Donny Osmond and Danny DeVito Look Back on Their ‘Friends’ Cameo 21 Years Ago: ‘It Was So Cool’
From game shows to bachelorette parties—guest stars, including Ellen Pompeo, reveal on-set secrets!
When Dr. Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) yelled, “You’re going to be a Pyramid” to Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) on the February 5, 2004, episode of Friends, we knew we were in for a special treat. What we didn’t know, was that that episode would soon turn into a star-studded special filled with laugh-out-loud moments and unforgettable plot twists. But how exactly did the show pull off such an elaborate episode, and what do celebrities like Donny Osmond and Danny DeVito remember about their time on the set? Well, we’ve uncovered all of that and more below.
Danny DeVito, Leslie Charleson, Ellen Pompeo and Donny Osmond on ‘Friends’
In the season 10 episode of Friends entitled “The One Where the Stripper Cries,” Joey learns that he is going to be a celebrity guest on Donny Osmond’s hit real-life game show Pyramid alongside soap opera legend Leslie Charleson. Elsewhere, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) hire a last-minute stripper named Roy (Danny DeVito) for Phoebe’s (Lisa Kudrow) bachelorette party, and Ross and Chandler (Matthew Perry) argue over their college crush, Missy Goldberg (Ellen Pompeo).
“When I walked in during rehearsals, I was standing right behind the director, and they all saw me. And Jennifer said, ‘Look! It’s Donny Osmond!'” Osmond recalled. “And they all started singing, ‘I’m a little bit country.’ It was so cool.“
“Working with Matt [LeBlanc] was great. His sense of timing is just perfect.”
Also perfect? Osmond’s hosting skills. While pretending to play Pyramid, the cast and crew actually filmed on the game show’s set in front of a live studio audience, allowing the moment to feel as authentic as possible.
Seeing Osmond and Charleson in an episode of the hit 1994 to 2004 sitcom would have been enough for most people, but not NBC Studios! The producers instead enlisted the help of DeVito to play a 50-year-old stripper from New Jersey.
“Jennifer and I were neighbors,” DeVito explained. “She asked me, ‘Would you like to do a part on the show?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do it.’ How could you pass up a chance to strip for the lovely ladies on Friends? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Finally, there was Pompeo—best known for her medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. She played a long-lost love of Ross and Chandler’s, but she was still a relatively unknown actress at the time. That wouldn’t be the case for long, though, because right after starring in Friends, Pompeo booked Grey’s Anatomy and would soon become the highest-paid female actress in the history of television.
Life after ‘Friends’ for the guest stars
Following his time on Friends, Osmond continued with Pyramid in both the United States and Britain. He also won Dancing With the Stars in 2009 and currently has a residency in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is happily married to his wife, Debbie, and they have five children and 14 grandchildren.
Like Osmond, Charleson also continued to appear on TV—most notably in General Hospital—until her death on January 12, 2025, at age 79.
At 80, DeVito hasn’t slowed down since appearing on Friends. He has over 150 acting credits to his name, as well as one Oscar nomination. DeVito has three kids with Rhea Perlman.
As mentioned above, Pompeo’s career has flourished post-Friends, thanks to her hit show Grey’s Anatomy. She is married to Chris Ivery and they have three children together.
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