One of the things that proves Friends is one of the best sitcoms of all time is how much we’re still talking about it today. The Ross and Rachel “on a break” debate has evolved over the past three decades, for one thing, and there are also some big questions left unanswered: Why did we never see Ugly Naked Guy’s face? How did Rachel really spell her last name? Was Matt Damon once an extra on Friends? That last rumor is making the rounds again on the Internet, and I love how bizarre this is.
In the Season 2 episode “The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant,” there’s a Central Perk scene toward the end, where one of the background actors looks suspiciously like Matt Damon. See for yourself:
If that’s not the star of The Odyssey, I’d say Matt Damon has a doppelgänger. Unfortunately, the above screengrab is the clearest shot we get of the uncredited extra’s face as he reads a newspaper at a table behind Matthew Perry’s Chandler.
This has been a debate amongst Friends fans off and on for years, as people continue to rewatch the series with their HBO Max subscriptions, and it was brought up again recently on Reddit. It’s a super fun theory, but unfortunately it seems as if this one’s been fully debunked.
For one thing, Matt Damon had small roles in several other movies that would have filmed around the time of this Friends episode, including The Good Old Boys, Glory Daze and Courage Under Fire. He and Ben Affleck were also reportedly writing Good Will Hunting at the time.
The strongest argument, however, is that the same extra appears to also be in an earlier scene of the episode, standing behind Chandler and Ross (David Schwimmer) at the Hootie & the Blowfish concert. While he still looks like Matt Damon from the side, you can clearly see when he faces forward that it’s not the Oscar winner:
That does appear to be the same background actor as the one in Central Perk, especially considering these two scenes are in the same episode. Now I'm just laughing at the hilarious commentary on the Matt Damon look-alike’s haircut, as Reddit user ledlunar wrote:
That’s not him just a guy who looks like him. That was a popular haircut then.
Others chimed in with:
- Can confirm. I had that same haircut for most of the 90s. – RealSunglassesGuy
- Yeah, for instance, that also looks like 90s era Jack Noseworthy from the side. Or, like, 200 dudes in my high school. – downwithlevers
- That looks like every Kevin and Jeff I knew in the ‘90s growing up. – sexandliquor
Well, the theory was fun while it lasted. For what it’s worth, Friends did shout out Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in a way later in the series. In Season 5’s “The One With the Inappropriate Sister,” when Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is having trouble finding acting work, Ross suggests that he write his own movie, like “the Good Will Hunting guys.” Joey’s response?
Come on, Ross, be realistic. If I did write something, what are the chances I could get those guys to star in it?
Probably about as good as Friends’ chances of getting Matt Damon as a background actor.
All 10 seasons of Friends and the 2021 reunion are available to stream on HBO Max.
