Why was Paul Rudd missing from the Friends Reunion?

AFTER the long-awaited Friends reunion aired on HBO Max, many were left wondering why Paul Rudd was absent from the special.

The episode included surprising celebrity cameos from Cindy Crawford, David Beckham, and Justin Bieber.

Why was Paul Rudd missing from the Friends Reunion?

Paul Rudd first appeared as Mike Hannigan in season 8 of the hit sitcom, playing the romantic interest of Phoebe Buffay played by Lisa Kudrow.

The pair got married in season 10, episode 12 titles “The One with Phoebe’s Wedding.

The director of the special broke down why Rudd was missing from the show.

“Well, we couldn’t have everybody on, because it’s only an hour and 45 minutes. And you’ve got to pay attention—the main nub of the show has got to be about the six cast members,” Ben Winston, who directed the reunion special, shared with TheWrap.

“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.”

“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.”

Those who did make the show included Janice, played by Maggie Wheeler, James Michael Tyler who played Gunther and Ross and Monica’s parents, Elliot Gould and Christine Pickles. 

How much did the Friends cast get paid for the reunion?

In total, the Friends cast received $20million for the reunion.

Each cast member received between $3million and $4million for their appearance at the reunion.

Initially, it was reported that the cast members were each offered $1million for their appearance on the reunion special.

That offer was summarily rejected.

What were the reviews of the Friends reunion?

While longtime fans of the show delighted in the Friends reunion, the critics were not as impressed.

“It ended 17 years ago. It began 27 years ago. It’s been over for almost twice as long as it lasted,” wrote NPR.

The outlet also said that the actors had never achieved the same type of commercial success as they’d had when Friends was at its peak.

Jennifer Aniston did enjoy minor movie success, and David Schwimmer did provide his voice to the hit Madagascar cartoon series.

Much ado was also made about James Corden’s hosting of the show, and not everyone was a fan of Justin Bieber either.

However, many fans enjoyed Lady Gaga’s appearance on the reunion.

It’s unclear if this reuion will happen again in the future.