Back in 2002, Freddie Prinze Jr. made a now-iconic cameo appearance in Friends, where he played Ross and Rachel’s male nanny, Sandy, who makes Ross uncomfortable due to how sensitive and in touch with his emotions he is.
And Freddie has now opened up about his experience of playing Sandy — including how he was actually a last-minute booking after the A-list celebrity who was actually supposed to play him was forced to drop out.
In a TikTok video for Men’s Health magazine, Freddie said: “I got to play a character called ‘the Manny,’ but it almost wasn’t me — it was supposed to be Tom Hanks, and he got stuck in Europe, his flight got canceled, he wasn’t able to make it.”
“They called me and said: ‘Hey, would you wanna be on Friends?’” Freddie went on. “I said: ‘Yeah, that would be great,’ and they said: ‘Cool, it starts tomorrow.’ And so I literally had to go in, I’d just gotten the script and they said: ‘Do you know how to play the recorder?’ and I laughed and was like: ‘No, who knows how to play the recorder outside of the third grade?’”
“They’re like: ‘Well, you need to learn,’ so I actually learned how to play that song, and it’s really me playing,” the actor laughed. “They didn’t use a soundtrack, so the stress was not screwing up the song.”
Freddie then name-checked the core cast member who was most helpful in preparing him for performing in front of a live studio audience. He said: “I remember David Schwimmer came in, and he was like: ‘You’re gonna love this. It’s like doing a two-act play; the crowd gives you so much energy, use it, let them be a part of the show.' And it really helped relax me and make the experience just awesome and great. So big thank you to Mr. Schwimmer!”
And while Freddie had previously revealed that he replaced Tom on the show, it was brand new information for many, who were quick to share their thoughts on TikTok.
