Matt LeBlanc Was A Total Gentleman Before His Steamy Friends Kiss With Marlo Thomas

During its time on the air, there were several iconic guest star appearances on "Friends" including Tom Selleck as Richard and Paul Rudd as Mike. Actor and activist Marlo Thomas had a small arc on the show as well, playing Sandra Green, the mother of Jennifer Aniston's character, Rachel Green. In one such episode, Thomas and Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) even shared a romantic moment. 

In the scene from Season 2, Episode 22, "The One with the Two Parties," the sixsome at the core of the show are trying desperately to stop Sandra from running into her ex-husband, Dr. Leonard Green (Ron Leibman), at Rachel's surprise birthday party. Joey uses a passionate kiss to keep Sandra and Leonard from seeing each other, much to her visible shock and delight (via YouTube). 

Thomas spoke with Us Weekly about shooting the scene in a 2023 interview, revealing that behind the scenes her co-star was the furthest thing from his playboy alter ego. "When I played Rachel's mom on 'Friends,'" Thomas told the outlet, "Matt LeBlanc was [supposed] to kiss me. Before the scene, Matt shyly asked my permission to really lay one on me. So cute!"

In 2019, Marlo Thomas opened up about her time on "Friends" beyond just the actor's onscreen kiss with Matt LeBlanc. "What was fun about 'Friends' was that they were all just all so cute to me," Thomas enthused in an interview with Today. "The first day I got there, David Schwimmer opened the door and he said, 'Ladies first, ladies first,' from my 'Free to Be' album, which was so cute."

She also talked about some of her other interactions with the core cast, including when Jennifer Aniston stood up for her when the director shot down one of Thomas' ideas. The respected activist and performer also offered some more insight into Sandra and Joey's kiss. During rehearsals, the actors didn't kiss; instead, they staged it. But, when it was time to film the scene, LeBlanc was suddenly shy.

"So now we were gonna shoot it," Thomas recalled, "and he came over really sheepishly, Matt, and he said to me, 'Oh, they really want me to kiss you this time.'" Thomas permitted him to do so and explained the physical comedy that really made the moment humorous: "And you could only see the back of me, so it got a big laugh that, in other words, Joey had kissed this mother, and she was just collapsed over it."

Since her time as Sandra Green on "Friends," Marlo Thomas has kept in touch with her TV daughter, Jennifer Aniston. While discussing her 2022 film, "A Magical Christmas Village," Thomas confirmed in an exclusive interview with The List that she and Aniston are still friends and collaborators on their charity work for the St. Jude Projects. "I loved doing 'Friends,'" she gushed. 

Thomas also reminisced about her fond memories of working with the entire "Friends" cast in a November 2023 interview on SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Show." The Hallmark star found them all so lovely, pointing out, "They'd made big names for themselves, but they were sweet, and kind, and humble." Then, Thomas took a moment to remember the late Matthew Perry.

"They were all loving but I remember Matthew Perry having a really sweet look on his face at the reading, when we did the table read," Thomas said. "He looked at me like, 'Ah, she knows what she's doing.' It was a very nice thing." Evidently, her kiss with Matt LeBlanc wasn't the only thing that made an impression on the "Friends" guest star.