Lisa Kudrow Just Revealed All The "Friends" Drama That Happened Behind The Scenes After The Reunion Was Shut Down
"We shut down the Friends reunion, which was painful. I feel bad for everyone who was working and now is not working. That's the part that makes me really nervous."
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Lisa Kudrow has opened up about the drama that was going on behind the scenes after the Friends reunion was shutdown because of the coronavirus.
In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lisa called the situation "painful" as she explained the shutdown had left a whole a bunch of people with no work.
"We shut down the Friends reunion, which was painful," Lisa, who plays Phoebe, said. "I feel bad for everyone who was working and now is not working. That's the part that makes me really nervous."
But Lisa revealed that she was already nervous about the virus before the stay-at-home order had even been announced. In fact, she was so concerned that she called the executive producer, Ben Winston, to ask if there were "other versions" of the reunion as a backup plan.
The HBO Max special was supposed to be a one-off episode that would be filmed on the show's original Burbank set in front of a live studio audience.
"I called Ben Winston and asked if he had any contingencies that he was thinking about — like, were there other versions of this," Lisa explained. "He was like, 'No, it's going to be fine!' And then everything started shutting down, one by one."
In a later phone call, everybody agreed that production should be halted and new dates were tentatively thrown into the ring. However, with the coronavirus pandemic spreading across the world and lockdowns still enforced in many countries, the reunion episode still remains uncertain.
"It sounds like people are hoping and hedging on August or September," Lisa said. "But then it just feels like everyone is going to be shooting things as much as possible in those two months and there might be another wave."
When asked if there had been discussions on doing the reunion remotely so that the show could still go ahead, Lisa responded that it would ruin the entire premise and take away part of the excitement.
She said: "That's the whole point! We haven't all been in the same room in front of people — I mean, we have privately once many years ago but that's it. The whole point of this is to be in the same room. That hasn't changed."
Bob Greenblatt, the WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chair, appeared to share Lisa's thoughts, revealing in an interview last week that the special would likely be postponed until the end of summer so it could go ahead with a live studio audience.
"We do think there's a value to having a big, raucous live audience to experience these six great friends coming back together," Bob told Variety. "We didn’t want to just suddenly do it on a web call with, you know, six squares and people shooting from their kitchens and bedrooms."
The question of when exactly production can be resumed remains unclear. However, Lisa said she remained hopeful that when things are finally able to move forward, there will be adequate testing and measures in place to keep the cast and crew safe.
"I haven't heard anything officially, but hopefully there will be tests available so everyone has to be tested for the virus and antibodies before being able to show up for work," she said. "Everyone who checks out, so to speak, can sit next to each other on the couch."
When questioned about whether the reunion would lead to something that was more than a one-episode special, Lisa actually revealed that there had already been an idea that she and Courteney Cox had come up with.
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"The basic notion was: You like watching Friends. Watch it with us," Lisa said of the idea, adding that it was a little similar to the British TV show Gogglebox.
Interestingly, Courteney admitted in a recent interview that she'd been using her free time in lockdown to rewatch Friends, so what better way for the show to continue than for us to be able to watch it with her!
