Running from 1994-2004 the show Friends has to be one of the most popular sitcoms in the history of television. With amazing acting from all the cast members, and even special guest appearances from the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Christina Applegate, George Clooney, and even Brad Pitt, the show remains to this day one of the most cherished with millions of fans worldwide.
This love inevitably came back in full fervor when after years of rumors, a reunion was finally held in 2021 with all the original cast present.
Obviously, a lot of old memories and funny stories were revealed during this that the audience was previously not privy to. For example, both David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston harbored a crush on each other for years.
However, a few other details were also publicized that have kind of gone under the radar due to their controversial nature. For example, a producer of the show compared Jean-Claude Van Damme to a monkey when talking about his guest appearance in Friends due to his terrible behavior on set.
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Friends producer called Jean-Claude Van Damme a monkey
As mentioned, Friends has had many special appearances from established Hollywood legends during its airing. And although almost all of them have been praised for their skills and behavior on set, there is someone that went on to garner one of the most negative responses from all the cast members.
Jean-Claude Van Damme appeared in season 2 of the show titled The One After the Superbowl where he played himself. Although Rachel and Monica both had crushes on him as was evident when they met him on the set of one of his movies, they would later realize that he’s quite a bit of an a**hole.
Incidentally, a producer of the show present during the filming of what would go on to become the most-watched episode ever of Friends revealed that his character offscreen wasn’t quite different from the persona he was portraying onscreen.
Allegedly, Van Damme came to the shooting several hours late and proceeded to make everyone’s work difficult upon his arrival. He started by snapping at the producers when they asked him if he had any questions but was extremely “Unprepared and arrogant” as Michael Lembeck, who directed the episode pointed out.
David Crane, the show’s creator and executive producer, too, noted that Jean-Claude Van Damme, “Wasn’t necessarily different than how he was in real life.”
The cherry on the top though, was Warren Littlefield saying, “Who’s more difficult to work with, him or the monkey?” referring to Ross’ chipmunk Marcel that was played by Katie the Capuchin who was uncooperative at best on set. However, those were not the only allegations against Van Damme on Friends‘ set.
Jean-Claude Van Damme made co-stars uncomfortable on Friends
As Van Damme played himself and the subject of Monica and Rachel’s infatuation in the series, romantic scenes were obviously involved. Although he went on a blind date with Monica after flirting with Rachel first as he thought that the former had agreed to a threesome with Drew Barrymore, there were a few kisses involved in the episode here and there.
And the major problem arose during the shooting of those scenes. An executive producer of the show, Kevin Bright along with Lembeck revealed that Van Damme made both Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox highly uncomfortable while working with them for those scenes.
Michael Lembeck revealed that Jennifer Aniston apparently approached him to ask Van Damme, “Not to put his tongue in my mouth when he’s kissing me.” Which he obviously told the actor, only to be approached by Courtney Cox with the same request again shortly. Lembeck exclaimed, “I couldn’t believe it! I had to tell him again, but a little firmer.”
To which Kevin Bright added that they had to remind Van Damme “several times” to behave himself. Incidentally, this was not the first time Van Damme was accused of misconduct.
In 1993, an actress filed a lawsuit against him claiming that he set up a sort of “sexual trap” on the set of a movie to force himself upon her while two of his associates watched.
Although he claimed the charges to be, “Totally without merit,” his ex-wife Darcy LaPier, too, claimed that he used to physically abuse her even to the point of hospitalization during their marriage.
As such, these troubling stories from the set of Friends are not exactly shocking for many. It did, however, upset fans of the show learning that their cherished actors had to go through something so wrong.
Friends is available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
