Thank the Friends Reunion’s Director for That Jennifer Aniston-David Schwimmer Revelation

After 14 months settled on our sectionals, it’s sort of poetic that the world can’t wait to watch six people sit on a couch and talk to each other. Then again, this is the long-awaited HBO Max Friends reunion, which reconvenes OG cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer on that iconic burnt orange sofa for a chat about their long-running series.

But just as Ross and Rachel struggled to find their relationship’s perfect timing, work on the Friends special came to a screeching halt shortly after it was announced in February 2020, due to the pandemic. At least one person was grateful for the pivot, though: the Friends reunion’s director and executive producer Ben Winston, who was juggling two other high-profile gigs at the time. “Yeah, I guess I felt pressure,” Winston told Vanity Fair over the phone, explaining the breakneck schedule that allowed him to executive produce The Late Late Show while casually spearheading a pandemic-era Grammys (his first, by the way).

It was on the set of another variety special—The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show—that Winston got the call about helming a Friends reunion. “I remember being surrounded by fake snow and baubles and Christmas trees and having a call about Friends,” he said. “And (Warner Bros. president of unscripted and alternative television Mike Darnell) was calling me and saying, ‘Look, would you ever be interested in coming up with some ideas for a Friends 25th anniversary?’ I mean, we’re now at the 27th anniversary, so that’s how long the whole process has taken.”

A month later, Winston met with the show’s co-creators and producers Marta Kauffman, David Crane, and Kevin Bright to pitch ideas for what would become the HBO Max special. Next, his team had to convincing the cast—who have long sworn they will never do a Friends revival—to reunite. Winston sold them on the idea of coming back together for a special “which mixes documentary, variety, chats (and) the global nature of the show.”

By late January 2020, all six original stars had signed on. Then, of course, came COVID-19. In the intervening year, the cast and crew hunkered down until it was safe to proceed with the special. “There was no rush,” Winston said. “We all felt the Friends reunion was only going to happen once. And so we didn’t ever want to do a Friends reunion on Zoom; (it) wouldn’t be much of a reunion.”

Between pulling double duty on The Late Late Show and Grammys telecast, Winston somehow found time to rewatch every episode (yes, all 236) of Friends’s 10 seasons. He also devoted his days to reading books written about the series and consuming old interviews. “It’s amazing when you watch a show that was written and acted in 1994, that it stands the test of time and is as brilliant and as funny and as clever today, as it was then,” Winston said. “And it’s an absolute testament to them, that my nine-year-old niece knows every word from a show that was made 27 years ago, in the same way that some kid in Ghana credits it with saving their lives. It really made me go, ‘Oh, this show is even better than I thought it was.’”

By April 2021, Winston and co. had finessed how to stage the reunion, complete with live studio audience and moderator James Corden (the cast’s top choice, according to Winston). The atmosphere was emotional as each cast member finally returned to Studio 24, Friends’s original home. “There was no one who hadn’t seen the others [since then]. But the fact that the six of them had only been in a room together once in the 17 years really built up the anticipation and excitement, I felt, about filming that moment when they were all back together,” he said.

Sticking true to his original pitch, Aniston, Schwimmer, Perry, LeBlanc, Cox, and Kudrow spent two days shooting in various scenarios—from table reads of famous episodes (“The One Where No One’s Ready” is Winston’s favorite) to a trivia-style game that harkens back to the show’s fourth season. Also onboard were a slew of guest stars and special performers, including Justin Bieber modeling Ross’s “Spudnik” Halloween costume and Lady Gaga singing “Smelly Cat” alongside Kudrow and a full church choir.

Perhaps the most surprising cameo comes from Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who identifies with the least likely of the show’s characters. “I mean, the idea that Malala, one of the most intelligent people in the world—her friends think she’s a Joey? It’s just so funny,” Winston said. “I’d read something somewhere years ago that Malala watched Friends every day. BTS had said in a Carpool Karaoke that Friends taught them English. David Beckham has always spoken about Friends being his favorite show and he always posts pictures of Friends on his Instagram.” All would appear in the special.

Several of the sitcom’s original guest stars were invited to pop up as well, but only if they could appear in person. (Exceptions were made for James Tyler Michael’s Gunther and Reese Witherspoon, who played Rachel’s sister.) Pandemic filming restrictions and a tight shooting schedule at Studio 24 meant that fan favorites including Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, and Brad Pitt were absent. Instead, fans are treated to appearances from Maggie Wheeler’s high-pitched Janice and Tom Selleck’s “one who got away” Richard, among others.

Even the most devoted of Friends fans will be surprised to hear a few of the reunion’s revelations, including the Matt LeBlanc injury that nearly derailed one of the show’s most beloved installments. “It was supposed to be one of the cheapest episodes they ever did and it ended up being one of the most expensive because they had to stop down for months in the middle,” Winston said.

Another arrives via Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer—who disclose a mutual offscreen crush that plagued them during the  show’s early seasons. “Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, ‘It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television,’” Aniston says during the special. “Sure enough, first time we kissed was in that coffee shop… So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel.” After hearing the co-stars share that story the day prior, Winston encouraged James Corden to probe them during the Q&A. “I didn’t know if they were going to talk about it in front of an audience, but I was really delighted they did,” he said.

The Friends reunion, now streaming, arrives after a deluge of pandemic-prompted Zoom reunions and table reads. But it’s the show’s six central characters—and the people who brought them to life—that Winston is focusing on. “I definitely didn’t want to let the nine of them down—Bright, Kauffman, Crane, and the six cast members,” he said. “This is their baby. They’ve never allowed anyone to make anything with their baby since they went off the air 17 years ago. So I guess the most nerve-wracking was probably the night that I sent the film out to them to look at.” After a few hours, Winston got his seal of approval: “That was a huge day of relief for me.” Consider it a tiny dose of catharsis for a world that could use a little more Friends, no matter how long it took.

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