Friends remains one of the most famous sitcoms ever made, but it has come under fire—and justifiably so—for its all-white cast (opens in new tab), lack of diverse storylines, (opens in new tab) and cheap jokes at the expense of the LGBTQ+ community. (opens in new tab) But now a group of talented actors have decided to change some of that that, reimagining the classic sitcom with a table read comprised exclusively of actors of color.
A live Zoom event, Zoom Where It Happens, which is in support of the nonprofit When We All Vote, will see famous faces of color play the New York gang. It hasn't yet been announced who will play who, but a very impressive cast has been confirmed: This is Us (opens in new tab)' Sterling K Brown, Orange is the New Black (opens in new tab)'s Uzo Aduba, 9-1-1's Aisha Hinds, How to Get Away with Murder's Kendrick Sampson, Hollywood's Jeremy Pope, and First Wives Club's Ryan Michelle Bathe will all take part.
Being Mary Jane's Gabrielle Union—who appeared in an episode as Ross and Joey's date, Kristen Lang—is hosting the reading, while Salli Richardson-Whitfield will direct.
The event, which you can sign up for here (opens in new tab), will take place tomorrow, September 23, at 6 p.m. ET.
The much-anticipated HBO Max Friends reunion (opens in new tab) with the original cast is still a ways off, with boss Marta Kauffman confirming last month that the pandemic had pushed things back. "We all want it to happen. We just have to wait until it is safe. This is a show that is not scripted, but this is the way the show works—we are going to need a live audience," she told Entertainment Tonight (opens in new tab). "Even if we socially distance that live audience, it really is a huge part of what Friends is… We can not do it without them. Everyone is all in and we are just waiting for that time when it feels connected to bring in a live audience."
But while we wait on that, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow gave us a mini reunion when they appeared together at this weekend's Emmy awards (opens in new tab).
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