Which ‘Friends’ Actor Nearly Rejected A Cameo? One Star Admits To Being “A Snob” About The Role

Who wouldn’t have jumped at the opportunity to appear on Friends? Adam Goldberg, apparently.

The actor explained to The Independent why he nearly shot down the chance to play Eddie, Chandler’s (Matthew Perry) bizarre short-term roommate.

“It wasn’t super notable to me at the time, because I was a snob,” he confessed.

While he said TV roles were once his “bread and butter” — citing cameos in shows like NYPD Blue, ER, and Friends — he doubled down on his confession, claiming that he and his “buddies were all snobs.”

“We did Dazed and Confused, and I remember a bunch of us were like, ‘Oh, we’re never doing TV again,'” he recalled.

Goldberg shared his reaction to the call from his agent telling him that he got the job.

“I was like, ‘No way. I’m not doing that show.’ And my agent was like, ‘Yes, you are,'” he continued.

While he Goldberg clarified that he “was sort of bound up in all these ideas of what [he] was supposed to be doing when it came to his career,” he mentioned some “personal baggage” he had with the hit sitcom.

“Like, my ex-girlfriend at the time, the love of my life back then, she had a guest role on the pilot episode,” he revealed. “So I remember really rooting to hate it. These are the sorts of things that affect your decision!”

However, he ultimately accepted the role, which he said “ended up being much more fun than [he] had anticipated.” He also acknowledged the recognition he garnered solely after the first installment of his three-episode arc aired.

“I was used to some people recognizing me because, in those days, if you were on TV, there were so few shows that people would know you, but this time it was just so many people,” he remembered.

He praised the late Perry’s “great comedy chops,” and raved that “it was a lot of fun with both of the Matts,” referring to both Perry and Matt LeBlanc. In fact, he reflected on taking part in the LeBlanc-led spin-off Joey, teasing that it “confuses people because, in the Friends Cinematic Universe, [he’s] playing two different people.”

Goldberg concluded that he’s “so happy to be part of the show’s legacy.”

“I love it,” he added. “I think about all those guys, and how incredible someone like Jennifer Aniston is, who’s managed to have this really pretty expansive career. And it’s really remarkable, because I think it must be very, very, very hard to have been part of something that was so insanely popular and not solely be identified by it.”

Friends is streaming on Max.