‘Friends’ director says guest star Jean-Claude Van Damme was ‘unprepared and arrogant’
- 01 Feb 2021
Jean-Claude Van Damme was “unprepared and arrogant” during his guest appearance on Friends, the episode’s director has revealed.
The Belgian actor starred as himself in the second season episode “The One After the Super Bowl”, in which he was romantically pursued by both Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston).
According to director Michael Lembeck, the Kickboxer star had made both Aniston and Cox uncomfortable during filming.
In bonus scenes that did not air on the original broadcast in 1996, Van Damme kisses both Rachel and Monica.
Lembeck told: “We shoot him and Jennifer first. Then she walks over to me and says, ‘Lem, Lem, would you do me a favour and ask him not to put his tongue in my mouth when he’s kissing me?’
“I tell him everything is great but it’s a tight shot so maybe let’s not do that.”
Lembeck claimed that Van Damme went on to ignore his request when shooting a similar scene with Cox later that day.
“Then we’re shooting a scene later with Courteney,” he said. “Here comes Courtney walking toward me and saying, ‘Lem, can you please tell him not to put his tongue in my mouth?’”
The director added: “I couldn’t believe it. I had to tell him again, but a little firmer.”
In the same interview, the co-creator of Friends revealed that guest star Julia Roberts only agreed to appear on the series after making Matthew Perry – who starred as Chandler – write a paper on quantum physics.
The Independent
