How much the Friends cast were paid for TV reunion special

Friends: The Reunion | Official Trailer. Video / HBO

The cast of Friends made history in the early 2000s when they negotiated salaries of US$1 million per episode each, making them the highest-paid television actors ever.

Given their success in the industry back then, many would have been wondering what they managed to rake in for last week's highly-anticipated reunion special.

According to reports, it was a matter of history repeating, with the stars again joining forces to negotiate whopping salaries.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, they were initially offered the same as the series, US$1m each. But the publication reported that they turned down the amount, causing further delays to the special which had been in talks for years since the finale.

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When the reunion was announced to the public in February 2020, Variety reported that the stars were being paid at least US$2.5m each to revisit the show and their characters.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc in a scene from the Friends reunion special. Photo / AP

That's quite the salary for a cruisy day spent reuniting and reminiscing.

On top of all of that, the cast also gets about US$20m each year in syndication payments, according to USA Today.

Friends is known for changing the landscape for television actor earnings after the cast's well-documented joint negotiation.

When the show began in 1994, the cast were paid US$22,500 per episode. As the show's popularity exploded, the six lead actors eventually scooped a then-unprecedented deal for US$1m each per episode.

At the time, People reported Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer took a pay cut so they could all receive the same amount.

Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow in a scene from the Friends reunion special. Photo / AP

Speaking to News Corp recently, Lisa Kudrow described how the salary changed her life.

"We were the highest-paid women in television," she said.

"That afforded me so much freedom after the show ended. Not only did I get to be part of something that was so well written and so beloved and something that sustained interest all those years later, but it also gave me a lot of creative freedom so that I could pursue other things. It was very fulfilling for me."

The reunion episode ended up delivering benchmark viewing around the world and Australia, where it set new records for its streaming provider.

Friends: The Reunion Special set a record as the most-watched one-off event programme ever for Binge, which hit its one-year anniversary this week.

As well as the show's core cast, the Friends reunion also featured some big-name cameos including David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford and Lady Gaga – the latter who performed a duet of Smelly Cat with Kudrow.

But it was perhaps the revelation that Schwimmer and Aniston conducted a secret real-life romance while filming an on-screen romance – one which they kept hidden from their co-stars – which shocked viewers most.