5:43
- culture
- May 27, 2021
What went down in 'Friends: The Reunion' special
The highly anticipated special premiered on Thursday.
Kaufmann and Crane detailed the casting process for each -- including having to \"beg\" Schwimmer to return to TV after earlier frustrations -- and Perry's prior commitment on a failed sitcom pilot called \"LAX 2194,\" in which he played a baggage handler in the Los Angeles airport in the far future. Seriously.
Rachel was the hardest to cast, because \"in the wrong hands ... she could be a really unlikable character,\" Crane said.
Aniston was also on another show at the time, but that didn't work out, either -- leaving her to stay as Rachel. She recalled a producer of the other series deriding \"Friends.\"
\"That show's not gonna make you a star,\" she recalled him saying. \"This one's gonna make you a star.\" That other show was quickly canceled.
Along with other surprise appearances -- and Lady Gaga's musical duet with Kudrow of \"Smelly Cat\" -- the cast performs a table read of a piece of \"The One Where Everyone Finds Out,\" in which some of the friends discover Chandler and Monica have been sleeping together.
It was revealed prior to the premiere of the special that a slew of notable guests would appear.
The following guest stars were announced: David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Larry Hankin, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai.
During the special, the six friends and former co-stars also watch outtakes together, and as the special ends, vowed not to let as much time pass before they all hung out again.
\"Friends: The Reunion\" is now available to stream.
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