Friends Actor Calls Sitcom’s Lack of Diversity ‘Insane’

Though it’s lauded as one of the best sitcoms of all time, Friends is an often talked about series when it comes to representation in Hollywood. Premiering in 1994, the show rarely featured Black actors in prominent roles over the course of its 10-season run, and looking back at it all now, actor Adam Golderberg says that fact is “insane” to him. Goldberg appeared in Friends for three episodes in 1996 as Eddie Menuek, Chandler’s (Matthew Perry) roommate who replaced Joey (Matt LeBlanc) after he moved out.

Speaking with The Independent about his time on Friends, Goldberg – who currently has a starring role in The Equalizer – was asked about the criticism the sitcom has faced over the years for its elements that don’t necessarily hold up today, including its lack of diversity. He calls the whole thing “insane,” but admits that in the mid-90’s, that’s just the way things were in the industry.

“In terms of diversity, looking back, it seems insane. I’ve heard Black people speak about this and it’s like, you never expected to see yourself, so when you didn’t, it was not a surprise, and you ended up identifying to characters, irrespective of their race.

“It was just the norm that there was such a lack of diversity. I mean, I spent a lot of my career complaining about how Italians can play Jews. You see De Niro play Jews but you very rarely see someone who’s a known Jewish actor playing Italian.”

Out of the 236 episodes of Friends, only nine episodes featured a Black actor in a prominent role: Aisha Tyler portrayed Dr. Charlie Wheeler, who started off dating Joey, but ended up with Ross. Considering the series takes place in the melting pot that is New York City, that’s a serious lack of diversity, and something that co-creator Marta Kauffman says she’s “embarrassed” by. Speaking with Variety in 2022, she said that accepting the “guilt” over Friends’ failure to showcase diversity wasn’t an easy pill to swallow.

Adam Goldberg Remembers Matthew Perry

Diversity aside, Goldberg remembers his time on Friends fondly, saying that he’s “happy to be a part of the show’s legacy” despite initially turning up his nose at the role of Menuek. “Me and my buddies were all snobs,” he said. “We did Dazed and Confused, and I remember a bunch of us were like, ‘Oh, we’re never doing TV again.'”

His agent convinced him to take the part, which led to him having a blast with the ensemble cast, including Matthew Perry. He says that at the time, the late actor helped him elevate his own talents to match Perry’s comedic timing.

“When you’re working with somebody like Matt [Perry], who has such great comedy chops, your game just gets elevated. I keep making tennis analogies because I’ve taken up tennis again after not playing for decades, but you play better if you’re playing somebody really good. And with Matt, it was always like having a great rally.”

You can catch Adam Goldberg in Season 5 of The Equalizer when it returns on October 20 on CBS, and all episodes of Friends are now streaming on Max.