In the episode, titled The One with the Thumb, Grant appeared as Lizzy, a homeless woman Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) knew from her days of living on the streets. Annoyed with her bank for giving her a mysterious $500 credit, and because of her strong moral fiber, Phoebe informs the bank of the error only to have them credit her with another $500 and the gift of a free football phone. Determined to use the phone and the $1,000 for good, she gives it all to Lizzy, who won’t accept charity, and repays Phoebe by buying her a can of soda. But when Phoebe opens it, she discovers a human thumb inside, only to be compensated by the soda company to the tune of $7,000 for her trouble. It’s all money she believes doesn’t belong to her.
According to Grant, she knew she was onto a good thing guest-starring on the freshman series. “I did have a good feeling about it,” she told me. “First of all, James Burrows was directing. The script was great, and [series creator and executive producer] Marta Kauffman, who I knew through mutual friends, and I had worked together before on Dream On. I knew how funny she and the other writers were. And the talent! It was pretty obvious watching them work. I thought it was a good group. I remember Jennifer Aniston was on another show [at the time] so she couldn't be a regular in their first or second episodes, as she had to finish that [other show]. We did the movie Rock Star together years later, and I said during that, ‘You weren’t a regular, and I wasn't, so what happened to me?’ We made a joke about it. She's really sweet!”
Reminiscing about her brief time as Lizzy started the actress thinking about a possible connection between her The Mindy Project and Friends characters. “You may have just pulled off an amazing connection here," she laughed. ">