During Friends’ ten-year run, many famous people made cameos, and Brad Pitt’s was one of the most memorable. Before he appeared on Friends in 2001, Pitt was already a massive movie star. He had already made dozens of movies, including Thelma & Louise, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, and Fight Club. Here’s how Friends got Pitt to make a cameo and why it turned out to be so controversial.
In the Friends season 8 episode “The One with the Rumor,” Pitt played the part of Will Colbert. The conflict between Will and Rachel was the main focus of this year’s Thanksgiving episode. Will went to school with Monica, Ross, and Rachel, but he had some bad feelings toward them that dated back to when he was a teenager. Rachel once picked on will because he was overweight, and Ross and Will were among the first people to join the “I Hate Rachel Green” Club.
Since Aniston’s character Rachel was crucial to the show, Pitt often stopped by the show’s set to see his wife. Pitt also said he liked the series and that it was a great chance to talk about his movie Spy Game.
Some people were upset by Brad Pitt’s cameo on Friends.
In the early 2000s, Pitt and Aniston were among the most celebrity couples. And it was funny to see them play enemies on screen. On the other hand, the setting of their fight wasn’t something everyone liked. With the actor’s participation, people were more reasons to watch the show.
When Will and Ross started the club at school, they told people that Rachel Green was a “hermaphrodite.” This rumor was meant to hurt Rachel’s reputation. But she didn’t find out about it until Thanksgiving dinner. Shen then tried to get Ross to call their old classmates to say that the rumor was false. As if it still had terrible meanings. The intersex community felt very offended by the show’s use of hermaphrodites as a mean-spirited rumor. Some people in the neighborhood called NBC to say that Friends was wrong at that time. Some people will remember Pitt’s cameo, but not all of them will remember it for good reasons.
