Over the last couple of decades, it has become increasingly common for major movie stars to headline television shows. However, in the past, a lot of people thought that anytime a movie star took a TV role they were doing something that was beneath them. With that in mind, you may assume that when a movie star made the rare decision to appear in a TV show during the early-2000s, their egos would be completely out of control.
When fans of Friends tuned in to watch a 2001 episode of the immensely popular show, they were treated to an appearance by one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Since Brad Pitt is such an incredibly talented actor, it likely shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that he was really funny during that episode. However, Pitt has since gone on to reveal that when it came time for him to film his part, things initially didn’t go well as he completely flubbed his first words.
A Hollywood Leading Man
When people look back on modern Hollywood history, there have been a lot of actors who’ve taken Hollywood by storm only to disappear before too long. For example, at one time or another, the powers that be in Hollywood thought that Taylor Kitsch, Gemma Arterton, Sam Worthington, and Estella Warren were all set to be the next big thing. On the other end of the spectrum, there have only been a handful of actors who’ve truly attained legendary status.
Definitely one of the select few movie stars who deserve to be called a legend, Brad Pitt is one of the most bankable actors to ever live. For that reason, the people behind the show Friends must have been overjoyed when they learned that Pitt would appear in an episode of their show. After all, the actor had already headlined a slew of highly successful movies by the time Pitt’s episode of Friends aired in 2001. For example, by 2001 Pitt had already starred in movies like Se7en, 12 Monkeys, and Fight Club among others. If that wasn’t impressive enough already, and it certainly is, Ocean’s Eleven was released a few weeks after the episode first aired.
Brad’s Friends Experience
According to reports, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston began seriously dating in 1998. From there, the couple would go on to get married in 2000 and remain together until their 2005 divorce. With all of that in mind, it makes perfect sense that Pitt agreed to guest star in a 2001 episode of Friends.
Unfortunately, a lot of real-life couples who get divorced continue to harbor severely hurt feelings many years after they go their separate ways. For that reason, it wouldn’t be overly shocking if Brad Pit had negative things to say about his experience being a Friends guest star. However, when Pitt talked to Access Hollywood in late-2019, he had nothing but nice things to say about the stars of Friends. After all, Pitt described the show’s stars as a “great cast” and then elaborated by saying “I mean, they laughed and really had a great time with each other”.
After praising the Friends cast during the aforementioned Access Hollywood interview, Brad Pitt made it clear that when he appeared on the show’s set he briefly choked in the acting department. “I flubbed my first line,” he revealed. “We had to stop and start again.” Of course, anyone who has seen Pitt’s episode of Friends will be able to tell you that he was hilarious in it so he clearly picked things up quickly.
A Much More Negative Experience
Over the years, the vast majority of notable Friends guest stars have had nothing but positive things to say about working on the show. Unfortunately, there almost always is an exception to every rule, and in this case, Kathleen Turner has spoken about the negative experience she had when she worked on the show.
While speaking with Vulture in 2018, Kathleen Turner said that she didn’t “feel very welcomed by the cast”. "I remember I was wearing this difficult sequined gown—and my high heels were absolutely killing me. I found it odd that none of the actors thought to offer me a seat. Finally, it was one of the older crew members that said, 'Get Miss Turner a chair.' The Friends actors were such a clique—but I don't think my experience with them was unique. I think it was simply that they were such a tight little group that nobody from the outside mattered.”