A Beloved Friends Guest Star Didn't Think They Deserved Their Cameo
A fun part of a long-running sitcom about people dating in their 20s is that the show has the perfect opportunity for regular stunt casting. "How I Met Your Mother" could casually throw Britney Spears into an episode or two without messing with the format, just like "Seinfeld" can have Keith Hernandez stop by to date Elaine for an episode. Of course, not every celebrity guest star is as big as Spears was, but even a minor star could still help get some extra viewers tuning in.
A case in point was the "Friends" season 3 episode "The One with Frank Jr.," in which Isabella Rossellini stops by the gang's coffee shop, playing herself. The central joke here is that Ross (David Schwimmer) had originally put Rossellini on his list of celebrity women he's allowed to sleep with without his girlfriend Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) getting upset about it. However, Ross has decided to bump Rossellini from the list, figuring that the Italian actress was less likely to be in the neighborhood than someone like Winona Ryder. Sure enough, the moment Ross bumps Rossellini, the actress shows up, leaving Ross frustrated by the poor timing.
Luckily for him, Rachel believes that he's got no shot with the movie star, so Ross still gets his chance to shoot his shot, but it goes poorly. The whole sequence was great for Rossellini fans, but the actress herself was a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. In a recent interview promoting her new film "Conclave," she explained why she wasn't sure if the joke would work with American viewers:
"I was surprised because at the time — maybe still today, but maybe to less extent at the time — there weren't many foreign actors that were recognized in America. And so I was very surprised that Friends invited me, not only as a guest but as a star. They recognize me and they know my name ... I said, 'Really? Am I that known that I can play myself as a known person?' So that was really great and it was a delight to work with them."
Why the scene worked, even if you didn't know who Rossellini was
Although one teen critic from The Burlington Free Press was weirdly cranky about the storyline, by and large "Friends" fans seem pleased with the storyline. "Isabella Rossellini's cameo is one of the series' best," wrote The Daily Beast in a recent ranking of every single episode. The Independent, meanwhile, ranked "The One with Frank Jr." as the show's ninth-best episode ever. If you search through the "Friends"-themed subreddit, you'll find no shortage of love for the scene where Ross tries to flirt with the star.
I think the reason the whole scene works so well, even to viewers unfamiliar with Rossellini's great performance in films like "Blue Velvet," is that viewers don't actually need to know anything about her to understand. All they need to know is that she's a famous actress who's widely agreed to be attractive, and all of that is covered by Ross and Chandler before she shows up on screen.
Likewise, the scene where Ross fumbles Rossellini is funny for the same reason it'd be funny to watch any scene where Ross awkwardly strikes out with an attractive woman; her celebrity status simply heightens the humiliation for him. The sequence hits a good balance between giving Rossellini's fans enough material to make clear that the show did their research, while also making sure that regular viewers (and viewers in the future) can appreciate everything just fine.
In the end, Rossellini had nothing to worry about. Although every viewer should ideally be familiar with her work, the "Friends" writers were smart enough not to make that a requirement. "The One with Frank Jr." is a great episode of one of the best sitcoms of all time, and Rossellini was the best part of it.