Julia Roberts appeared on Friends in exchange for Matthew Perry writing her quantum physics paper for her.
The Pretty Woman star, 53, made a memorable guest appearance in the hit US sitcom in 1996 as Chandler Bing’s love interest in the iconic two-parter dubbed The One After the Superbowl.
And it seems as though for Matthew, convincing the future Oscar winner to star in an episode of the award-winning show was harder than it sounds.
Julia cheekily suggested she’d make an appearance only under one condition – for Matthew to write her paper for her.
The sitcom’s co-creators Kevin Bright and Marta Kauffman have broken down the episode to The Hollywood Reporter in honour of the show’s 25 years.
(Image: Getty Images)
The co-creators revealed how the episode’s cast came about, and just what it took to get Julia in front of the camera.
“Getting Julia Roberts was incredibly exciting,” Marta told the publication. “We knew she would have the right touch for it. And when she said yes, it was pretty awesome.”
“Do you know the story of how we got her?” Kevin responded. “Matthew asked her to be on the show.
“She wrote back to him, ‘Write me a paper on quantum physics and I’ll do it.’ My understanding is that Matthew went away and wrote a paper and faxed it to her the next day.”
Friends writer Alexa Junge shared more about those initial exchanges between the stars.
“They may have met before the episode, but she was interested in him from afar because he’s so charming,” she recalled.
“There was a lot of flirting over faxing. She was giving him these questionnaires like, ‘Why should I go out with you?’ And everyone in the writers room helped him explain to her why.”
“He could do pretty well without us, but there was no question we were on Team Matthew and trying to make it happen for him,” Alexa added.
What’s more, co-writer Jeff Astrof gave his take on what it was like to have Julia guest star in an episode with a live audience alongside her soon-to-be boyfriend Matthew.
“I remember standing with her on the sidelines. She kept saying, ‘Chandler’s so funny!’ And I’m like, ‘I wrote every one of those lines!’ I don’t know if she fell in love with Matthew on the spot but they soon started dating,” he explained.
It wasn’t long before Julia and Matthew’s on-screen chemistry blossomed into an off-screen romance.
The pair were linked from 1995 into the following year before their whirlwind romance fizzled out.
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Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/julia-roberts-starred-friends-after-23413949