Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt’s ex-wife, recalled his standout Friends cameo in an Actors on Actors discussion. In the 2001 Thanksgiving episode, Pitt played Will, Rachel’s ex-classmate carrying a decades-old grudge. Across 10 years on air, Friends introduced a steady stream of guest stars, including some of Hollywood’s biggest actors.
Jennifer Aniston shares details of ex Brad Pitt’s Friends cameo
Jennifer Aniston has opened up about Brad Pitt’s memorable Friends cameo, sharing behind-the-scenes details from the fan-favorite episode. During their recent appearance on Variety’s Actors on Actors, Aniston and Lisa Kudrow reminisced about 10 seasons of memories, with the Thanksgiving episodes taking center stage. Those “fun” installments often brought famous faces in to celebrate the holiday with Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Ross, and Joey, and one time, they just happened to enjoy the occasion with Pitt’s character.
Kudrow and Aniston recalled the episode as “hilarious.” “How funny those movie stars that came on Friends: Brad, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Isabella Rossellini — we had so many — Sean Penn. They were always nervous,” the Murder Mystery actress shared. “These are real movie stars that are coming to our sitcom, and they would be so nervous, and I was really so surprised by that.”
Kudrow concurred before offering her own take on why that happened. “Well, because what’s the tone?” reasoned the Easy A actress. “It’s not theater; it’s for TV. It’s not a movie. What the hell is this? And it’s a good question. And I remember someone asked one time. I didn’t know how to explain it, so I said, ‘Oh, just talk louder. Same intention, just [louder].'”
In November 2001, a year after marrying Aniston, Pitt joined the Friends crew for a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and yams. He took on the role of Will Colbert, Rachel’s former classmate and the co-founder of the “I Hate Rachel Club” with Ross. The cameo drove ratings through the roof, grabbing 24 million+ U.S. viewers, almost twice the turnout of the last Thanksgiving episode.
In a similar guest-star turn, Julia Roberts landed the show’s biggest ratings ever in 1996. Her two-episode arc as Chandler’s (Mathew Perry) old friend pulled 52.9 million viewers. She showed up looking better than ever and out for revenge over a childhood prank.
Originally reported by Sibanee Gogoi on Mandatory.
