While taping of the Friends reunion special for HBO Max has been delayed once again by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer Aniston remains resolutely optimistic.

Speaking to Deadline via phone after the news broke, she said, “It’s going to be super. You know what? 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 suck with us for life guys.”

The unscripted special was originally set to shoot mid-March. But when COVID shut down all production, it was pushed to May, aimed to coincide with HBO Max’s launch on May 27. As of today, there is now no set date.

“Unfortunately it’s very sad that we had to move it again,” Aniston said. She is, however, looking forward to getting back to it when it’s safe to do so. “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.”

In the special, Aniston will be joined by fellow Friends stars Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, and the show, directed by Ben Winston, will be shot on the series’ original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. lot. With the cast and creators Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane executive producing.

Unsurprisingly, 2020 has not been Aniston’s favorite year in general. “I’m supposed to renew my drivers license and I don’t want it to say 2020 on it,” she said. “I just want to get 2020 out and behind us.

Sources

Aniston — who is being recognized this year for her work in ‘The Morning Show’ — was last nominated in 2009 for best guest actress in a comedy series for a spot she did on ’30 Rock.’
The 2020 Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday and Jennifer Aniston was among the stars who were honored. She received a nom for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for her portrayal of Alex Levy in Apple TV +’s The Morning Show.

Aniston was nominated alongside Olivia Colman (The Crown), Jodie Komer (Killing Eve), Laura Linney (Ozark), Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) and Zendaya (Euphoria).

This marks Aniston’s seventh Emmy nomination overall and her first in 11 years. Aniston — who won the award for outstanding actress in a comedy series for her work as Rachel in the hit NBC sitcom Friends — was last nominated in 2009 for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for a spot she did on 30 Rock.

The Morning Show was recognized with nominations in several categories. Aniston’s co-star Steve Carell was nominated for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for playing Mitch Kessler. Additionally, Billy Cudrup and Mark Duplass earned noms for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for their respective characters, Cory Ellison and Charles “Chip” Black. Martin Short picked up a nom for best guest actor in a drama series for his role as Dick Lundy.

The series was also nominated for outstanding production design for a narrative contemporary program; outstanding directing (Mimi Leder) for a drama series; and outstanding main title design.

The 72nd Emmy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who will also serve as executive producer. The show will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sept. 20 on ABC.

Sources

In the early ’90s, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow met for the first time at the table read for “Friends.” They didn’t know it at the time, but the two characters that they were be playing — Aniston’s Rachel Green and Kudrow’s Phoebe Buffay — would become two of the most beloved in TV history.

In an interview for Variety‘s Actors on Actors issue, on newsstands this week, Aniston and Kudrow discussed their current TV roles. Aniston is a frontrunner in this year’s Emmys race for best actress in a drama for her portrayal of anchor Alex Levy on “The Morning Show.” And Kudrow delivers buzzy supporting turns in two Netflix comedies — “Feel Good” and “Space Force.”

But as they got to talking, they quickly recalled what it was like to be at that “Friends” table read. “You were wearing an appropriate Phoebe Buffay — like a white linen, hippie shirt, and you had a bunch of seashells and necklaces on,” Aniston said. “And you had your hair pulled up in two little clips, and you had these little blond tendrils. So, so, so beautiful! And Courteney [Cox] had on a pink baby tee with a white trim.”

“Gee whiz!” Kudrow said. “I was trying to get into the character.”

Aniston later told a story about finding “Friends” clips on the Internet. “This one time I was with Courteney, and we were trying to find something to reference, an old ‘Friends’ thing,” Aniston said. “And then we stumbled on — there’s bloopers online — and we sat there at the computer like two nerds watching these bloopers laughing at ourselves.”

Aniston revealed what it’s like for her to revisit the show now. “Here’s what I love, is when I watch an episode, I’ll usually remember where we broke during the scene,” Aniston said. “You and I would always get into these fits of laughter because you had this wonderful ability to — you were about to hit your punchline, and you would do this adorable thing where you would break. You would say the punchline, and you would always turn to the audience and say, ‘I’m sorry, it’s really funny.’”

“I didn’t want to ruin it,” recalled Kudrow, who hasn’t been revisiting Phoebe. “I don’t watch the show. I’m still not watching it in the hopes that one day we sit down and watch them together.”

When it’s safe to film again, the six cast members of “Friends” will sit down together for a reunion special for HBO Max. “That will be really great,” Kudrow said. “I can’t wait to do that.”

Jennifer Aniston donated $1 million to Color of Change, the largest online racial justice organization in the U.S., per The Mirror.

The actress quietly made her donation, but a source told the publication: “Like most people, Jen has been deeply affected by what is going on in America and the terrible injustice that people of color experience every day. She wanted to show her support, and has donated a big sum to the charity she felt resonated with her the most. The link is on her Instagram page, so her fans can also donate.”

Last week, Aniston posted a video of James Baldwin asking “how much time do you want for your progress?” Alongside the video, she wrote: “This week has been heartbreaking for so many reasons. We need to acknowledge that the racism and brutality in this country has been going on for a long time – and it’s NEVER been okay. As allies, who want equality and peace, it’s our responsibility to make noise, to demand justice, to educate ourselves on these issues, and more than anything, to spread love. How much more time are we willing to let pass without change? HOW MUCH MORE TIME? Text FLOYD to 55156 and sign the @colorofchange petition to have all four of the officers who killed #GeorgeFloyd arrested.”
If you want to support Color of Change, go to the website and click on “Join us” and/or “donate.” The organization focuses on economic justice, media justice, criminal justice, and power & voice for a reason:

“The forces that shape our lives are interrelated,” the organization says on its site. “We cannot end racism in one area without tackling it in all areas. Racist policing is propped up by racist media narratives on crime and justice. Political inequality is reinforced by economic inequality. Unlivable wages and unfair hiring practices make it easier for corporations to continue to exploit Black workers and consumers.”

Sources

It’s happening: The “Friends” cast is reuniting for an exclusive untitled unscripted special on HBO Max.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer will return to the original “Friends” soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank to celebrate the long-running series, which ended its run in 2004.

Sources close to the situation tell Variety the six stars will receive at least $2.5 million apiece for participating in the special.

The reunion has been hotly anticipated, with speculation about the HBO Max special swirling since last fall, just months after the WarnerMedia-created SVOD platform nabbed the streaming rights to the show from Netflix in a deal with Warner Bros. Television. All 10 seasons of the comedy left Netflix at the end of 2019, meaning that “Friends” has thus far not been available to stream in the U.S. this calendar year — at least, not until HBO Max launches in May.

The special, as well as all 236 episodes of “Friends,” will be available upon the streaming service’s debut. They will no doubt be a high-profile part of HBO Max’s appeal as it tries to attract subscribers. Though the sitcom aired its series finale over 15 years ago, third-party market researchers have said “Friends” was one of Netflix’s most-watched shows. And as previously reported, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment told Variety that sales of physical and digital versions of “Friends” have “roughly tripled” since news broke that it would be leaving Netflix.

“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.”

Ben Winston will direct the special and executive produce alongside “Friends” executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television and Fulwell 73 Productions are behind the program. Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer are also executive producing the special, with Emma Conway and James Longman on board as co-executive producers.

Sources