David Schwimmer has said that the highly anticipated Friends reunion special could be filmed as soon as next month.
The one-off show has been repeatedly delayed due to the pandemic and was originally set to arrive on the HBO Max streaming platform in May last year.
It will bring the sitcom’s six original cast members – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Schwimmer – back together on screen for the first time since the series ended in 2004.
Schwimmer, who played palaeontologist Ross Geller on the beloved series, told SiriusXM’s Radio Andy: “It’s happening. Actually, in a little over a month I’m heading out to LA. So, finally, I mean, we figured out a way to film it safely and there’s going to be a portion of it that we filmed outside because of, you know, for safety protocols.”
The 54-year-old actor also addressed speculation over who would be hosting the special and confirmed it is not Ellen DeGeneres.
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“I can tell you it’s not Ellen and it’s not Billy Crystal,” Schwimmer said. “I can tell you who it’s not, but that’ll take a while, probably.”
Kudrow, who played eccentric masseuse Phoebe Buffay, previously shared details about the special and said the actors would not be in character.
She said: “It is not a reboot, it is not like a scripted thing, we are not portraying our characters.
“It is us getting together, which just doesn’t happen and has never happened in front of other people since 2004 when we stopped.”
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She added the programme will feature the cast “talking in a coffee house room” and “some sets will be up”.
Kudrow also said she has already “pre-shot something” for the Friends reunion. She told the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast: "There’s different facets to it, and we already shot packages of things. I pre-shot something for it already so we’re definitely doing it because I already shot a little something.”
Friends ran for 10 series from 1994 and remains one of the most popular shows on TV.
Additional reporting by Agencies
