The Friends reunion was a major hit for HBO Max with a reported 29% of streaming households watching the episode on May 27th.
Which makes the $2.5 million the six actors EACH received well worth it.
Yep, sources close to negotiations alleged earlier in 2021 that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc all received $2.5 million EACH for taking part in the reunion special.
In early 2020 when the show was still being discussed, it was reported the initial offer was $1 million each but the cast turned down that offer.
Know your worth!
The decision to make the deal as a six-some rather than individually stemmed from their early days on the hit comedy when they entered negotiations with Warner Bros as a group to insist on equal salary; in season two they received different salaries ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 per episode.
The stars were paid $75,000 per episode in season three, $85,000 in season four, $100,000 in season five, $125,000 in season six, $750,000 in seasons seven and eight, and a very cool $1 million per episode in seasons nine and ten. At the time, it made Jen, Courteney and Lisa the highest-paid TV actresses of all time.
Released on the one-year anniversary of HBO Max, the reunion was aptly titled “The One Where They Get Back Together”.
As well as starring the main cast, the episode featured a number of A-list guests including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai.
The episode featured behind the scenes revelations – including a romance between Jen and David – as well as a trip down memory lane as the cast visited the set for the first time in years. “Nothing is scripted, and we are not in character,” David previously revealed. “We are all ourselves, although there is one section of it that I don’t want to give away, but we all read something.”
That was a read-through of several episodes including the iconic “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.”
