T ate Donovan’s Joshua entered the Friends universe in the 1998 episode “The One with Rachel’s Crush”. He played said crush, a client of hers at Bloomingdale’s with sandy curls and woolly jumpers – and the first man Rachel ( Jennifer Aniston ) ever asks out. She fancied him so much she couldn’t stop repeating his name: “Josh-ooh-ah.
Josh-ua.” That said, Joshua spent most of his five-episode arc entirely oblivious to her feelings. Their behind-the-scenes dynamic couldn’t have been more different – in reality, the two actors had been dating for two years , and were in the process of breaking up when Donovan was cast on the show.
There were certainly feelings involved, and no one was oblivious to them. Speaking 26 years on from sunny Texas, after a career that’s seen roles in The OC , Argo and Rocketman , Donovan tells me about his experience of filming the show, from how hard it was to shoot his scenes with his ex-girlfriend to why he thought of Matthew Perry as the “beating heart” of the sitcom. I have to admit, I’ve loved rewatching Friends in preparation for this interview.
English people in general are just obsessed with Friends . It blows my mind. Jen and I dated for two years – when we went to England together, it was like being with a Beatle.
We had to say we were having reservations at one restaurant and then go to another. There were fake cars and everything, all to avoid the paparazzi. Then I did a play with Judi Dench on Broadway [ Amy.