'I could barely do it': Jennifer Grey reveals how 'Friends' cameo gave her 'bad anxiety'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jennifer Grey has spoken candidly about her 1995 guest appearance on 'Friends'. The 63-year-old actress played Mindy, Rachel Green's best friend, in the first season of the show. Mindy later got married to Barry, whom Rachel left at the altar in Season 1.
In the initial episode, when Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston, flees her wedding, Barry takes Mindy on the honeymoon he had planned to enjoy with Rachel. When Barry and Rachel cross paths again, they discuss their differences and decide to give their relationship a second chance. But Rachel ends up being the other woman this time because Mindy is engaged to Barry. When Barry begins to cheat, Mindy and Rachel work together to confront him. Jana Marie Hupp was cast in the role of Mindy after 'The Dirty Dancing' actress made just one appearance in the part due to her really "bad anxiety."
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'It all made me so anxious that I could barely do it'
Grey said in an interview with MediaVillage that although she was a "fan of the show" when she received the offer, she had trouble accepting because the makers "changed" the scene and her lines gave her "performance anxiety." She stated, "When I did it, I had such bad anxiety because they kept changing the script. It’s very hard to be a guest star because you’re not a part of it, and you’re really trying to figure it all out." She added, "They were trying to figure out what the character was, what the scene was, and it was changing, and changing, and changing. It all made me so anxious that I could barely do it."
'Needed help in the anxiety department'
Grey said, "I didn't know at the time what was going on with me. But I had a lot of performance anxiety, and I just didn't understand at that time that I needed help in the anxiety department." The actress claimed she declined the invitation to reprise the part of Mindy because her anxiety was so severe. She went on, "It makes me sad that I would say no to continuing on Friends or doing Saturday Night Live because of my anxiety. The truth is, I wished I had people to help me navigate that kind of fear but I couldn’t be there until I was there."
Jana Marie Hupp was chosen to play Mindy following Grey's decision. Her acting credits include 'Barton Fink' (1991), 'Ed' (2000), and 'Independence Day' (1996).