Paul Rudd wasn’t one of the main six friends in “Friends,” but it seems he did manage to bother one of them more than the others.
On Friday, the actor appeared on BBC One’s “The Graham Norton Show” and talked about his appearances on the iconic NBC series. Rudd played the character Mike, who was partnered with Lisa Kudrow’s Phoebe Buffay. The pair got married in the show’s final season and even planned to have a child together.
His storyline on the show aside, Rudd apparently didn’t hit it off so easily with co-star Jennifer Aniston, aka Rachel Green. Rudd told Norton that during the final episode ― which he considered himself lucky to be in ― he attempted to crack a joke and it didn’t go over well.
“I was on the sound stage and Jennifer Aniston was crying and I thought, ‘I’m not supposed to be here,’“ he said. “So, to break the ice, I went over and said: ‘Well, we did it! What a ride!’ The joke inevitably fell flat.”
The 50-year-old Rudd went on to tell Norton that he’d had another moment with Aniston on set that was just as, if not more, cringe-y.
During his first day on set, he spotted Aniston “on a Segway because she had broken her toe, and everyone was marveling at it.” Then, things went awry.
“Matt LeBlanc (who played Joey Tribbiani) asked to have a go and immediately knew how to do it. I then asked to try it, too. I spun round and rolled it right over Jennifer’s foot,” Rudd said.
He added, “The producers look of panic was if to say, ‘Is it too late to fire him? Has his character been established yet?’ I felt awful. Such an inauspicious start.”
He may not be the most graceful, but we’re sure that the two made amends after the fact. Rudd and Aniston would go on to star as a couple in the 2012 film “Wanderlust,” and based on their infectious chemistry in it, we’d say their friendship is probably doing just fine.