“He Went Totally White”: David Schwimmer Recalls Horrifying Injury While Filming Friends In Front Of A Live Audience

Friends star David Schwimmer recounts a scary moment while filming the iconic sitcom in front of a live studio audience. The three-time Emmy nominee is not known for his horror performances, but that may start to take a turn as Schwimmer is set to be a part of Goosebumps season 2. The second installment of the horror anthology debuts on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10, consisting of eight episodes, and it’s given the actor the chance to reflect on a rather scary moment that occurred while he was supposed to be in character as Ross Geller.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Schwimmer recounts the time that Matt LeBlanc dislocated his shoulder during Friends. LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, was supposed to do a pratfall. Schwimmer recalls, in the quote below, how his co-star “looked like he was going to pass out” during the filming of the season 3 episode “The One Where No One Is Ready” and shares how he responded. The quote is below:

During the live taping of the show, [Matt LeBlanc] is supposed to do a kind of a pratfall, and he actually dislocated his shoulder. He went totally white, and he stood up, and I could see his shoulder was out. He looked like he was going to pass out.

[I] immediately turning to the camera like, ‘Cut, cut, cut.’ That was genuinely frightening. You could see how badly hurt he was. And we had to stop filming that night, obviously, and he went to hospital.” Goosebumps has had the actor immerse himself in a menacing world teaming with grisly disappearances, murderously sentient plant life, and unspeakable family tragedy. But as he remembers that moment with LeBlanc, Schwimmer remarks with a shaky chuckle, That was scary.

What LeBlanc’s Injury Meant For Friends

It Occurs During A Fan-Favorite Episode

LeBlanc’s injury happens during “The One Where No One Is Ready”, which features the unforgettable scene where Joey wears all of Chandler’s clothes. LeBlanc’s injury happens while Joey and Chandler race toward a chair in Monica and Rachel’s apartment. For the next two episodes, Joey’s shoulder is in a sling. It’s explained that he injured himself while jumping on his bed.

The moment came up during the 2021 Friends reunion, with LeBlanc laughing off the incident. It’s a moment that adds a bit of texture to one of the sitcom’s most defining moments, though the initial response to “No Is Ready” was more mixed and divided among critics who felt the episode and its structure didn’t quite gel with the series and was more reminiscent of Seinfeld.

Our Take On “The One Where No Is Ready”

There’s A Reason Its Reception Grew With Time

There’s an immense rewatch value to the episode that Schwimmer is talking about. It arguably works better, with the laughs hitting harder, when the audience has an even stronger grip on the relationships and their significance. The fact that there’s an unusual filming accident that happened during it, which involved the episode’s standout story, adds to its place in Friends history. Although obviously, at the moment, the injury was scary.