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Jennifer Aniston talks about the most rude guest role on Friends

Jennifer Aniston talks about the most rude guest role on Friends

Personally, it seems to me the ultimate achievement to land a guest role in a series like Friends, but apparently not everyone is happy about it. And even though it is arguably the most popular comedy sitcom ever made, some actors still look down on the concept of ‘sitcom’. Jennifer Aniston opened up about this on The Howard Stern Show. There was indeed an actor who had a guest role in the series and, to put it mildly, was not very pleasant to work with.

‘It was as if they were just too above this, to be on a sitcom,’ Jennifer said about it. She didn't want to name a name, but she did reveal that it was a man. ‘This person was like: ‘listen to them, just laughing at their own jokes. So stupid, not even funny.’ What are you doing here? Your attitude — this is not what we’re all about.’ It should be clear that the whole cast was not really looking forward to such an attitude.

The big question is, of course: who was this? Bruce Willis seems unlikely, as he was/is a good friend of Matthew Perry after they starred together in the movie The Whole Nine Yards — he lost a bet and therefore appeared for free in a few episodes. Brad Pitt also seems quite unlikely, as he was married to Jennifer at the time. They were always enthusiastic about Ben Stiller, so it probably isn't him either.

No, I’m putting my money on Sean Penn, who played Ursula's lover and later Phoebe's lover (they had chickenpox together) (thanks for all the responses, I really feel like a bad fan: this was of course Charlie Sheen and not Sean Penn – ed.). Rumors in Hollywood suggest that he can be quite difficult to work with, and given his past with Madonna, it seems to me he is not a very nice guy. But all's well that ends well — sort of, then — because the man in question eventually did apologize according to Jennifer. 'The funny thing is that the male did apologize about their behavior years later, and just said: 'I was just so nervous to be honest, that I wasn’t on my best behavior.'' Hm, I don’t see mister Sean Penn being particularly nervous, actually. 

The internet has of course fully delved into this, and according to the diehard fans, the actor in question is Fisher Stevens. Uh… Who? Yes, he played Phoebe's boyfriend in one episode, a psychiatrist. He has previously admitted that he was quite a jerk on the set of Friends: ‘Yeah, I was a dick, I’ve rarely seen any of those people on Friends again, but I’m sure if you asked them about me, they would go: ‘what a New York snob.’’.

Well, he who laughs last… Because I literally have no idea who this whole guy is, and the cast of Friends has done pretty well since then. If only he had appreciated those sitcoms a bit more.‘

Personally, it seems to me the ultimate achievement to land a guest role in a series like Friends, but apparently not everyone is happy about it. And even though it is arguably the most popular comedy sitcom ever.