Friends creators open up about ‘regrets’ of casting all-white actors: ‘What can I say? I wish Lisa Kudrow was Black?’

‘We didn’t intend for it,’ Kevin Bright said

The Friends creators have responded to criticism of of casting all-white actors in the lead roles.

Marta Kaufmann, Kevin Bright and David Crane participated in an interview following the high-profile reunion of all six main cast members, which aired earlier this week.

There has been much criticism levied against the sitcom for its lack of diversity, with Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) stating last year that Friends “should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong”.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bright said he “doesn’t have any regrets other than hindsight”.

“I would have been insane not to hire those six actors. What can I say? I wish Lisa was Black? I’ve loved this cast. I loved the show and I loved the experience. I know Marta has a different feeling about it. I think it affects us all.”

Kaufmann then said: “There are probably a hundred things I would have done differently. I’ve talked about it in the past and I do have very strong feelings about my participation in a system, but it comes down to I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”

They said that they “didn’t intend to have an all-white cast”, and that, for the roles of Phoebe and Chandler (Matthew Perry), they “saw people of every race, religion, colour”.

Kaufmann added: “It was certainly not conscious. And it wasn’t because it was literally based on people, because it wasn’t literal. You get an inspiration for someone, you write what you think their voice is going to be, but it wasn’t literal.”

Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox in ‘Friends: The Reunion’ (Warner Bros Entertainment Inc)

The Friends reunion episode is available to watch in the UK now – find out how here.

Its biggest moment came when Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer revealed they had real-life feelings for each other while filming the show, a revelation that blindsided fans.