David Schwimmer Once Nailed The Friends Scene So Well His Co-Star Started Crying
David's speech was so emotional that the actress got lost in her character.
Jane Sibbett played the role of Ross' ex-wife Carol on Friends and appeared in almost every season of the sitcom.
Their characters were married for a few months, but then divorced when Carol realized she was in love with her friend Susan, whom she would later marry.
Sibbett admitted that working on Friends always brought out the warmest feelings in her, and she especially enjoyed working with David Schwimmer:
“I saw David Schwimmer do the most incredible take. I’d never seen anybody do comedy like that. He literally took the longest take with his comedy. I just thought, oh my goodness, I have to work with this man. He is brilliant.”
In one of the touching scenes, David was so good that she shed a tear, which was not in the script.
The cast then filmed an episode of The One with the Candy Hearts in season 1, where Ross gives a touching speech in which he suggests Carol get back together, but she insists it's time for them to move on. The actress recalled how it was:
“It was so emotional and he made me cry. My eyes welled with tears as we were doing the scene because he was so tender and so loving […]. When you're in it, the acting kind of dissolves away. And he kissed me and the thought that went through my mind is ‘He's really sweaty right now,' 'cause he was so nervous.”
The creators of the show liked the fact that the scene turned out to be more emotional than they had planned, and kept it in the final cut.
Jane Sibbett could have joined the main cast of Friends, but turned down the offer herself.
The actress admitted that the show's casting managers literally urged her to take the role of Rachel. They thought Jane was perfect for the role of the eccentric and charming character, which was eventually played by Jennifer Aniston.
At the time, Jane was pregnant and did not want to commit to a long-term project. Sibbett ended up appearing in 15 episodes of the series as Ross' ex-wife and has no regrets about turning down the role of Rachel. According to the actress, no one could have played her better than Aniston.
Source: Today