Jennifer Aniston: Latest ‘Friends’ Reunion Delay Is “Very Sad” But It Will Be “Even More Exciting And More Fun… We’re Not Going Anywhere”

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.”