Brooke Shields has been charming the audience since the 70s with her shining movie career. Although she had been modeling since childhood, her first taste of fame came when she was just 12 years old with Pretty Baby.

Brooke Shields as Lana in Mother of the Bride | Credits: Netflix

Admittedly, being a teenager in such a testing industry had been hard, but she managed to persevere through it all with great success. However, her penchant to charm others continued throughout her career.

According to her, this was the very reason behind her injury on the set of FRIENDS in the 90s when she tried to pull a prank on none other than the OG prankster Matthew Perry.

Brooke Shields wanted the FRIENDS cast to like her

Brooke Shields appeared in the blockbuster hit sitcom FRIENDS in 1996. The series started airing just a couple of years prior, but its success was soaring by then.

As a result, it became quintessential for the series to regularly have guest appearances from some of the biggest Hollywood stars at the time. For example, Reese Witherspoon coming along as Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) sister.

Brooke Shields in FRIENDS | Credits: NBC

Moreover, Aniston’s then-husband Brad Pitt also featured in the series. While most of those experiences have been amazing, some have also discomforted the actors.

For example during Jean-Claude Van Damme’s guest appearance, which actually took place in the same episode as Shields’. Regardless, the show was all the rage back then, which it still is, to be honest, and Brooke Shields wanted to be a part of it.

Related “Do you know my name? You’re about to find out who I am”: FRIENDS Actress Admitted Using Her Fame to Disrespect an Officer on Duty After Being Too Drunk

Or rather, wanted to feel like she was a part of the FRIENDS cast’s group which had become extremely close-knit at that time. The Endless Love actor recalled in a recent interview with The View that she really wanted them to like her, as she was a massive fan of the series.

When you go onto a show that’s so well-oiled and so successful and I was such a fan, all I wanted was for them to like me. I just wanted to be funny, but I wasn’t in the group. They were very tight and had all these inside jokes.

Her solution to this, however, was quite unique. Unfortunately for her, her plan also ended with her injuring herself. Nevertheless, she seems to hold the memory very close to her heart.

Brooke Shields’ vow to prank Matthew Perry gave her an injury on FRIENDS

In the same interview, Brooke Shields noted that at the time the late Matthew Perry who played Chandler in the show had this prank he used to pull regularly. According to her, Perry would often “run and throw himself on the floor in front of a girl and pretend to look up her skirt.”

Matthew Perry in FRIENDS | Credits: NBC

Although she acknowledged that it would be impossible to do so today, at the time it was widely considered harmless and hilarious. At any rate, she observed him and bided her time.

Especially because, she added, “If I can make him laugh, it’s just going to feel so good.” Hence, she executed her plan to be a part of the clique.

I ran so fast from one end of the stage all the way to the other, threw myself on the ground and pretended to look up his pant leg, and everybody was quiet. I’m on the floor and I’m like, ‘I just suck … I look like a crazy person.’ I’m on the floor for what felt like an hour. It was probably one second and all of a sudden he started laughing, and they all started laughing.

After the moment passed, Matthew Perry asked Shields about how she came up with the plan to do that. She admitted to having been observing him and she wanted to “thank [him] for giving us such humor.”

Although her mortification passed quickly and it gave her a “really sweet” memory of those days, the injury she caused to herself wasn’t healed as fast.

I had rug burns all over my knees!

In hindsight, what makes this gesture even sweeter is the fact that Perry used to be quite anxious about making others laugh and come off as funny in FRIENDS.

Related What Tom Cruise Said About Brooke Shields’ Fight With Depression and Why It’s Not Okay

As a result, Brooke Shields taking the time to make him laugh even when she was unaware of his conflicts is truly heartwarming. As a result, it is no wonder that even Jennifer Aniston misses those days when things were a little simpler in her life.

FRIENDS is streaming on Prime Video.
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