“We had amazing guest stars on our show,” David Schwimmer says during Friends: The Reunion special. “I couldn’t believe all these people that we were all massive fans of.” The cast remembered Danny DeVito, Ben Stiller, and Julia Roberts.
“Your fella, Brad [Pitt], did one,” David says to Jennifer Aniston. “Pitt came, did one,” Jennifer said. Brad notably guest-starred in the 2001 Thanksgiving episode “The One with the Rumor.” He played Will Colbert, a former classmate of Ross, Rachel, and Monica’s who formed an “I hate Rachel” club in high school with Ross.
At the time, Brad and Jennifer were married. They later divorced in 2005 but remain close these days. Jennifer recently gushed that Brad is one of her favorite Friends guest stars. “And Mr. Pitt was wonderful,” Jennifer told Access. Lisa Kudrow called Brad “fantastic,” and Jennifer agreed.
HollywoodLife spoke to Friends co-creator David Crane in October 2019, and he admitted that Brad was initially hesitant about his guest-starring role. “I think [there was] a little bit [of hesitation],” David told HollywoodLife at the AT&T 5G Friends Fan Experience. “Only because he’d never done TV in front of an audience, and it’s a very specific skill set. I think it’s probably a little intimidating if you haven’t done it before.”
Brad, unfortunately, did not appear in the Friends reunion special, but he did reunite with Jennifer for the Fast Times at Ridgemont High live table read in 2020. Brad and Jennifer played Brad Hamilton and Linda Barrett. It was their first time appearing onscreen together since their 2005 split.
David also remembered Sean Penn’s guest-starring role during the Halloween episode of 2001. “I had very little if any dialogue with him,” David says. “But here I am thinking, ‘Greatest actor in the world, and I’m a f**king potato. I’m a potato.'” Ross notoriously dressed up as “Spud-nik” during the episode. Friends: The Reunion is currently streaming on HBO Max.
