorry. You’re stuck with us for life guys.'

Well, they did say they would always be there for us.

Update 21/07/20: David Schwimmer Discusses Filming Reunion During The Pandemic

David Schwimmer has shed some more light on the upcoming Friends reunion and opened up about his views over the ‘we were on a break’ debacle.

Friends fans will remember that the actor’s character Ross Geller infamously uttered the line in the show’s episode titled The One Where Ross And Rachel Take A Break.

‘Yeah, it is not even a question. They were on a break,' the star told The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon earlier this week.

‘People are so passionately divided on whether or not [Ross and Rachel] were "on a break",' he added.

Schwimmer also revealed which lines from Friends people like to shout at him in the street. ‘Obviously, there's gonna be those people who feel compelled to yell "Pivot!"' he joked, adding that others sometimes tell him ‘we were on a break’.

The actor also opened up about the long awaited Friends reunion special that was set to film for HBO Max in May, but had to be postponed due to Covid-19.

'[The reunion special] is unscripted. It's basically a really fun interview and then some other surprise bits,' he explained.

He also stated that shooting 'is supposed to happen maybe in August, the middle of August’ amid the ongoing pandemic.

'But, honestly, we're gonna wait and see another week or two if we all determine it's really safe enough to do,’ he continued, noting ‘and if not, we will wait to do it when it's safe’.

Update 22/04/20: Friends Cast Make Special Announcement Regarding Reunion

Initially scheduled to record in March, but postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the cast of Friends have blessed their fans with an update about the reunion special.

Each of the six-person cast took to their respective Instagram accounts to share the same message about how fans can get involved with the special when filming - and normal life - does resume.

By donating to the All In Challenge (where the money goes to various charities supporting people amid the Coronavirus pandemic) fans will be entered to sit in the studio audience with five of their friends in the iconic Warner Bros studio where the series was filmed, when taping of the reunion special does happen. Not only this, they will then head to Central Perk to grab a cup of coffee with the cast.

Imagine.

Providing a little more detail about what exactly the one-off show will entail, the text said: 'Be our personal guests in the audience for the taping where you’ll see us all together again for the first time in AGES, as we reminisce about the show and celebrate the fun we had.'

At the end of her post, Aniston added a personal message, encouraging fans to keep spirits high and stay in touch with one another during lockdown.

'Can’t wait to meet and hug you guys when this is all over,' the star wrote. 'Until then, keep Facetiming, calling, DMing, and texting your friends and family. We gotta stay connected 🙏🏼'

HBO Max launches at the end of May in the US, without the Friends special as previously planned.

Update 19/03/20: Friends Reunion Special Postponed Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Oh how quickly things can change in a month.

The planned Friends reunion HBO special is the latest event to be postponed due to the rapidly escalating global Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the special featuring the six-piece cast of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc and Matthew Perry, was supposed to be filmed next week at the show's former home in the Warner Bros studios in Los Angeles.

Considering the pandemic, which has seen numerous shows and movies suspend production, filming of the one-off special will be pushed back until May at the earliest.

Neither the cast or HBO have confirmed the postponement.

But for now, especially in times of social distancing, let's get back to those Netflix re-runs...

Update 27/02/20: Courteney Cox Just Told Us What We Can Actually Expect From The 'Friends' Reunion

After our lives were made last week when the six cast members of Friends confirmed they would be reuniting for a one-off special, Courteney Cox has spoken about the upcoming show publicly for the first time.

Cox, who fans will know played Monica Geller in the sitcom for a decade from 1994 to 2004, spoke to comedian Kevin Nealon for his web series Hiking With Kevin about how excited she was to work on the project.

Though the series was ahead of the news breaking, Cox gave an update onto what fans can expect.

'The exciting thing is we're going to all get together, for the first time, in a room and actually talk about the show. It's going to be on HBO Max and I'm so excited, we're going to have the best time.

'It's going to be great. We really haven't done that where we've all sat there and talked about and reminisced about this incredible experience we had. It's going to be fantastic.'

The actor also shared details of when the castmates got together recently, one of only two times in the 15 years since the show ended. The night in question was a dinner at Courteney's house where a selfie taken on the night was the first picture uploaded to Jennifer Aniston's new Instagram account which, in turn, essentially broke the internet.

'When we get together, which is never - it only happened... it just doesn't happen very often, like twice since we ended the show - it's just the most fun. We laugh so hard.'

We can't wait to see Cox, Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry bring this energy to the reunion special!

Update 22/02/20: Friends Cast Confirm Reunion

We never thought we’d see the day but ‘The One With The Reunion’ is finally happening.

On Friday, February 21, the cast of Friends took to their social media accounts to suspiciously announce that ‘it’s happening’. (And, suffice it to say, we all knew that the 'it' was referring to a reunion.)

Sharing the same photograph taken during the filming of the hit series, all six members of the original cast – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – captioned the snap with the identical phrase prompting mass hysteria from their fans.

Celebrities including Reese Witherspoon, Ashley Benson, Next In Fashion’s Tan France and Michelle Pfeiffer all took to the comments sections of Cox’s post to reveal their shock.

‘EXPLAIN PLEASE [six],’ actress Mindy Kaling wrote on Aniston’s post.

‘I just screamed so loud on the street it was concerning,’ added Booksmart’s Beanie Feldstein.

Oscar winner Laura Dern commented: ‘Yeah, baby!!!!’

However, while its biggest fans initially believed that a Friends comeback, as in a new series or film, was on the cards, they soon found out that a reunion will actually take place for an exclusive, untitled, unscripted special on HBO Max.

Variety reports that sources close to the project claim that the six actors will receive at least $2.5 million each for participating in the special.

‘The special, as well as all 236 episodes of “Friends,” will be available upon the streaming service’s debut,’ the publication states.

The reunion comes 15 years after the award-winning series ended its run on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California.

‘Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together — we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire “Friends” library,’ said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max and president of TBS, TNT, and truTV, in a statement.

‘I became aware of “Friends” when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation. It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.’

Update 16/01/20: HBO Gives Update on Friends Reunion

The executive of HBO Max, the streaming service which was reported to air a Friends reunion with all six original characters, has given an update on the elusive news.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Kevin Reilly confirmed that the talks with Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc and Matthew Perry are real but the 'unscripted project' is not confirmed.

'There's interest all the way around, and yet we can't seem to quite get that interest all aligned to push the button on it,' he said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

'Today, unfortunately, it's still a maybe.'

The original report of a reunion suggested the project would not be so much of a Friends episode picking up where they left off but an 'unscripted reunion special'.

Original story 13/11/19: A 'Friends' Reunion With All Six Original Cast Members Is In The Works

Hold onto your seats because potentially the most anticipated, rumoured and talked-about TV reunion of all time could now actually be happening.

Yes, of course, we're talking about Friends.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc and Matthew Perry are all currently in talks for an 'unscripted reunion special', reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Sources reportedly told the conversation that a deal is 'far from done,' but talks are most definitely taking place. If deals are agreed, then it becomes a case of aligning schedules to make the TV special work, with THR cautioning that there is a possibility talks could fizzle out and nothing happens.

The reunion - which would be screened on HBO's upcoming new streaming service HBO Max - would be scripted by the show's original writers, David Crane and Marta Kauffman.

Over the years, the cast - who played best friends Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler - have gone back and forth on the possibility of a reunion of the hit show, which turned 25 in September.

In October, Aniston told radio host Howard Stern, there was a concern among the cast that a reboot would fail to be as good as the original sitcom.

However, days later The Morning Show actress appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and said while a reboot might not happen, 'We would love for there to be something, but we don't know what that something is. So we're just trying - we're working on something.'

TV specials aside, in real life, all the cast members have reunited many a time, proving to that it was 'always going to be this way'.

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