Jennifer Coolidge Revealed Details About Her Cameo On "Friends" And It Sounds Less Fun Than You Might Imagine

"The vibe was pretty serious. I don’t think they wanted my input, and I could really feel that."

Over its 10-year run, Friends had many amazing celebrity guest appearances.

NBC

From Brad Pitt to Reese Witherspoon, Bruce Willis, Christina Applegate, Freddie Prinze Jr and Winona Ryder, their cameos contributed to some of the most iconic episodes of the show.

NBC

And one such famous guest actor was Jennifer Coolidge, who appeared as Amanda Buffamonteezi in Season 10.

Getty Images

You'll probably remember her as the obnoxious former friend of Monica and Phoebe who had moved to the UK and developed a fake British accent.

NBC

When she announced she was back in New York, Monica and Phoebe tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid her.

Coolidge's character was part of a subplot about how Phoebe once tried to "phase out" Monica from her life, but I think the most memorable scene from the episode was Amanda dancing for a horrified Chandler.

NBC

Well, 16 years on, Coolidge has opened up about her experience on the show. And it seems less enjoyable than you might have imagined.

NBC

Speaking to Metro, Coolidge revealed that she found the whole experience "intimidating", despite knowing Lisa Kudrow beforehand.

Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty Images

She said: "I have to say, I was kind of intimidated, even though I knew Lisa because she was in a comedy group. But I didn't know the rest of them, and I was very intimidated because they were all so attractive and had it going on."

Coolidge went on to say that although she was a comedic actor, none of her lines were ad-libbed, and claimed the showrunners weren't keen on hearing her ideas for the character.

CBS

Coolidge explained: "Sometimes I think people want to hear my ad-libs when I get on a show, and they really don't. Sometimes I come in and throw some lines, and they come up and say, 'You know, Jennifer, we're just going to stick to the script.' That was a serious show."

"The vibe was pretty serious," she continued. "I don’t think they wanted my input, and I could really feel that…sticking to their own stuff. So I didn’t have the guts [to push]."

NBC

Coolidge went on: "The only thing I improvised was they wanted me to dance awkwardly, so I felt like I had a natural ability to dance that way. I think that was the only time they didn’t give me direction; they wanted me to say the lines and call it a day."

She added that while everyone was "nice and friendly", there was a "seriousness" on set which made her think: "I'm just going to do my little part and I'll be in my dressing room."

NBC

Coolidge's comments come just a year after Kathleen Turner — who played Chandler's father in several episodes — spoke out about her negative experience when she guest-starred on the show.

Getty Images

Speaking to Vulture, Turner said: "I didn't feel very welcomed by the cast. I remember I was wearing this difficult sequined gown — and my high heels were absolutely killing me. I found it odd that none of the actors thought to offer me a seat."

"The Friends actors were such a clique — but I don’t think my experience with them was unique," she went on. "I think it was simply that they were such a tight little group that nobody from the outside mattered."

NBC

You can read Jennifer Coolidge's full interview here.