‘Friends’ Reunion: Courteney Cox Says Filming Special was ‘So Emotional’

Courteney Cox at The Last Ship Opening Night
Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images

Courteney Cox says she was feeling all the emotions when she got together with the Friends cast for the upcoming HBO Max reunion special.

Speaking on today’s pre-recorded Thursday, May 6 edition of The Ellen DeGeneres Show the actress admitted: “It was unbelievable. It was so emotional. It’s an unscripted reunion, but we got to be on Stage 24 for the first time, all of us in, like, I forgot how many years. 15 years? 17 years?”

Details of how exactly the reunion will work remain tight-lipped, but we know that it involves all six main cast members, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and of course, Cox herself. The show’s creators David Krane and Marta Kauffman are also set to appear.

The reunion took place on Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studio, the same stage where Friends filmed for its entire 10-year run. DeGeneres asked if this brought back many long-forgotten memories for Cox, to which she answered, “Oh god, I have the worst memory. Everything came up that I forgot about.”

One memory that did stick with her was filming the sitcom’s iconic opening credits sequence, which sees the cast dancing and laughing together in a fountain. The reality of the shoot wasn’t quite as fun and jovial as the intro would have you believe.

“We were in that fountain for a long time,” said Cox. “Somebody thought that would be really fun, and let me tell you what happens, it’s not fun to be dancing in a fountain for hours and hours.”

She added: “I remember Matthew Perry saying at one point—and we didn’t know each other that well at that point—but I remember, and this is so Matthew, but he was like, ‘Can’t remember a time that I wasn’t in this fountain.’ Literally, we were just like, ‘How much longer are we going to pretend to love dancing in water?’ But it was fun—but not really.”

According to the show’s official Instagram page, the Friends reunion special recently wrapped up filming after initially being delayed due to the pandemic. It will air on HBO Max, though there is no word yet on a premiere date.