The arrival of Chandler’s new roommate Eddie really put the cat among the pigeons during Friends’ second season, initially driving a wedge between Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc’s characters until his quirks eventually took on a more unnerving twist.
Eddie is often remembered as one of Friends’ most memorable guest appearances, but actor Adam Goldberg has admitted he came close to never even auditioning for the part.
“I was a snob,” he admitted to The Independent, revealing he’d not long appeared in Richard Linklater’s Dazed And Confused, and had sworn off TV as a result.
“I remember very specifically getting the call from my agent and them saying they were offering me this part, and that it started maybe two days later – everything’s always very fast in that world because you’re shooting an episode a week,” he said. “And I was like, ‘No way. I’m not doing that show’. And my agent was like, ‘Yes, you are’.”
Adam admitted one of his exes had also made a guest appearance in the pilot of Friends, so was “really rooting to hate” the show at that time.
Eventually, though, he “went and did it, and it ended up being much more fun than I had anticipated”.
Asked for his main memories of Friends, Adam recalled: “When you’re working with somebody like [Matthew Perry], who has such great comedy chops, your game just gets elevated [...] you play better if you’re playing somebody really good. And with Matt, it was always like having a great rally.”
“When you go into any environment where you’re not a regular performer on that show, it’s always awkward. You always feel a little bit like a fish out of water. Generally, in my experience, people are always very nice, but on Friends they were especially accommodating,” he added, noting that he “took the Matts out on a bunch of nights” while they were working together.
Not every Friends guest star has the fondest memories of the show, though.
Last year, Olivia Williams called her appearance in the award-winning sitcom a “harrowing” and “alarming” experience, while screen legend Kathleen Turner said she remembers the core cast being “unwelcoming” towards her.