2004 Friends article terrifyingly tried predicting how the cast would look in 2024

On May 27, the Friends cast came together again for the first time on screen since the series wrapped back in 2004 for a special nearly 20 years in the making. All six core cast members were back as Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow made their way to the Warner Bros. lot which they called home for 10 seasons to reflect upon the show’s lasting legacy and celebrate some of the series’ most iconic moments.

Although it’s been nearly two decades since Friends signed off the air, the chemistry among the cast proved to be just as strong as ever and it was almost as though they never missed a beat when coming together for the HBO Max special.

17 years might have passed since the cast last connected on the set; however, you’d never have guessed it’s been that long as Father Time has been incredibly kind to the cast — well, at least to most of them — who still look incredible all these years later. While the Friends cast has aged well, the same cannot be said for mock-ups from an old 2004 magazine that attempted to predict what the Friends cast would look like in 2024.

Friends cast age predictions for 2024

Timed to the show’s sendoff back in 2004, an old edition of Star Magazine attempted to predict what the Friends cast would look like in the year 2024 using computer magic.

In the two-page spread, Star shared their predictions of what the Friends cast would look like 20 years after the show wrapped which is a fun idea in theory. Unfortunately, there is nothing fun about the terrifying mock-ups which we seriously wish we could unsee!

Originally shared back in 2017, the mock-ups recently resurfaced have quickly caught the attention of fans who are not impressed with the bold predictions Star made in apparently assuming the years would be quite hard on the cast.

“The cast was in their mid 30’s in 2004 when the show ended. So this magazine tried to age them to their mid 50’s and came up with THAT?” questioned one puzzled fan on Reddit, where the shared mock-up quickly sparked conversation among the fandom.

“Apparently starring in Friends makes you age twice as fast,” echoed another user who too took issue with the magazine’s predictions. “They did them all dirty! Look at Rachel, that’s brutality,” wrote another.

Although the general consensus was that the magazine missed the mark by quite a large margin, there was one aspect of their prediction fans noticed was actually spot on.

Ironically, the shirt worn by Matt LaBlanc in the mock-up was nearly identical to the shirt he wore during the Friends reunion special — a fact not lost on eagle-eyed fans.

“They got joey’s shirt EXACTLY right,” exclaimed one fan. “Joey is wearing the same shirt here as he did to the Friends reunion,” echoed another user.

While we’ll give Star props for somehow predicting the shirt LaBlanc would wear to the reunion special, that’s the only positive we can find in their predictions which the internet seems to agree would have been better off left unearthed and forgotten in the past.

Friends: The Reunion is currently streaming on HBO Max.