Jennifer Coolidge’s comical portrayal of Tanya in The White Lotus has given many viewers a good reason to revisit iconic roles from earlier in her career, from American Pie (1999) and Best in Show (2000) to Legally Blonde (2000) and beyond.
She even briefly guest-starred in Friends, appearing in the third episode of season 10, “The One with Ross’s Tan.” While Rachel and Joey struggle to stick the landing of their leap from friends to more-than-friends, and Ross is busy suffering the consequences of a botched spray tan, Monica and Phoebe have their own debacle to deal with: the return of an old building-mate. Amanda Buffamonteezi, played by Coolidge, is the archetypal version of your most annoying friend who lived abroad for a while and came back with an outsized sense of self-importance and a questionable accent.
Amanda spent her expat stint in the UK, where she swapped ass for arse—and Coolidge’s over-enunciation of the curse is predictably hilarious. So much so, in fact, that Lisa Kudrow (who knew Coolidge from their time together working with The Groundlings) had a tough time keeping a straight face during one scene. Watch the final cut below, followed by a succession of laugh-filled takes.
Despite the goofy nature of the role and the show in general, Coolidge told Metro in 2019 that “the vibe was pretty serious,” and the creators seemed to prefer that she “stick to the script” instead of improvising anything. So the “I feel like a perfect arse” line probably wasn’t a Jennifer Coolidge original—but she definitely deserves credit for the giggle-inducing delivery.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as Watch Jennifer Coolidge Crack Up Her Co-Stars in These ‘Friends’ Bloopers.