One of the most famous episodes of Friends is set to be re-enacted with an all-black cast.
Hosted by Bring It On and 10 Things I Hate About You star Gabrielle Union, the Friends table read will feature Sterling K Brown, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Uzo Aduba, Aisha Hinds, Kendrick Sampson and Jeremy Pope.
Sterling K Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe are among the actors taking part
Taking place on Zoom, the stars will re-enact the season three episode The One Where No One’s Ready – which saw David Schwimmer‘s character Ross Geller desperately trying to get his friends to a black tie event on time, and Joey famously wearing all of Chandler’s clothes – which is so not the opposite of taking someone’s underwear.
It is being held to benefit When We All Vote, an organisation attempting to increase voter registration numbers in the US.
Friends fans were treated to a mini reunion during Sunday’s Emmys, when Jennifer Aniston was joined at home by her former co-stars Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow – aka Rachel Green, Monica Geller and Phoebe Buffay.
A long-awaited reunion show announced earlier this year, which is set to arrive on the HBO Max streaming service, has been delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.
The much-loved sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, is still popular today – but has been criticised in recent years for not featuring more black and Asian characters.
Surprise Friends reunion at Emmys
All six stars – Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, as well as Aniston, Cox, Kudrow and Schwimmer – are all white, as was the majority of the supporting cast.
In June, one of the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman, reportedly became tearful when asked about the issue.
According to US media reports, she said: “I wish I knew then what I know today. Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would’ve made very different decisions.”
The cast of Friends, clockwise from top left: Matt LeBlanc (Joey), David Schwimmer (Ross), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Courteney Cox (Monica), Matthew Perry (Chandler)
Both Kudrow and Schwimmer have addressed the lack of diversity on the show, with Schwimmer telling The Guardian in 2019 that he was “well aware” of the issue and had spoken about it with producers.
He said: “One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”
Earlier this year, Kudrow defended the show in a Sunday Times interview, saying it was “progressive” at the time but would not feature an all-white cast if it was made today.
The Friends edition of the Zoom episode is set to take place at 2am UK time on Wednesday.