The Best Time Ross Broke Character On Friends
It's not very often fans get to see one of their favorite "Friends" actors break character through its ten seasons and 236 episodes, but it does happen. Some well-remembered moments include Joey (Matt LeBlanc) falling while running into Central Perk or Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) breaking the fourth wall. Sometimes, fans have to dig deep in the blooper reels to find these scenes, and other times, it's right at the end of an episode.
Ross (David Schwimmer) is one of the more unbreakable characters throughout the show. In fact, he is often the one causing the other characters to break. For example, he notoriously caused Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) to break character on screen while terribly playing the bagpipes in the 7th season. Despite being the culprit of these bloopers, he does, in fact, have at least one time he couldn't keep it together.
Although his moments are few and far between, this is definitely the best time Ross broke character on "Friends."
The one where Ross throws his kid
Throughout the show, one of Ross' roles is a try-hard father for Ben (Cole Sprouse). Although Ross always has great intentions for raising his son, his parental decisions are sometimes misconstrued. A perfect example occurred when he dressed up as the infamous holiday armadillo to introduce Ben to Hanukkah. Some of these scenes are cringeworthy, but other times, they make for grade A comedy, especially if you pay close attention.
At the end of Season 7, Episode 16, "The One with the Truth About London," Ross brings Ben home from a long day of prank wars. As Ross is leaving, Rachel notices a sign that reads "poop" on his back. This instigates a playful chase between Ross and his son, eventually leading up the stairs where Rachel can't see either of them. In a turn of events, a Ross-looking dummy is thrown from the top of the stairs, scaring the life out of Rachel. Ross emerges from the staircase, laughing hysterically at the diabolical prank.
Although this may seem scripted, Ben's reaction will prove it's not. Instead, it appears David Schwimmer is actually dying laughing from this joke, which made Jennifer Aniston legitimately scream. Cole Sprouse innocently stands in the corner, not knowing what to do, as if this was a prank that Schwimmer had planned before the scene. Aniston even looks over at him as if to ask, "Did you have anything to do with this?" We can only hope that Schwimmer set up Aniston for this hilarious scene that led to his breaking character. Hopefully, we'll see more unintentional hysterics in the upcoming reunion.