The real reason why Cole Sprouse and Paul Rudd weren’t at the Friends reunion

People from all over the world tuned into the long-awaited  Friends Reunion last night, as the stars from our favourite sitcom came together again to relive the past and celebrate arguably the

greatest show of all time.

The core six cast members including Jennifer Anniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Le Blank, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer all returned for the special, followed by a vast array of

former guest stars who appeared on the show over the 10 years it was on the air.

Monica and Ross’ parents came back, along with Chandler’s ex Janice, Central Perk barista Gunther, Rachel’s sister played by Reese Witherspoon and Monica’s former flame Richard played by Tom Selleck.

However, there were a few former Friends stars who didn’t make a reappearance, and many fans wondered why.

For instance Paul Rudd, who played the love interest to Lisa Kudrow’s character, Mike, who she married in the show’s last season, was notably absent. Another star who was missing from the reunion was Cole Sprouse, who played Ben, Ross, Carol and Susan’s son.

Apparently there simply wasn’t enough room on the couch for them, as Ben Winston the director of the Reunion explained to TheWrap, “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.”

“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,” he added.

Winston then went on to say how difficult the who ordeal was to manage, given the current pandemic situation, as he said, “You know, we did invite some people who weren’t able to make it.”

“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,” he added, possibly referring to the likelihood of Paul and Cole having a busy schedule that might conflict with the Reunion’s filming, given that both are among the more successful guest actors to have starred on the show.

Currently Paul is busy shooting Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania while Cole finishes up filming the latest season of Riverdale in Canada. Therefore, it’s understandable if neither was available to appear on the Friends Reunion, even if they were dearly missed.

“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,” he added. “It was one night that those six [main cast members] were available. 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,” Winston explained.