Why One 'Friends' Star Was 'Petrified' to Join the Series

The former 'Friends' cast member described what went through their mind when they first booked the gig.

Aisha Tyler made a shocking new confession about her decision to join the cast of Friends in 2003.

Tyler, now 52, said she was "petrified" after learning she had successfully booked the role of Charlie Wheeler on the hit sitcom.

"The cast was incredibly kind, incredibly welcoming," she told ET Online, noting it didn't really help her nerves. "My knees were knocking. I was shocked you couldn't hear my teeth chattering the entire time I was on set."

"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. "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."

Related: Jennifer Aniston Has an Interesting Response to People Who Find 'Friends' Offensive

The former host of The Talk also admitted that her co-star "was right" because the series "was the biggest show on television when I got that job."

"Sometimes you don't really know what a job is going to do, how it's going to change your life. You don't know if it's going to be a hit. You don't even know if it's going to be good. You're just there to do your best work," Tyler said."But I knew when I got Friends that it was a big deal."

The show debuted in 1994 and aired for nearly a decade until its end in 2004, after 10 very successful seasons.

And as we approach the 20^th anniversary of Tyler's first appearance on the show, the actress admitted to being a super fan of the series even before being cast, adamant that she "had seen every episode" before she auditioned.

"I walked onto that set, and I remember I looked out the window to see if I could see, you know, the naked guy across the street," the Criminal Minds alum said, referring to the reoccurring character of the "Ugly Naked Guy" who lived in the neighboring building across the way. "Fortunately, it's just a hallway back there."

What's even more unbelievable is that the sitcom turns 30 next year–where does the time go?!

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