Sad reason why Jennifer Grey was replaced in Friends after being cast as Rachel’s best friend
Topics: Friends, TV And Film, Celebrity
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: NBC
Topics: Friends, TV And Film, Celebrity
Throughout the 10 years it aired, the cast of Friends welcomed countless guest stars to their already huge-name roster - including Jennifer Grey, who ended up quitting for a pretty heartbreaking reason.
Sadly, however, some celebrity additions got more air-time than others, with Dirty Dancing actress Jennifer Grey only being given one episode before being replaced.
Little do many fans of the 90s sitcom know, however, that the movie star initially signed the role with the possibility of reprising her part as Rachel Greene's BFF Mindy after her first appearance, but was subsequently recast.
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Prior to her appearance on the show alongside lead actors Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt Le Blanc and David Schwimmer, Grey was skyrocketed into the spotlight for her role as Frances 'Baby' Houseman in the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing.
Despite the iconic character - opposite frontman Patrick Swayze - seeing the actress nominated for a Golden Globe, in the years that followed a controversial cosmetic procedure saw Grey's career stagnate, after she was left 'invisible' to those working in the industry following two rhinoplasties.
However, followers of Grey's work were delighted when she made a surprise appearance alongside Aniston's fashion forward fan-favourite Rachel in the first series of Friends, where she played her ditsy but loveable childhood best friend Mindy.
Fans of the show will know her character for going on to get engaged to Rachel's former fiancé, Dr Barry Farber, after she left him at the alter.
Though the episode became an instant success - with fans hoping to see Grey reprise her role later on in the show - she was sadly recast during the episode which saw Mindy and Barry actually tie the knot, with Rachel as a bridesmaid.
While many believed at the time that this may have been associated with her cosmetic backlash, it was only last year that Grey divulged the real reason why she left the character behind.
Speaking to MediaVillage, she said it was a mental health struggle that held her back during this point in her career.
"I was a fan of the show, and I got the call to do it," Grey recalled. "Then 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.
"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."
Grey went on to reveal that she was asked by producers to return to Friends, but turned down the role, which was later given to Jana Marie Hupp.
She admitted: "When they asked me to come back, I said I couldn't. They got someone else to play the role.
"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."