Lisa Kudrow revealed more details about the anticipated Friends reunion for HBO Max during an interview with Rob Lowe.
During Lowe’s Literally! podcast, Kudrow revealed that the project is already underway and seeks to beginning shooting “early, early spring.” The Booksmart actress doubled down on a hint Matthew Perry had dropped for Friends fans back in November, where he tweeted that shooting would begin at the beginning of March.
“I pre-shot something for it already, so we’re definitely doing it,” Kudrow told Lowe.
Kudrow, who starred in the popular sitcom as Phoebe Buffay, also shared that the HBO Max Friends project will not see the actors reprising their roles. Instead, it will be something along the lines of the recent Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion that saw cast members reminisce on the popular series.
Though the cast won’t return as the group of close friends, the HBO Max reunion will revisit some of the series’ familiar spaces, she said. Kudrow revealed that the cast will come upon “a coffee house room” and other sets that “we have not been in.”
She added that the reunion, when it eventually drops on HBO Max, will be a special occasion for the cast and the fans in attendance.
“It’s us getting together which doesn’t happen a lot and has never happened in front of other people since 2004, when we stopped, ” Kudrow added.
For the untitled, unscripted HBO Max special, Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc will return to the comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank. Ben Winston is set to direct the reunion. The actors will executive produce the reunion with Friends creators Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
Hear the full podcast episode below. Kudrow’s comments about the reunion come around 46:00.