Lisa Kudrow felt "every emotion" while filming the much-anticipated "Friends" reunion, which airs on HBO Max later this week.
"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," Lisa, who famously played Phoebe Buffay, told the New York Post. "It was an emotionally exhausting and great few days."
"Friends: The Reunion" was initially supposed to aired last year, but the coronavirus pandemic pushed everything back a year, including the filming. While the special is a legitimate reunion, the actors from the show — Lisa, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer — won't come in character.
"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 said.
The cast will also see some never-before-seen footage.
"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," she said.
The reunion is also chockfull of celebrity surprises, as there will reportedly be appearances by Reese Witherspoon (who played Rachel Green's sister,) David Beckham, BTS, James Corden, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling and more. Justin Bieber is also part of the special.
"I was like, 'Wait, that's Justin Bieber. Right? Would he be here? Is he here? He's really here; that's Justin Bieber!'" Lisa said. "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."
While the show ran from 1994 to 2004, Lisa said she and the cast are thrilled with how everything worked out, especially the timing.
"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," she said. "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.'"