Aisha Tyler Says Fans Still Call Her the 'Black Girl from 'Friends' ' 20 Years Later

Tyler starred as David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc's love interest Charlie Wheeler back in 2003, making her the first Black actor to land a recurring role on Friends since its 1994 debut

Aisha Tyler looks back fondly at her time on Friends.

Nearly two decades after her nine-episode run on the popular series, the 52-year-old actress reflected on playing Charlie Wheeler, a love interest for both David Schwimmer's Ross and Matt LeBlanc's Joey.

"It was a massive show, a global hit," Tyler told Entertainment Tonight. "To this day, people come up to me and go, 'Charlie, Charlie,' or they just go, 'Black girl from Friends.'"

During her arc in 2003, Tyler became the first Black person with a recurring role on Friends since its 1994 debut.

The experience of being part of the iconic show has stuck with her so much that she also still often recites one of the show's most iconic lines on any given day.

"I literally yelled at somebody in the car the other day, 'We were on a break!'" she said, referencing a phrase first Ross amid a tumultuous phase in his on-and-off relationship with Rachel Greene (Jennifer Aniston).

RELATED VIDEO: Lisa Kudrow on 'Jarring' Friends Body Image Experience After Seeing Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox

In 2021, Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane — and director and executive producer Kevin Bright — opened up about the show's lack of diversity.

"If we did Friends today, no, I don't imagine they would probably end up being an all-white cast," Bright, 68, in a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which came on the heels of the Friends reunion special on HBO Max.

"We would be so aware," he added. "So much would change, but to get them to behave realistically within this time, there would be a lot that would change about them. And the racial makeup of them would change because of that."

Related:Friends Co-Creator Says She's Now 'Embarrassed' by Lack of Diversity in Hit Show

Friends — which starred Aniston, Schwimmer, LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow as six 20somethings living in New York — has received criticism in the past for its all-White, heteronormative cast.

Both Kauffman, 66, and Bright insisted they casting a group of white actors wasn't the plan.

"We didn't intend to have an all-white cast. That was not the goal, either," Bright explained. Obviously, the chemistry between these six actors speaks for itself."

"Back then, there was no conscious decision," said Kauffman. "We saw people of every race, religion, color. These were the six people we cast. So, it was certainly not conscious. And it wasn't because it was literally based on people, because it wasn't literal. You get an inspiration for someone, you write what you think their voice is going to be, but it wasn't literal."

When asked if they would have done anything differently when making the series, Kauffman said, "there are probably a hundred things I would have done differently."

"I've talked about it in the past and I do have very strong feelings about my participation in a system, but it comes down to I didn't know what I didn't know," she said.

Related:Paul Rudd Still Can't Believe He Landed 'Friends' Gig, Admits He Thought 'I Shouldn't Be Here' in Series Finale

For Tyler's part, she found her costars to be "incredibly kind, incredibly welcoming."

Of course, given the show's juggernaut success, that didn't mean she wasn't extremely nervous to step in front of Must See TV cameras.

"My knees were knocking. I was shocked you couldn't hear my teeth chattering the entire time I was on set," she told ET.

But kind words from one star helped ease her jitters.

"We walked out and we did a curtain call [where] everybody [does a] bow to the audience at the end of the show. As we're backstage, Matthew Perry just leans in and goes, 'Get ready for your life to change,'" she recalled.

Tyler continued, "It was a really sweet, kind thing to say to someone who's just petrified and just trying not to pee on herself a little bit from fear."

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All 10 seasons of Friends can be streamed on HBO Max.

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