Comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes Dishes on Her Favorite Hollywood Gig
By Movieguide® Contributor
Comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes explained why her first role in Hollywood as an extra on FRIENDS is still her favorite job she’s ever had.
When Johnson-Reyes was invited onto the show, it had already established itself as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Despite competing against hundreds of other budding actors to land an extra role, a tip from one of Johnson-Reyes’s friends helped her skip the line and join the production.
“That’s my first job is I’m an extra on my favorite show of all time. I remember walking onto the set and seeing the guy’s apartment, the girl’s apartment, Central Perk — the coffee shop. It was so magical,” Johnson-Reyes told Megyn Kelly. “It was so magical. I can still smell the sound stage today, like it just feels so magical like the dreamer inside of me wakes up, you know.”
“I think about that time and just walking on, and I was nobody, I was an extra, like extras are not respected. We’re like the bottom of the totem pole, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t there to be respected,” she continued. “I was there to chase my dreams, to watch and learn, and it was basically like I got to take a free class from Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow [and] Courtney Cox. I’m watching them make their decisions, I’m watching them communicate with the crew, communicate with the director, communicate with the writers. I’m learning all this new language; I’m watching and learning from the best of the best, and I ended up being an extra on FRIENDS for Seasons 9 and 10.”
“It was probably ’til this day still my most favorite job that I have ever had, and I can’t believe that I got to be on a part of history,” Johnson-Reyes added.
Because she was an extra, Johnson-Reyes never really interacted with the main cast members. However, having been on the show for two years, she did have one chance encounter with Lisa Kudrow which sticks with her to this day.
“I wouldn’t try to do the most, like anytime there was somebody trying to do the most, trying to strike up a conversation with them, they’d be like, ‘No, move her out of the way; please stop talking to Jennifer Aniston.’ I was never going to do that,” she explained. “I was just quiet, minding my own business, and if they spoke to me, I would speak back.”
“So there would be times like at the craft service table, and I’m just there like getting some snacks…there’s one time Lisa Kudrow walks up, and she’s sitting next to me at the craft service table, and she gets this little tea cake, and she takes a bite of the tea cake, and she’s like, ‘Oh, these are good, right?’ and I was like ‘Uh huh.’ And that’s all she said to me like 20 years ago,” Johnson-Reyes continued. “And still I remember the one time Lisa Kudrow talked to me and said, ‘These are good, right?’ That’s it. And I remember my interaction, all she had to do was pay attention. She saw me, and that’s all I needed.”
Johnson-Reyes has since become a successful actress and comedian, selling out comedy shows all across the country. Nonetheless, her time as an extra on FRIENDS remains her favorite gig because of how closely she got to work with her favorite stars.
She’s currently in the middle of her tour that’s taking her all across the U.S.
“I’m so excited to continue to work out a new hour at some of my favorite clubs across the country,” she posted on Instagram.
She’s also the author of “Who Do I Think I Am?” that explores her life and faith journey.
“Through it all, Anjelah transforms from a suburban-adjacent kid with Aquanet-drenched hair into a devoted Christian who abstains from drinking and premarital sex, into a mall-famous Oakland Raiders cheerleader, and then an actually famous comedian traveling the world and meeting people from all-walks of life, including Oprah,” a description of the book reads.
Movieguide® previously reported on Johnson-Reyes:
Comedian Anjelah Johnson and husband Manwell Reyes are parents!
The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Rosalie, earlier this month.
Johnson posted a photo of the family on Instagram, writing, “Happy first Father’s Day @manwellreyes ! You guys… She’s here! Welcome to the world, Rosalie Harlow Reyes.”
She called her daughter “absolutely perfect,” and said she and Reyes have “never been more happy and tired at the same time.”
“I have yet to change a diaper or learn how to swaddle because Manny has taken the lead on all of that for me,” Johnson continued. “Best dad already, I’m so grateful for you my Lovercito. I can’t believe we have a daughter.”
Johnson told fans she would update them on Rosalie’s birth story, as well as how she and Reyes chose her name.
“For now we are just going to enjoy our sweet baby girl,” she concluded. “Thank you for all the prayers and love you guys have been sending.”
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