‘Friends’ Creator Reveals Why Brad Pitt Was ‘Hesitant’ To Guest Star Opposite Jennifer Aniston
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Brad Pitt received an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on ‘Friends’ in 2001, but it turns out he actually had some reservations about accepting the role alongside Jennifer Aniston, who he was married to at the time.
Friends has had dozens of notable guest stars, but one of the most buzzed-about of all time is Brad Pitt, who starred in episode nine of season eight, “The One With The Rumor.” At the time, Brad was married to the sitcom’s star, Jennifer Aniston, so fans were thrilled to see them on the show together — even though their characters (Jen played Rachel Green) didn’t get along at all. Brad played Will Colbert, an old high school friend of Ross (David Scwhimmer) and Monica’s (Courteney Cox), who helped form the ‘I Hate Rachel’ fan club back in the day.
The reunion with Will leads to some major revelations about Ross and Rachel’s high school days, and the episode received major buzz. In fact, Brad was even nominated for an Emmy for his performance! However, he almost didn’t take the role. “I think [there was] a little bit [of hesitation],” the show’s creator, David Crane, told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY 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 speciic skill set. I think it’s probably a little intimidating if you haven’t done it before.”
David also admitted that Brad was one of the only guest stars on the show that the team “really went after” for the part he played. “Obviously, it was up to him, and it was up to [Jennifer], and it was just a great piece of casting,” he revealed. “When he said yes, we were thrilled.”
Sadly, just four years after the episode aired, Brad and Jen ended their relationship, and he started dating Angelina Jolie. They got married in 2014, but split just two years later in Sept. 2016. Since then, Brad has reconnected with Jen, and they have an amicable relationship today. In fact, he even attended her 50th birthday party earlier this year! Plus, well always have their iconic Friends episode, of course.