Friends’ Matt LeBlanc reveals the oddest thing to happen to him whilst filming the hit show
The popularity of classic sitcom Friends has never really waned, despite the fact that the show ended 16 years ago.
Thanks to the era of streaming, new audiences are still discovering ten seasons worth of adventures with Monica, Ross, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Chandler and love for the show has stayed so strong that the cast have finally agreed to make a reunion special after years of pestering from fans.
But Friends mania was at its height during the ’90s and star Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, has revealed that one particular incident took “weird” invasions of cast privacy to a whole new level.
Speaking during a pre-recorded interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the actor spoke about the time he was shocked to see his house being filmed while he was inside it.
“I remember one time, it was during the week, I had been flipping channels and watching the news and for some reason, they had a split-screen on the TV, six quadrants,” he said. “Each was a live shot of each one of our houses, like a helicopter shot. I was watching it and there was no information or news, it was just showing houses.”
But the actor did manage to take advantage of the bizarre situation in a very unique way.
“I remember looking closely at my house and thinking ‘F**k I need a new roof’. So the helicopter flies away and I get the ladder and I go up there.”
The actor, who also reprised his character in short-lived spin-off Joey, also spoke about the show’s enduring popularity, saying “it feels somehow just as relevant as it did back then” and adding that “the ability to binge-watch something” has made a big difference in growing the audience.
“It’s funny because we’re all so much older now. You look on TV and you think ‘Look you’re so young!’ And you come back and you’re like ‘Jesus'”.
His co-star Courteney Cox recently admitted that her memory is so bad that she doesn’t “remember even being on the show”, saying: “I remember obviously loving everybody there and having fun, and I remember certain times in my life that I was there, but I don’t remember episodes!”
Thankfully she’s now brushing up on her knowledge with a binge-watch of the whole show and she’s so far finding the comedy “really good”.
Unfortunately the Friends reunion special has had its production pushed back due to the global coronavirus pandemic, so we’ll have to content ourselves with binge-watching the original for the time being.
