Jennifer Grey on Being a Friend of "Friends" and Why She Never Reprised the Role of Mindy

When Grey was asked to originate the role for the Warner Bros series she was thrilled although things didn39t quite go the way she39d wished quotI was a fan of the show and I got the call to do itquot she told MediaVillage during an exclusive interview quotThen when I did it I had such bad anxiety because they kept changing the script It39s very hard to be a guest star because you39re not a part of it and you39re really trying to figure it all out They were trying to figure out what the character was what the scene was and it was changing and changing and changing It all made me so anxious that I could barely do itquotI didn39t know at the time what was going on with mequot she continued quotBut I had a lot of performance anxiety and I just didn39t understand at that time that I needed help in the anxiety departmentquotGrey did successfully complete the episode and in hindsight thanks the series for highlighting a serious issue quotEverything you do in life especially the hard things the really painful difficult things are usually the things that are the most instructive and helpfulquot she admitted quotIn life I always learn more from things that you feel like a failure at and the successes you don39t learn as much although they might be fun But it39s all a part of lifequotIt was Grey39s paralyzing anxiety that also prevented her from participating in what might have been another career milestone quotI always just felt like I wished I had the ability to do thingsquot she shared quotLike when they asked me to do Saturday Night Live I just couldn39t I said 39No39 I was just too scaredThe role of Mindy would be recast for later episodes of Friends with Jana Marie Hupp but not before Grey was asked to reprise it quotWhen they asked me to come back I said I couldn39tquot she recalled quotThey got someone else to play the role It makes me sad that I would say no to continuing on Friends or doing Saturday Night Live because of my anxiety The truth is I wished I had people to help me navigate that kind of fear But I couldn39t be there until I was therequotIn 2010 Grey faced her performance anxiety head on by competing on season 11 of Dancing with the Stars which she won quotWhen I look back at Dancing with the Stars I39m like 39Look what I did39 But at the time I didn39t watch it because I was so busy learning the next dance that I never actually could see it Eventually when I did look at it it was thrilling to be able to say 39I can39t believe I did that39quotGrey admits she doesn39t get recognized too often for her contribution to Friends Still she is thankful to be a part of its legacy and be in the company of a very good friend of hers quotMy best friend from high school who is still my best friend was also on the showquot she revealed quotYeah Maggie Wheeler who played Janis That39s my biggest connection with Friends MaggiequotThe fact the series garnered her best friend worldwide exposure is something Grey is thrilled about quotOh nobody39s complainingquot she laughed in closing quotIt39s such a weird thing to be an actor and it39s hard to make a living make a career to work and to do what you love doing We all appreciate all the gifts that come our way and it is such an incredible honor every time we get to actquotYou39ll find more of Steve Gidlow39s interviews with notable guest actors from Friends in our Friends of quotFriendsquot archiveClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Jennifer Grey on Being a Friend of "Friends" and Why She Never Reprised the Role of Mindy

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Jennifer Grey on Being a Friend of "Friends" and Why She Never Reprised the Role of Mindy

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