Since it first aired on NBC back in 1994, Friends quickly became one of the most popular television series of all time. It’s no wonder that during its ten-year run, the series was nominated for more than 60 Primetime Emmy Awards, finally winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award for its eighth season in 2002. Even today, the show remains a fan favorite.
Through the course of its ten seasons, a lot of celebrities made cameos on Friends. Some of the biggest stars to have appeared in this popular sitcom include Brad Pitt, Charlie Sheen, Julia Roberts, Winona Ryder, Paul Rudd, and Reese Witherspoon.
Even Game of Thrones’Kit Harrington made a small cameo on the Friends reunion! Some of these cameos were great, others not so much. For instance, the director of the show thought that Sean Penn’s brief appearance was one of the worst celebrity cameos in the history of the show.
Sean Penn Only Appeared On Friends Because Of His Kids
Sean Penn is an incredibly talented actor. His career began in television with a brief appearance in an episode of Little House on the Prairie. Following his film debut in the drama Taps (1981), he gained recognition and began landing roles in a diverse range of movies during the 80s and 90s. In the early 90s, he made his directorial debut with The Indian Runner (1991) a decade later, he won Academy Awards for his roles in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008). As of today, Penn has more than 75 acting credits under his belt.
Like many other popular celebrities, Penn made a small appearance in Friends back in 2001. He first appeared in the episode ‘The One With The Halloween Party,’ where he played Eric, the fiancé of Phoebe’s twin sister. He then reappeared in ‘The One With The Stain’ as Phoebe’s date.
As it turns out, Penn only accepted to appear on the show for his kids. Following his first cameo on the show, the actor’s spokeswoman revealed that Friends was must-see in the Penn house, because his kids, Dylan, 10, and Hopper, 8 at the time, were obsessed with the show. Someone who worked on the set of Friends revealed that the actor in his family made several visits to the set over the years. However, the producers didn’t want to invite him to the show until they had the perfect role for him.
The Director Of Friends Wasn’t Happy About Sean Penn’s Appearance
Fans didn’t love Sean Penn’s cameo on Friends mainly because it repeated a weird trend in Phoebe’s storyline. Penn’s character, Eric, used to date Phoebe’s twin sister before dating her.
Ultimately, Eric mistakes Ursula for Phoebe and sleeps with her. So, Phoebe has no other choice but to dump him. But fans found this storyline repetitive, as Phoebe had dated one of her sister’s ex-boyfriends earlier in the series.
Fans weren’t the only ones who didn’t enjoy Penn’s cameo on the show. Friends director Kevin S. Bright revealed that Penn’s performance wasn’t the best while he was on the show.
“I think the least successful one was Sean Penn on the show,” the director told Metro.co.uk. “Just the style of the production wasn’t what he was used to, doing a show like that, so there was a little deer in the headlight effect.”
Although Penn came back for a second episode, his character was never mentioned again after that. And, after him, many other celebrities appeared on the show. After all, finding stars who wanted to appear in the show was pretty simple.
“It was easy because we didn’t have to come up for parts to suit the cast; we had actors coming to us saying they wanted to be on the show so there were really parts written for them knowing they wanted to do the show,” Bright admitted.
Fans Think Bruce Willis Was The Best Guest-Star Cameo On Friends
Sean Penn’s cameo on Friends didn’t leave a good impression on the fans of the director of the show. But many of the other celebrity cameos in the show were pretty memorable. But, if you were to ask fans, they’d say that the best celeb cameo in Friends was the one from Bruce Willis.
In season six, Willis played Paul Stevens, the over-protective father of Ross Geller’s much younger girlfriend Elizabeth. At the time he appeared on the show, Willis was one of the most popular actors in Hollywood. Plus, the writers made sure to add small references to some of his biggest roles to date so fans would enjoy his appearance even more.
But Willis only appeared on Friends because he lost a bet. In his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry recalled meeting Willis through their roles in The Whole Nine Yards. They became fast friends and made a bet, "Bruce hadn't been sure the film would work at all, and I'd bet him it would — if he lost, he had to do a guest spot on Friends."
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