Eyebrow terror and shouting producers: Olivia Williams remembers her time on ‘Friends’

Olivia Williams, the BAFTA-winning actress and recent SAG Awards nominee as an ensemble member for her performance as Camilla Parker Bowles on “The Crown,” has worked on the British stage in classic and new productions. But in a new interview, she points to a beloved American sitcom as an “alarming” and “harrowing” experience when compared to other gigs.

Williams appeared as a bridesmaid in the fourth season finale, in which Ross (David Schwimmer) married Emily (Helen Baxendale) in London. (You may recall some zany hijinks at some historic landmarks.) Speaking with The Independent, the actress recalled the “alarming” experience of sharing a car with an elderly actress Williams described as “distinguished” and “very good” who was later berated by a producer and told, “You’re not funny!” According to Williams, the unnamed performer was not on set the following day.

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“‘Friends’ was a brand,” she continued, “and you had to fit the brand. You go into hair and make-up and you’re told, ‘There’s a look here, this is what we do.’ And that involved, essentially, plucking off all of your eyebrows.” Williams recalled sitting in the make-up chair begging to keep her eyebrows, arguing that she might need them for another job, which she called “harrowing.”

“Friends” was, of course, a ratings and awards phenomenon, with six Emmy wins (including one for Outstanding Comedy Series for its eighth season) and 62 nominations. Oddly enough, that fourth season saw only one nomination in total, for Lisa Kudrow, who won the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award. 

Williams will next be seen as Tula Harkonnen in “Dune: Prophecy” on Max, with Emily Watson, Mark Strong, and Travis Fimmel. The series is about the origins of the string-pulling Bene Gesserit and, like “Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Ring” is based on a collage of lore from Frank Herbert’s six original “Dune” novels and the great many prequels, sequels and sidequels penned by Herbert’s son Brian and co-author Kevin J. Anderson.

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