The Untold Story of Robin Williams' Unplanned Cameo on Friends

The Unplanned Cameo

The Robin Williams Friends cameo remains one of the long-running sitcom's most hilarious guest appearances, but the story behind how it happened makes it even better. Beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams appeared as a guest star in an episode of Friends in 1997 alongside Billy Crystal. Williams appeared as a character named Tomas and appeared in the season 3 episode, 'The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion' alongside his friend and frequent collaborator Billy Crystal. Considering how big of an actor Williams already was at the time, his appearance in Friends was a huge deal.

Billy Crystal and Robin Williams with the cast of Friends

The fact that Williams would appear on the sitcom is not a huge surprise as many big-name actors like Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts guest starred on Friends over the years. The Robin Williams Friends appearance was short considering it ended before the opening credits rolled, but it involved an interesting backstory. It turned out that Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were at the right place at the right time — on a nearby set — and their cameos weren't even planned.

robin williams and billy crystal at Central Perk in Friends

Legendary Comedic Chemistry

Robin Williams appeared on Friends alongside Billy Crystal as part of a cold open sketch. At the start of Friends season 3's 'The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion', Monica was about to tell her friends a story at Central Perk but was interrupted by Tomas (Williams) and his friend Tim, a character played by Billy Crystal. Joining the core cast on their signature sofa, Tomas broke into tears claiming that his wife was sleeping with another man. He believed the other man was her gynecologist, but it turned out that Tim was the one sleeping with Tomas's wife. After this was revealed, Tomas ended his friendship with Tim and the two men stormed out of the coffee shop, leaving Monica having completely forgotten the story she was originally planning to tell.

Tomas and Tim in Central Perk on Friends

While the episode was being shot, Williams and Crystal happened to wander onto the Friends Central Perk set and the writers asked them if they'd be up for a quick cameo. They agreed and were thrown into the opening scene on the spot. It's rare to acquire a role and shoot the scene within the same day, but Williams and Crystal were no strangers to improvising. They ad-libbed their entire scene, inventing the story about Tomas and his wife. Along with the two legendary actors making up their dialogue, Matt LeBlanc even ad-libbed his interruption of the men's private conversation and Courtney Cox personally added the line about forgetting her original story.

Robin Williams and Billy Crystal sitting in Central Perk during their guest appearance on Friends

The Billy Crystal and Robin Williams Friends cameo may have been an accident, but it made for great TV. It also coincidentally gave the actors an extra amount of publicity at the right time. A day after the Friends episode aired with their cameos, the pair's movie, Father's Day, hit theaters. The cameo from Williams has become even more special following the actor's tragic death in 2014.

Robin Williams Billy Crystal - Friends Guest Stars

A Return to Familiar Territory

Before appearing on Friends, Robin Williams's movie career had already made him a star, but his early career was built on numerous sitcom and television appearances. The most memorable of these is probably his time playing Mork in the Happy Days spinoff Mork & Mindy from 1978 to 1982. Robin Williams also appeared as himself in many comedic TV roles over the years, from The Larry Sanders Show to Louie to Sesame Street.

Robin Williams as Mork in Happy Days Mork and Mindy crossover with the Fonz

Given the actor's well-known talents for improvisation, it is not surprising that Robin Williams' Friends cameo was off-the-cuff. However, the Robin Williams appearance is not the only time Friends pulled off a wonderful unscripted moment. As funny and well-written as the scripts for each Friends episode were, happy accidents or spontaneous ideas led to some unexpected improvements. Some of the best improvised moments on Friends include Matthew Perry slipping up his line when Chandler was trying to poke fun at Joey resulting in him becoming the butt of the joke instead. Some physical comedy moments that weren't scripted include Matt LeBlanc tripping over a chair and falling as Joey makes a mad dash for the phone. Most impressively, the final line ever in Friends was not scripted as the gang heads out to get coffee one last time in the Friends finale and Perry adlibbed 'Where?' These unplanned moments added to the hilarity and charm of Friends.

The Cast of Friends in the empty apartment in the Series Finale