After 10 seasons and 236 episodes, Friends was bound to run into trouble.
Certain scenes crossed the line, and one of them included David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston.
Despite the show ending over two decades ago, there is a certain storyline that remains problematic among fans and it involves guest star, Christine Taylor.
Like so many others in the past, Taylor was thrilled to be on the show.
However, that excitement was tainted after she read the script and the many twists and turns Bonnie was going to experience because of Ross and Rachel. Fans chimed in, and weren’t exactly thrilled either.
Let’s recap what took place, and the reaction that followed among the fans and Taylor herself.
Bonnie Shaving Her Head On Friends Still Isn’t Sitting Well With Fans
Like so many other guest stars on Friends, Christine Taylor was blinded by the show’s success, and accepted a guest role without reading a single page. Looking back, there may have been some regret, especially given the way episode 25 went during season 3. Titled, The One at the Beach, Ross finds out that Rachel still loves him. The only problem is that he’s currently with Bonnie (Christine Taylor). Trying to decide between the two, it seems like Rachel gets the upper hand after Bonnie decides to cut her hair off completely. The May of 1997 episode is still drawing back reactions with fans. Just eight months ago, fans were voice their displeasure over Ross leaving Bonnie because of her shaved head.
A user wrote, “As a woman with alopecia it sure is a lot harder to watch this episode than it used to be. I always liked that Joey’s comment – ‘if you go with Rachel, Bonnie’s free tonight?’ – indicated that it didn’t bother him.”
Christine Taylor has an impressive net worth of $50 million.
In a separate thread, another user bashes Rachel for her treatment of Bonnie. “I realize that Rachel was jealous and depressed seeing Ross being happy in a relationship. It’s understandable that you wouldn’t like seeing your ex in a relationship with another woman, but you shouldn’t act on your jealousy. Rachel manipulating Bonnie into shaving her head was absolutely disgusting behavior from her. She kind of got off lightly from the whole situation.”
On the other hand, other fans wrote that although Rachel was in the wrong, Bonnie was content with her choice.
A controversial episode of Friends, to say the least, and one the fans are still talking about today. A job well done by Taylor, though she admits it took a lot of courage out of her to shoot the episode in the first place.
| Christine Taylor’s Recent Work | Year |
| High Desert | 2023 |
| Let Liv | 2023 |
| Murder In Bermuda | 2023 |
| Severance | 2022 |
Christine Taylor Admits She Swallowed Her Pride To Appear On Friends
Blinded by the fact that it was Friends and an audition wasn’t needed, Taylor jumped at the chance to appear on the show. She revealed alongside Today, detailing what it was like to appear on Friends.
“I didn’t even have to audition,” Taylor said. “I had already done ‘The Brady Bunch’ and had a little work under my belt. I got the call saying, ‘Hey, do you wanna do an arc on “Friends”? I said, ‘Absolutely, hands down.’ I don’t even need to read it. Just yes, yes, yes, of course. It was going to be great.”
Guest star Olivia Williams called her experience on Friends “Harrowing.” While she also revealed the hair and makeup team was very strict when it came to appearances on the show, seeking a certain style.
After getting the script, Taylor felt disappointed with the outcome, “Then I got the script. And saw that I had to not only shave my head and be bald, but be in a bra and a bikini top, and in front of the most beautiful people on television. So it was like, ‘Couldn’t I have gotten one where I was clothed and with hair?’”
| Worst Friends Episodes According To IMDb | Year |
| The One with the Invitation | 1998 |
| The One with Joey’s Interview | 2002 |
| The One with the Vows | 2001 |
| The One with Joey’s Porsche | 1999 |
Taylor wasn’t really bald in the episode, but having to alter her look was an adjustment. “I was like, ‘I look like an alien.’ And I had a lot of hair then too, so it was packing all of my hair into the bald cap, which sort of made my head grow even bigger. So I had to just sort of swallow my pride and go for it.”
It should not come as a surprise, but Taylor went on to admit alongside Today that she’s still reminded of the guest role all these years later, particularly by her children’s friends, who recognize her from the time spent on the show. Although it was all short-lived, Taylor made quite an impact.
Another Friends Guest Star Admitted The Show Had Strict Rules Over Looks
In May of 1998, Olivia Williams appeared on the episode of Friends, ‘The One with Ross’s Wedding: Part 2’. Although it was a significant moment in her career, the process wasn’t what she expected.
“Oh, and ‘Friends’ was a brand, and you had to fit the brand. You go into hair and make-up and you’re told, ‘There’s a look here, this is what we do.’ And that involved, essentially, plucking off all of your eyebrows. Literally [I was begging], ‘Please don’t take my eyebrows off, I might need them in another job!’ But yes, that’s the sense in which it was harrowing.”
Williams was also alarmed by the treatment other guest stars on the show were getting.
“I was taken to the studio in a shared car with a wonderful actress whose character, I think, was called ‘Old Woman’. At one point, a producer – who shall remain nameless – just yelled at her: ‘You’re not funny!’ And she didn’t come back the next day. So that was alarming.”
Williams didn’t return to the show, and admits her comments about Friends likely cost her roles along the way.
