Friends' Mr Heckles completely lost it with on-set outburst after his last episode
Topics: Entertainment, Film and TV, Friends
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: Collider Podcasts/YouTube / NBC
Topics: Entertainment, Film and TV, Friends
Friends fans will most likely remember Mr Heckles - the weird neighbour who lived underneath Monica and Rachel’s apartment and would bang on the ceiling of his apartment if he deemed the pals to be too loud.
Played by Larry Hankin, Mr Heckles was first credited only as ‘the weird man’ when he appeared in 'The One With The Blackout', but was later introduced more formally as Mr Heckles.
He was a man that was no stranger to sharing bizarre lies, such as claiming to be Chandler's roommate or accusing Monica and Rachel of disturbing his oboe practice, despite not actually playing the oboe.
If you need a reminder, you can see him in action here:
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Mr Heckles popped up in three more episodes of Friends before bowing out in the appropriately named 'The One Where Mr Heckles Dies' - although he then reappeared in a flashback in the equally appropriately named 'The One With The Flashback'.
However, it turns out that his character's demise prompted a furious response from Hankin, who revealed that he ‘lost it’ with the show’s producers after learning of Mr Heckle's fate.
Speaking to Cracked, Hankin explained: “Overall, I did five episodes of Friends, and Mr Heckles became very famous. Here’s the thing, though: on your sixth show, you became a recurring character, which meant a big bump in pay.
“I got a call from my agent saying, 'I have good news and bad news. First, Friends called for your fifth appearance…' In that moment, I thought, 'I have a house.' Then he said, 'You have a heart attack and die'.”
Ouch.
Hankin went on to say that on his final day of filming, he was unable to keep his anger from spilling over - saying that he arrived to the shoot with a 'chip on his shoulder' and was dead set on letting producers know he 'wasn't happy'.
He continued: “After we taped, I lost it. I went over to the producers and shouted, 'What did you do!?!'
"Everybody just shut up. There were like a hundred people there because it was the first episode of the season, which is always a big party. They were all understandably startled. A female producer quietly leaned in and said, 'Larry, can we talk about this a little later?'
“That snapped me out of it. I looked around, and everyone was staring at me. I backed away and went to the craft-services table, where everyone just cleared out. I stood there for a few minutes and waited for the voices to come back up. Then this 14-year-old kid came over to me — I think he was somebody’s son — and said, 'Dude, that was so cool!'."
Cool? Sounds pretty awkward to me.