Summary
- Jean-Claude Van Damme admits that his cameo on Friends was embarrassing.
- Van Damme didn’t know anything about the show when he was asked to appear, but everyone was very kind to him on set.
- Van Damme’s cameo on the hit sitcom was one of several memorable appearances by major stars, including Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt.
Friends fans may remember Jean-Claude Van Damme’s cameo in the series as a fun moment, but for the action movie actor it’s a rather embarrassing memory. The One After The Superbowl Part II is the 13th episode of the second season of the sitcom, and it premiered when it was already going through one of its greatest moments of popularity and was starting to add some great actors for inventive cameos. In fact, the martial arts expert is not the only big star who participates in the episode, since Julia Roberts also appears.
But while Roberts and the rest of the cast surely remember that episode with a smile, for Jean-Claude Van Damme it was not pleasant at all. Speaking with the New York Post, the actor confessed that he is ashamed of that cameo, mainly because of his performance:
“My acting is so bad. I look so like a ham. Like, ‘Hey, girls.’ … It’s like, I’m ashamed of myself. So, then I was on the set, and those girls, they go, and they kiss me, and they kiss me on the lips. I didn’t know what to do, how to do … It was strange. They were very nice.”
In the episode, Van Damme plays himself, but an arrogant and rather unpleasant version that creates conflict between Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). In the interview, the actor also recalls that he didn’t know anything about the show when they called him to participate, but that everyone was very kind to him:
“So, when I go to the show, I see those two beautiful girls, and they say this is the hottest show right now in the world. So, I was very glad. And my agent said, ‘You have to do an episode with them. So you’re going to play this guy. They were very open because they did the show every day. So for them, I enter into a place where everything is working like a very well-trained mechanic engine. It was amazing.”
Related: Vin Diesel Banned Jean-Claude Van Damme From Joining Fast & Furious Franchise
One of the Best Cameos in Friends Wasn’t Planned
Warner Bros. Television
Its characters and the actors behind them weren’t the only famous ones on Friends. Throughout its 10 seasons, the series featured dozens of stars, all equally or even more popular than its protagonists. From Danny DeVito to Winona Ryder to Brad Pitt, many left their mark on the show. Some, one more indelible than others.
Actors like Paul Rudd, who joined to play recurrent characters, are undoubtedly among the most remembered. And Bruce Willis enters that same category, one of the best performances the series had. And it was not planned, since it was the result of a bet.
Prior to his appearance on the series, Willis shared a set with Perry in the film The Whole Nine Yards. Apparently, the Die Hard star didn’t have much faith in the movie’s performance, since his co-star bet him that it would dominate the box office and he accepted, thinking that it wouldn’t do very well. The film was a hit, and as a result, Willis had to participate in Friends. In the series he played Paul, father of Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden), a student and girlfriend of Ross (David Schwimmer), and remains by far one of the most memorable cameos in the show.
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