Lisa Kudrow on the ‘Friends’ reunion and which guest star shocked her

Lisa Kudrow was just as shocked as the rest of us when she heard one particular celebrity guest would be joining the Friends Reunion show.

She’ll be there for you.

The hotly anticipated Friends reunion special, which hits HBO Maxon Thursday, May 27, was “emotional” to film, Lisa Kudrow said.

“It was every emotion,” Kudrow, 57, told the New York Post. “It was a lot of laughing and then real blubbering – which, I don’t know if that will be in there, but the puffy eyes are in there, so that’s good. It was an emotionally exhausting and great few days.”

Called Friends: The Reunion, the special reunites the stars of the hit sitcom, which aired from 1994 to 2004 on NBC. The special was originally scheduled to be part of HBO Max’slaunch in May of 2020 – but after getting delayed by the pandemic, it’s finally premiering one year later.

The whole cast is returning for the reunion special. Picture: Getty Images

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Kudrow, who rose to fame starring as the eccentric Phoebe Buffay, will be joined by Jennifer Aniston who played fashion-forward Rachel, Courteney Cox, who played uptight Monica, Matt LeBlanc, who played flirty Joey, Matthew Perry, who played sarcastic Chandler, and David Schwimmer, who played neurotic Ross.

The cast members won’t appear in character, Kudrow said.

“It’s completely unscripted. It’s us seeing each other and they rebuilt the sets on [the show’s original Warner Bros soundstage] Stage 24. It’s done really well, too. But it’s us, and also just cutting around – there are clips and things.”

Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe in Central Perk in Friends. Picture: Getty Images

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For instance, Kudrow said, the cast will be viewing some video footage chronicling their time on the series that they hadn’t seen before.

“It turns out [a crew member] was taking home movies that I didn’t know about, and that was brilliant [to see]. There’s so much great stuff.”

In the special, the core cast will reunite on the iconic Friends sets such as the gang’s infamous coffee shop hang-out spot Central Perk, Monica and Rachel’s improbably spacious purple-walled apartment, and Joey and Chandler’s bachelor pad – complete with their reclining chairs.

The cast will be joined by some special celebrity guests. Picture: Getty Images

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As HBO Max has announced, they’ll also be joined by a staggering who’s who of famous guests, including David Beckham, BTS, James Corden, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Malala Yousafzai, and more.

“There’s just a lot of surprises – like, things we weren’t expecting,” said Kudrow. “People showing up that we were surprised by. There’s a lot going on in it.”

Some of the special guests were particularly shocking to the Friends cast.

“I was like, ‘Wait, that’s Justin Bieber. Right? Would he be here? Is he here? He’s really here; that’s Justin Bieber!” said Kudrow. “That was kind of exciting. I’m throwing in a ‘kind of’ so that I seem a little cooler. It was exciting. I don’t get excited about meeting people – but Justin Bieber, he’s exciting.”

David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow in Friends. Picture: Getty Images

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Kudrow said she’s grateful that Friends made its cast famous in the ’90s and early 2000s.

“I think we’re always glad about the way things happened when they did. Because if it were now, it would be overwhelming with social media and everything else. But even in the ’90s you had to make an effort like ‘Don’t look yourself up on the internet! You won’t like it.’”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission