Friends Was Reimagined with an All-Black Cast: See Twitter Reactions to the Starry Table Read
Jeremy Pope/Twitter
Friends was reimagined with an all-Black cast on Tuesday night — and Twitter loved it.
The event was part of "Zoom Where It Happens," a live table read series presented by Black female artists whose goal is to raise activation, awareness and intention about the right to vote. The Friends-themed event was produced by Ryan Michelle Bathe, who performed alongside her husband Sterling K. Brown.
After the virtual table read, the couple went live on Instagram together.
"That was a lot of fun," said Brown, 44. "My wife produced it and she killed it and she had the sweet, kind idea to invite her husband and play along with her."
"This was a fun thing to do!" he added. "I rarely get to act with my wife."
They re-enacted a classic season 3 episode, "The One Where No One's Ready," which originally starred Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox (Monica), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe), Matt LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler) and David Schwimmer (Ross).
The table read, hosted and narrated by Gabrielle Union, starred Brown as Ross, Bathe as Rachel, Uzo Aduba as Phoebe, Aisha Hinds as Monica, Kendrick Sampson as Joey and Jeremy Pope as Chandler. Cynthia Erivo also made an appearance to sing the show's theme song, "I'll Be There for You."
Yessss Cynthia!!! Sing! #ZoomWhereItHappens #WhenWeAllVote pic.twitter.com/KQlFLXtDCp
— Brandee (@Therealbrandee) September 23, 2020
The reading was well-received on social media, with viewers particularly loving Brown and Bathe's coupling.
"#ZoomWhereItHappens omg I love seeing real BLACK LOVE!!!!!" tweeted Kerry Washington. "Yes to @SterlingKBrown and his better half Ms Ryan @michellechel."
#ZoomWhereItHappens omg I love seeing real BLACK LOVE!!!!! Yes to @SterlingKBrown and his better half Ms Ryan @michellechel 😍
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) September 23, 2020
Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe's real chemistry comes through in this... I would pay to watch them together in a stage play #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Mark Sundstrom (@106th) September 23, 2020
Okay real life Black love!!! #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Melessie Clark (@Melessieee) September 23, 2020
Name a cuter couple. @SterlingKBrown @michellechel #Friends #ZoomWhereItHappens pic.twitter.com/fqNiA2a5F5
— Ditch Mitch 2020 (@tgain83) September 23, 2020
Sterling and Ryan as Ross and Rachel is so damn good man. #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Andre (@_wheresANDRE) September 23, 2020
Fans also enjoyed Aduba's interpretation of Phoebe, with one viewer calling it "inspired."
Uzo as Phoebe is inspired. #ZoomWhereItHappens pic.twitter.com/NWLyLS8eto
— divinityrocs (@divinityRocs) September 23, 2020
lmaooo Uzo as Phoebe is actually really funny #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Omolade (@lattewei) September 23, 2020
See more Twitter reactions below.
I didn’t know I needed to see Jeremy Pope in a beater and gold chains until...this very moment #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Melessie Clark (@Melessieee) September 23, 2020
I need Aisha in more comedies.
And I need OWN to get on that Ryan Michelle Bathe/Sterling K. Brown family reality show.
POST HASTE!#ZoomWhereItHappens— Candice Marie Benbow (@CandiceBenbow) September 23, 2020
@SterlingKBrown is amazing at everything he does, even zoom acting. He made Ross enjoyable.#ZoomWhereItHappens #Friends
— Wear A Mask (@Ceara325) September 23, 2020
Jeremy DEFINITEY has Chandler down 🙌🏾 #ZoomWhereItHappens
— Jus JaiBee (@JaiBee_World) September 23, 2020
Loved getting to see so many talented people on the #ZoomWhereItHappens tonight. It was hilarious!!!
— Georgette (@Georgiee_Porgie) September 23, 2020
Cynthia Erivo singing "I'll Be There For You" sounds like a hug. #ZoomWhereItHappens
— 🌞🌚🌟🌠 (@CharKiNte) September 23, 2020
Jeremy Pope is also delightful! He captures Chandler’s eccentricities but leaves the annoying stuff aside 😭 #ZWIH #ZoomWhereItHappens
— ruchi (@hamesha_pyaas) September 23, 2020
Awww I love how they shared their #VotingPlans!! #WhenWeAllVote ✊🏾 #ZoomWhereItHappens #Friends pic.twitter.com/A9fGB7KDVK
— Mickaëlle X. Bizet (@MickaelleXBizet) September 23, 2020
Friends has been criticized over the years for its lack of racial diversity, and co-creator Marta Kauffman got emotional while acknowledging the shortcomings earlier this summer at the virtual 2020 ATX TV festival.
"I wish I knew then what I know today," she said, according to Page Six. "Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would've made very different decisions."
"We've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough and now all I can think about is what can I do?" she continued. "What can I do differently? How can I run my show in a new way? And that's something I not only wish I knew when I started showrunning, but I wish I knew all the way up through last year."
Schwimmer told The Guardian this year that he made a "conscious push" for more diversity on the show.
"I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color," 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."
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