Jennifer Gray has opened up about when she appeared on the hit sitcom Friends back in 1995.
The 63-year-old actress appeared in the first season of the show playing Mindy, who was the best friend of Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), who ended up marrying Barry who Rachel left at the broadcaster.
Jennifer made only one appearance in the role after a ‘bad anxiety’ really led to a re-cast of Mindy with Jana Marie Hope in the role.
Talking to MediaVillageThe Dirty Dancing star explained that she was “a fan of the show” when she got the show but found it difficult due to the producers changing the scenery and her lines giving her “performance anxiety”.
“When I did that,” she said, “I got really anxious because they kept changing the script. It’s very hard being a guest because you’re not a part of it, and you’re really trying to figure everything out.
‘It’s so hard to be a guest star’: Jennifer Gray opens up about when she appeared on hit sitcom Friends in 1995 on Sunday
The Role: The 63-year-old actress appeared in the first season of the show playing Mindy, a friend of Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) who ends up marrying the man she left for another.
They were trying to figure out what the character was, what the scene was, and it was changing, and changing, and changing. All this made me so worried that I could hardly do it.
Jennifer added that she didn’t know at the time that she “needed help with the anxiety department” until after taking on the role.
When she was offered to return to the role of Mindy, the actress said she passed out because she was worried she was going to be too bad.
Jennifer also indicated that she was “heartbroken” after not wanting to host Saturday Night Live at that time either.
She continued, “It saddens me that I will say no to continuing Friends or doing Saturday Night Live because of my anxiety. The truth is, I wished I had people to help me overcome that kind of fear, but I just couldn’t stay there until I was there.”
It comes after Jennifer is overjoyed to see a fellow passenger watch Dirty Dancing as she boards a plane on Valentine’s Day.
The actress shared a video of the traveler watching the final dance scene on her Instagram account.
On a plane this Valentine’s Day and look what I’m spying on with my little (eye emoji)!! #Dirty Dancing,” she captioned the photo.
Exhausted: The Dirty Dancing star explained that she was a “fan of the show” when she got the show but found it difficult due to producers “changing” her lines causing her to have “performance anxiety.”
Passing: When offered to return to the role of Mindy, the actress said she passed out because she worried she was going to be too bad and noted that she was ‘heartbroken’ after not wanting to host Saturday Night Live because of it
The original film was released in 1987 and followed the romance of Bebe Houseman and dance instructor Johnny Castle, and now a sequel is in the works with Jennifer returning to her original role.
In November, Jennifer posted some new details about the upcoming sequel — including the return of multiple characters from the original.
Jennifer told Extra that audiences who will be drawn into the sequel will be treated to the sight of her “Baby, a few years older” character.
She added, “You will see other characters from the original”, while acknowledging that making the sequel will be “challenging and exciting”.
Jennifer notes that the sequel will not only bring back some old faces, but also bring back an old-fashioned Catskills resort make-up called Kellerman’s.
She starred in the original 1987 film as a high school girl in the 1960s who goes to Kellerman’s on vacation with her parents and falls in love with the resort’s resident dance instructor Johnny Castle, played by Patrick Swayze.
Patrick passed away in 2009 at the age of 57 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and Jennifer has previously admitted that his absence would make the sequel a challenge.
“What happened is done, and it won’t happen again,” she said of the original film in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
There will never be another Johnny. There will never be another Patrick. This sequel should be a standalone piece. It’s very difficult.
When asked about the sequel in general, she replied, “I can’t tell you much, unfortunately, but I will tell you that it will include Baby.” They will include Kellerman’s. There will be music.
Exciting: It comes after Jennifer spilled some new details about the upcoming sequel to Dirty Dancing – including that several characters from the original will be returning.
“Unless there’s a lot of CGI, the kid is going to get a little older,” Jennifer, who now has an adult daughter, added with a self-deprecating laugh.
She went on to say, “It will be a Kellerman story, music, dance, love story, and romance.” I am very committed and invested in making it new.
On working out the logistics, she shared: “There’s a script, we’re working on the script. We’ll shoot it in the spring of 2023, and it’ll be out on February 9, 2024.”
Dirty Dancing was directed by Emile Ardolino, who did Sister Act before dying of complications from AIDS in 1993 at the age of 50.
The upcoming sequel is being directed by Jonathan Levine, whose filmography includes films like 50/50 and Warm Bodies.
