Jennifer Grey Finally Reveals Why Her 'Friends' Role Was Recast

Jennifer Grey has finally revealed the real reason why she didn't reprise her role in Friends.

The Dirty Dancing star appeared on a single episode of the hit NBC show's first season as Mindy, Rachel's former best friend who aspires to be "Mrs. Dr. Barry Farber, D.D.S." and marry the man who Rachel left at the altar. When the character returned later in the series, she was replaced by Jana Marie Hupp.

In a new interview with MediaVillage, Grey shared that she initially accepted the part because she was such a big fan of the show. But once she joined the production, it didn't live up to her expectations.

"I had such bad anxiety because they kept changing the script. It's very hard to be a guest star because you're not a part of it, and you're really trying to figure it all out," she explained. "They were trying to figure out what the character was, what the scene was, and it was changing, and changing, and changing. It made me so anxious that I could barely do it."

She added that she had "performance anxiety" and she "didn't understand at the time" that she "needed help in the anxiety department."

Grey also mentioned that she was approached to reprise her character for the second season's finale, but rejected the offer.

"They got someone else to play the role. It makes me sad that I would say no to continuing on Friends or doing Saturday Night Live because of my anxiety," she explained. "The truth is, I wished I had people to help me navigate that kind of fear. But I couldn't be there until I was there."

After Friends, Grey focused on doing movies until getting a part in the sitcom It's Like, You Know… in 1999.