'Friends' Reunion Director Reveals Why Paul Rudd, Cole Sprouse & Others Weren't Part of The Special

During the Friends: The Reunion special that aired this week, many fans noticed how certain notable guest stars like Paul Rudd and Cole Sprouse were left out.

While celebs like Lady Gaga, Cindy Crawford, and even Justin Bieber were part of the special, Cole, Paul and many other more recognizable guest stars didn’t turn up and director Ben Winston explained their absence in a new interview.

Click inside to see why they weren’t part of the reunion…

“We couldn’t have everybody on, because it’s only an hour and 45 minutes,” he explained to TheWrap. “You’ve got to pay attention — the main nub of the show has got to be about the six cast members…So you can’t have too many cameos because of course, there were hundreds of amazing people who were in Friends over the years. Sadly, we couldn’t get everybody in.”

Ben also noted that the coronavirus pandemic was a factor too.

“You know, we did invite some people who weren’t able to make it,” he added. “It’s a complicated time to be making television now because, you know, some people couldn’t fly internationally, some people were on other TV or film shoots, some people are in bubbles on stuff.”

“I think during a pandemic, it’s really hard to get everybody where you want to be. And the other thing, of course, is we have no flexibility,” Ben continued. “The timing of it was incredibly difficult. So, you know, if you weren’t available on the seventh of April at 8 p.m., then, sadly, they weren’t able to be part of it. Yeah, we couldn’t get everybody in. It’s just one of those things. I hope people will think about all the great things that are in there rather than the things that aren’t.”

Paul famously starred as Mike Hannigan, Phoebe’s eventual husband, in the final two seasons of the show; and Cole was Ben Gellar, Ross’ son.

See who else was a guest star on the show over the years here!