The One Where Heat Goes Behind the Scenes
[from Heat (British magazine), 3/01]
Friends is more than just a TV show, it's an institution. Sow hen Heat was offered an exclusive opportunity to snoop around backstage, we were on the next plane out to LA.
The voice is unmistakable. Softer than you're used to hearing it, but unmistakable nonetheless. It's floating through a curtain that separates the office of costume designer Debra McGuire from the rest of the Friends' wardrobe department. A curtain that's currently the only thing separating Heat from Brad Pitt's semi-clad wife. Yes, that's right - at this precise moment, Jennifer Aniston is getting changed barely 20 ft. away from where we're sitting. She can't be seen but she can certainly be heard (she's voicing approval at the outfit she's going to be wearing in this week's episode. No mention of hubby as yet).
Which presents a huge dilemna. It's already been made implicitly clear that Heat won't get the chance to meet Jennifer or her five co-stars during our two-day visit to the Los Angeles set of Friends. This is simply an opportunity - and a fantastic one at that - to go behind the scenes of the world's most popular sitcom and see how it's put together. Organized to mark the release of Series 7 on video and DVD, it's the first time Warner Brothers has allowed British press on the Friends set. And it's making everyone just a little bit twitchy. So, Heat wonders, would it be hugely unprofessional to stick my head around the curtain and say "Hi"? But while deciding whether or not to risk it (the threat of being thrown off set is a very real one), a producer pops his head round the door and suggests, very nicely, that the chat with Debra is continued elsewhere - ie, nowhere near Jennifer. So near and yet so far...
Having notched up countless hours watching Friend from the comfort of your living room, to suddenly find yourself standing in Joey's apartment is surreal to say the least. Everything seems so much smaller than it does on the telly. Equally surreal is walking out of Joey's apartment and into Monica's across the hall. Any vestige of coolness disappears as Heat gleefully opens, closes, and reopens both doors, just to check they really work. Admit it, Greg Grande, the set director. He's the man responsible for all the furniture and fitting - and any props not handled directly by the actors - and has been since the show's conception. "This couch," he says, gesturing towards the famous orange sofa, "will be recognized until the day I die as the Central Perk sofa. Which is great." Pretty much paid to shop for a living, Greg trawls local flea markets and boutiques to source stuff for the show's three permanent sets (Central Perk, Monica's and Joey's). He also has to decorate sets specially built for a particular episode.
This week, the crew have constructed a banquet area for an awards ceremony scene involoving Rachel and Joey. It's an elaborate set-up, from the podium on stage to the silver cutlery adorning every table, and is all the more remarkable considering it will be pulled down as soon as filming is over. "We have two or three new sets every week," explains Greg. "And there are days when they'll revamp the entire script so you'll have to add a set or take a set away. It's fast and furious." Not that you'd notice. Today is rehearsal day, with stand-ins being used to set up camera angles for tomorrow's live filming, and yet the atmosphere is far from hectic. When they're not playing on Joey's foosball table, the crew amble around cracking jokes and swapping hugs in the way people do when they've worked alongside each other for seven years, and are so close they could be family.
Working on Friends is very much a family affair for prop master Marjorie Coster-Praytor, who gave birth the same day and in the same hospital as Lisa Kudrow. Her daughter, Carlin, now three, isn't on set today, but it's fine for the crew to bring their kids to work. In fact, as we speak, Lisa's son Julian is amusing himself in Monica's apartment. "It's what makes the show so good," says Marjorie. "Everyone here works as a family." Marjorie's job is to source any props that are actually handled by the actors. She made Phoebe's famous shoebox doll's house ("We had a special effects crew make the bubbles and do the lighting") and has purchased a stainless steel deep-fat fryer for a scene in Monica's restaurant that's being shot tomorrow. "We have a production meeting on Tuesday mornings to make sure all departments know what they're doing," she tells Heat. "The script will give me direction, but I like to add my own stuff as well. For instance, Monica never uses plastic shopping bags because I'm an environmentalist and I insist she is as well. She either uses cloth, string, or canvas bags."
The attention to detail is staggering. Every prop - and we do mean every - is authentic, right down to the cans of Boddington's stashed on top of Joey's fridge. "It's all real," says Greg. "The idea is to make you feel like you're in a reality-based environment. You know, a lot of sitcoms are ver stark - with Friends, it's almost so busy that some people say it's cluttered. But that's the beauty of it, that's what gives it character." So far, few props have managed to elude the crew in their quest to make Friends as real as possible. There is, however, always one exception. "I had to get a squeky toy hammer as a prop for baby Ben but couldn't find one anywhere," reveals Marjorie. "I ended up just getting a plastic hammer that didn't squek and stood off-camera holding a dog's chew toy, and had to time the action of the kid pounding the hammer with me squeaking it. It was truly embarrassing." Someone who's no stranger to embarrassing moments is Gunther, the doyen of Central Perk. The main supporting character, he is, if you like, the seventh Friend. Played by James Michael Tyler, no scene in Central Perk is complete without him. As we arrive on set the next day to watch the live filming, he can be seen busying himself in the background while Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette and Lisa Kudrow wait for the cameras to roll. "Gunther is basically there for a comment every now and then," says James. "He still carries a torch for Rachel this series, but that's it. I think he's just blinded by his obsession and initially it was almost scary, like he was stalking her. But it's kind of mellowed now."
James is full of admiration for his co-stars, who've gone from being little-known actors to global superstars in the time he's known them. "They're great and they're so supportive. They haven't changed fromt he first day I walked on set, the first day I met them. They're completely unaffected by the success of the show." Watching the girls and Matt LeBlanc on set (sadly for us, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry have been given the week off), it's easy to believe him. Obviously there have been some changes sice the show began - mostly physical, in fact - but there's no evidence of the diva-like tantrums and aloofness you might expect from such huge stars. They're jovial, accommodating and, yes, downright friendly.
And now for the science bit... As expected Jennifer Aniston is exceptionally pretty in the flesh, while Lisa Kudrow is a lot taller than she appears on telly. But it's Courteney who's the revelation: she is breathtakingly beautiful and you can't help but wonder why that doesn't translate on screen. And while the girls are very slim, none of them is emaciated. (For the record, Matt LeBlanc is even more gorgeous in real life).
The Friday night filming of Friends can last up to eight bum-numbing hours, but having only four of the main actors on set means today's session is a lot quicker. This episode being filmed is The One With Joey's Award, which as part of Series 7, will be aired on E4 and Channel 4 later in the year. It sees Joey being nominated for a Soapie ("It's the third most prestigious soap award there is!" squeals Rachel) after he's recast as Dr. Ramoray in Days of Our Lives.
The biggest laugh of the night is afforded to Matt LeBlanc, who displays brilliant comic timing that bellies his goofy persona. Lisa Kudrow's ad libs, meanwhile, prove Phoebe's not the only funny girl on the show. The filming ends with the girls back in Monica's kitchen. They're doing a scene in advance for episode 24, the season finale, and there's a few fluffed liens as Phoebe and Rachel help Monica write her wedding vows. Then the director calls it a day and the curtain is brought down on another episode of Friends.
But before we leave, Jennifer gets a surprise when the crew produces a huge cake in honor of her 32nd birthday in two days' time (and yes, she did tuck in). As we all sing Happy Birthday, the cast and crew jump in for more hugs and kisses. This lot are so close you'd need a cattle prod to separate them, and you have to wonder how they'll cope when the show eventually finishes (the cast is only contracted until the end of Series 8). As Greg says: "It's been a good run and it's going to be so sad when it's all over."
You can say that again.
by Michelle Davies
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