Jean-Claude Van Damme didn’t leave the best impression while working with Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox on Friends. Van Damme had a guest role on the NBC sitcom in 1996, portraying a version of himself in “The One After the Superbowl: Part 2.”
In the episode, Monica (Cox) and Rachel (Aniston) meet Van Damme on a movie set. As a result of a misunderstanding, the two end up clashing over the action hero's attention. Despite Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) doing her best to point out that Rachel and Monica are being ridiculous, the pair spend most of the episode placing Van Damme on a pedestal. It’s not until the Street Fighter star suggests a threesome that they both decide to dump him. Looking back on “The One After the Superbowl,” on of its 25th anniversary, the episode’s director revealed that Van Damme didn’t exactly cover himself in glory during his brief time on the set of Friends.
Speaking with THR, as part of an oral history on the game-changing Friends episode, Michael Lembeck recalled that Van Damme was quite difficult to manage. The director ed the actor as being unprepared and unprofessional. But, more troublingly, Lembeck brought up an incident where Van Damme made both Aniston and Cox uncomfortable. In bonus scenes that didn’t air on the original broadcast, Van Damme kisses Rachel and Monica. According to Lembeck, filming didn’t go so smoothly. His quote has been included below.
He’s unprepared and arrogant! But this is the story I want to share: We shoot him and Jennifer first. Then she walks over to me and says, “Lem, Lem, would you do me a favor 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. Then we’re shooting a scene later with Courteney. Here comes Courteney walking toward me and saying, “Lem, can you please tell him not to put his tongue in my mouth?” I couldn’t believe it! I had to tell him again, but a little firmer.
It’s worth noting that neither Van Damme, nor any of the Friends cast, comment on the incident which Lembeck describes. It’s possible that the director is embellishing the story or ing it differently. But, if it did unfold in the way that Lembeck mentions, it serves as a fairly clear example of how power dynamics can creep into any interaction. Provided that it was not a misinterpretation on Van Damme’s part, as Lembeck seems to note, then it seems to be the case that Van Damme figured his status as an action icon would excuse his poor behavior. Friends, even by January 1996, when the Super Bowl two-parter aired, was already immensely popular. But it had not yet grown into the cultural juggernaut that it would eventually become. Van Damme, like Julia Roberts, who also guested on the same episode, was arguably a bigger name than the show’s six regulars.
Scenes of intimacy can be an uneasy experience depending on the specifics of the situation and the actors involved. In recent years, Hollywood has invested more heavily in bringing intimacy coordinators onto productions to make these moments a little bit easier. Van Damme’s guest appearance on Friends is a reminder that there can be plenty of examples where performers intentionally and unintentionally step over the line. The fact that these stories are rarely made public doesn’t mean they’re not happening.
Source: THR