Despite the name of the show quite literally being “Platonic,” some fans of the Seth Rogen-starring series still really hope things will turn romantic. And Rogen himself blames “Friends” for that.
The Apple TV+ series follows Rogen as Will alongside his best friend Sylvia, played by Rose Byrne. The two are incredibly close, but are also really, truly platonic friends. Of course, this isn’t exactly common for the male and female lead of any show, so stopping by “Late Night” on Monday, Rogen understood why fans might have their own hopes.
“I get why, honestly. We grew up with a show called ‘Friends,’ and they all f–ked each other,” Rogen said. “Like, they all — every friend f–ked every other friend. No one went un-f–ked. ‘No friend will go un-f–ked!’”
Rogen joked that even Marcel the monkey probably had a romantic storyline at some point. And, at least in regard to the humans of the show, the actor isn’t wrong.
Monica married Chandler, but did have a crush on Joey. Joey and Rachel tried dating, though physically they only got as far as kissing. Ross and Rachel are the most famous couple in any sitcom. Phoebe kissed Joey as a favor once, and in a flashback, we learn she and Ross nearly had a moment. Things on “Friends” were definitely not strictly platonic.
“They ruined it for everybody,” Rogen joked.
That said, the actor is still excited to get to highlight a platonic relationship on TV.
“Traditionally in narrative work, a romantic story is much preferred to a platonic one,” Rogen told TheWrap at the Season 2 premiere in July. “I think it is a relatively contemporary idea to even explore friendship, it’s just shedding this old structure of movies and television.”
You can watch Seth Rogen’s full appearance on “Late Night” in the video above.
