There has been a lot of chatter about a possible Friends reunion in recent weeks, most likely prompted by NBC announcing it will be bringing most of the cast of the network comedy together for a special celebrating the life of director James Burrows. While some people seem to be opposed to a Friends reunion, there’s at least one former cast member who is keen on the idea. That cast member is Matthew Perry. Here’s what he had to say in a recent radio interview.
I think the actors would actually be open to it, I do. I think we would be open to doing something, some kind of maybe TV special, I dunno about a movie. It’s kind of tough, because we ended on such a high note that we don’t want to ruin it. So we’d want to be very careful, but I think the cast would be open to doing something at some point.
While speaking with The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, Perry revealed that while he didn’t know what it would cost NBC or another network or service to put together a Friends reunion, he really does believe that he and his fellow Friends cast members would be open to coming back for one more round. He’s also extremely thoughtful regarding the process, noting that Friends ended on a high note and that the gang wouldn’t want to come back if there wasn’t a great script and a great plan for doing so. They’ve made a lot of money off the series already, so they’d mostly be looking for quality over anything else.
One obstacle to a potential reunion special is Friends creator Marta Kauffman, who has spoken out several times about not wanting the hit NBC comedy to return to the schedule, for any reason. Kauffman clearly has put her time on Friends behind her and is content to work on her latest project, Grace & Frankie, which has earned a second season on Netflix. (To her credit, that show’s a hoot.) (Not to her credit, I think most people would rather have a Friends reunion.)Still, there are other ways a new Friends script could come together.
Although Matthew Perry seems to be showing interest in a potential Friends reunion—should that reunion be done right—he’s actually the only person who is missing the upcoming Friends-ish reunion on NBC. A few weeks ago we learned his London-based play The End of Longing would keep him from participating in the special. He's busy promoting the play right now, but that's only led people to ask more Friends questions.
Remakes, reboots and that ilk are becoming increasingly popular in the TV realm. Some, like the Fuller House spinoff, have been very welcome while other have not, but I think a lot of people would like to catch up with the cast of Friends and see where they are up to in this day and age.
A possible reunion wasn’t the only thing Matthew Perry talked about with the radio program. You can learn more about the interview, here.
