Jennifer Grey has opened up about the heartbreaking reason she didn't return to Friends.
The 63-year-old appeared on the popular sitcom towards the end of the first season as Mindy, Rachel's best friend, and maid of honor at her wedding. However, it is later discovered that she has an affair with Rachel's ex Barry the orthodontist, and eventually ends up marrying him.
The character was originally portrayed by Grey but was later recast because Grey did not want to reprise the role.
Independence Day star Jana Marie Hupp ended up portraying Mindy in the final episode of season two titled 'The One with Barry and Mindy’s Wedding.'
Speaking to MediaVillage, Grey said she got "bad anxiety" because the writers kept altering the script.
"I was a fan of the show, and I got the call to do it," she told the outlet during an exclusive interview. "Then when I did it, I had such bad anxiety because they kept changing the script."
She continued: "It's very hard to be a guest star because you're not a part of it, and you're 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 it."
Grey then opened up about having "performance anxiety."
"I didn't know at the time what was going on with me," she added. "But I had a lot of performance anxiety, and I just didn't understand at that time that I needed help in the anxiety department."
Though she ended up having to quit, she was thankful that the show shone a light on a real issue that was affecting her career and, in turn, her life.
"Everything you do in life, especially the hard things, the really painful, difficult things, are usually the things that are the most instructive and helpful," she admitted. "In life, I always learn more from things that you feel like a failure at, and the successes, you don't learn as much, although, they might be fun. But it's all a part of life."
And it wasn't just Friends that the actress had to turn down.
"It makes me sad that I would say no to continuing on Friends or doing Saturday Night Live because of my anxiety," she said before adding: "The truth is, I wished I had people to help me navigate that kind of fear. But I couldn't be there until I was there."
However, despite only having a short stint on the hit sitcom, she still glad that she was involved in it in some way, adding that she was also glad to see her other friends do so well in their roles too.
"My best friend from high school, who is still my best friend, was also on the show," she revealed. "Yeah, Maggie Wheeler, who played Janis. That's my biggest connection with Friends - Maggie!"
Elsewhere in the interview, the 63-year-old revealed that she finally managed to face her fears during Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars, which she went on to win.
Beyond that, the star went on to feature in movies such as In Your Eyes (2014), Duck Duck Goose (2018), and Bittersweet Symphony (2019).
