Aisha Tyler Says She Was 'Petrified' to Join 'Friends' Ahead of 20-Year Anniversary of Her Role (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

Aisha Tyler is opening up about her time on . While speaking with ET's Nischelle Turner, the 52-year-old actress shared how she was «petrified» to play Charlie on the beloved sitcom, just ahead of her 20-year anniversary of appearing on the show.«The cast was incredibly kind, incredibly welcoming,» Tyler remembers of series stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc. «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 adds. «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.»Tyler noted that Perry «was right» in his assessment, as «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,» she says. «But I knew when I got that it was a big deal.»Ahead of her audition, Tyler «had seen every episode» of the series, and considered herself a fan.«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,» she jokes of the show's Ugly Naked Guy. «Fortunately, it's just a hallway back there.»Being a fan of the series also made Tyler feel like she «knew how to tell a joke.»«The show had a tempo.