Over its 10-year run, Friends had many amazing celebrity guest appearances.
From Brad Pitt to Reese Witherspoon, Bruce Willis, Christina Applegate, Freddie Prinze Jr and Winona Ryder, their cameos contributed to some of the most iconic episodes of the show.
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And one such famous guest actor was Jennifer Coolidge, who appeared as Amanda Buffamonteezi in Season 10.
You’ll probably remember her as the obnoxious former friend of Monica and Phoebe who had moved to the UK and developed a fake British accent.
Coolidge’s character was part of a subplot about how Phoebe once tried to “phase out” Monica from her life, but I think the most memorable scene from the episode was Amanda dancing for a horrified Chandler.
Well, 16 years on, Coolidge has opened up about her experience on the show. And it seems less enjoyable than you might have imagined.
Speaking to Metro, Coolidge revealed that she found the whole experience “intimidating”, despite knowing Lisa Kudrow beforehand.
Coolidge went on to say that although she was a comedic actor, none of her lines were ad-libbed, and claimed the showrunners weren’t keen on hearing her ideas for the character.
Coolidge explained: “Sometimes I think people want to hear my ad-libs when I get on a show, and they really don’t. Sometimes I come in and throw some lines, and they come up and say, ‘You know, Jennifer, we’re just going to stick to the script.’ That was a serious show.”
“The vibe was pretty serious,” she continued. “I don’t think they wanted my input, and I could really feel that…sticking to their own stuff. So I didn’t have the guts [to push].”
Coolidge went on: “The only thing I improvised was they wanted me to dance awkwardly, so I felt like I had a natural ability to dance that way. I think that was the only time they didn’t give me direction; they wanted me to say the lines and call it a day.”
She added that while everyone was “nice and friendly”, there was a “seriousness” on set which made her think: “I’m just going to do my little part and I’ll be in my dressing room.”
