Even if you have never seen a full episode of the 1990s sit-com Friends, you probably recognize the theme song. The Rembrandt’s tune was catchy, and the opening credit scenes were fun to watch with the iconic orange couch and the cast dancing around and eventually getting wet inside a fountain. But, Courteney Cox reveals that the opening credits were not the most fun to film. She also reveals the truth about the fountain seen as the theme song played.
Filming has recently wrapped up on the long-awaited Friends reunion. So, the cast has done a little reflecting on the early days. And, Courteney Cox has revealed the unpleasant truths about the opening credit scenes that involved dancing around in the fountain.
Fun fact: The show was set in New York, but the fountain was actually nowhere near the east coast. It was located in a back studio lot in Burbank, California.
The cast is seen with big, shiny smiles and a vibe of friendship and happiness as they dance in the fountain as the iconic theme song plays to show the opening credits. But, according to Cox, the entire filming process was actually “pretty miserable.” While they look as if they are having the time of their lives in what ended up being only a few seconds of footage, the filming took several unpleasant hours.
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen asked whose idea it was to jump full force into the fountain? Courteney Cox replied, “Well, it definitely wasn’t mine.” She went on to admit that they were all in the fountain for quite awhile. She isn’t sure if it was just a cruel joke or a super creative director, but somebody thought it would be fun. Cox didn’t think it was so fun, however.
It turns out that even Matthew Perry got to the point of saying, “Can’t remember a time that I wasn’t in this fountain!” Cox, along with the rest of the cast, remembers wondering how long they were going to have to pretend to love dancing in the water.
Courteney Cox got her rise to fame when she was pulled up on stage during the filming of a Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark music video. She later had a recurring role as Lauren Miller, Michael J. Fox’s girlfriend on Family Ties before playing Monica Geller on Friends.
Her fellow Friends cast included Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green, Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, and David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller. Additional stars and new actors also joined them as the show progressed, including Brad Pitt, James Michael Tyler, Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Maggie Wheeler, and Tom Selleck.
For the Friends reunion, some surprise guest stars are expected. In addition to the six core friends, a number of actors from the series will make an appearance. These guests are expected to include Elliott Gould, who plays Jack Geller, Larry Hankin, who plays Mr. Heckles, Thomas Lennon, who plays Joey’s hand twin, Christina Pickles, who plays Judy Geller, Tom Selleck, who plays Dr. Richard Burke, James Michael Tyler, who plays Gunther, Maggie Wheeler, who plays Janice, and Reese Witherspoon, who plays Jill Greene.
Let’s just hope the guest stars will not be expected to dance around in a fountain. If so, they will at least have a story to tell that will hopefully be more pleasant than what Cox reveals.
About the upcoming reunion, Cox revealed a few more secrets. She said that it might prompt a tear or two. She said that it was very emotional. The reunion was unscripted. The entire cast found themselves on Stage 24 for the first time in 15 to 17 years. She added that they had a lot of special surprises and that the entire experience was fantastic. At least, we can hope the final showing will be a lot more fun that the original fountain dance was.