‘Friends’ Actor Drops Bombshell About ‘Toxic Environment’ While On Set

While “Friends” There remains one of the most emblematic sitcoms of all time, all those who appeared in the show have no good memories of their experience.

Actor Stephen Park, who played the guest in “The One With The Chicken Pox” of season 2 and “The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion”, recently revealed disturbing details on his stay on the set “Friends”, describing him as a “toxic environment”.

Speaking on the “Pod meets the world” Podcast, Park told a disturbing incident involving “friends” and another deputy actor James Hong.

“It was at the time, I felt that it was a kind of toxic environment,” said Park. “James Hong was the actor who was also on the episode with me, and [the assistant director] Called him on the set and you know, saying essentially: “Where is the F -K the oriental guy?” Get the oriental guy. “”

The actor, who has appeared since “Mickey 17”, explained that the offensive language was not an isolated incident but is rather part of a wider model in Hollywood in the late 1990s.

“This is not the first time that has happened, you know, but it is the environment where it is as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I suppose it was,” he said. “And no one felt the need to correct this or to say anything about it. It is therefore normal behavior.

After the incident, Park contacted the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) to get advice. However, the answer he received was far from encouraged.

“The representative recommended writing an article on the TimesSaid Park. He wrote a “mission statement” and sent him to the newspaper, who showed an initial interest by sending journalists to interview him. However, nothing has ever been published.

Determined to share his experience, Park finally sent the declaration as an open letter to everyone on his broadcast list. According to Park, the letter “has become viral before” viral “is even a word.”

Experience has left the disillusioned park with industry.

“I had become so concerned about the race and so angry that I was looking at everything through the goal of the race,” he said. “I had the impression that there was no freedom. I did not feel any freedom. So, I had no idea what I was going to do, but I just decided to give up. I said to everyone, “I don’t act anymore.” »»

While Park is back by acting, he finally returned to industry. Since his work on “Friends”, he appeared in a variety of shows, including “Boy Meets World”, “Law & Order”, “The Venture Bros.” and “Mad About You”.

“Friends” is perhaps one of the most emblematic sitcoms of all time, but everything that was not part of the show was not also loved behind the scenes.

For example, the catchy theme song of the show, “I’m going to be there for you” by the Rembrandts, associated with the dance sequence of the now iconic fountain, is as much part of the “Friends” heritage as the Orange Canape of Central Perk. But according to Jennifer AnistonThe cast was not really in love.

In a 2016 interview with BbcAniston admitted: “No one was really a big fan of this theme song.” She even found “a little strange” that they all danced in the fountain, despite the memorable opening credits to fans around the world.

The role of Ross was written specifically for Schwimmer, but the co-creator David Crane revealed during the special reunion in 2021 that the actor had sworn television after a bad experience in a previous program.

“”[We] I tried to get David, [but] David had left television, “said Crane.” He had a miserable experience by making another show. He returned to Chicago to do theater. “”

He would have taken a lot of convincing, Crane saying that they had to “begging” and “implore” Schwimmer to change his mind.

But Schwimmer was not the only actor to have almost slipped through the fingers of the show. Matthew PerryWho then embodied the sarcastic and adorable Chandler Bing, was almost unavailable due to another pilot he had reserved at the time.