Morgan Fairchild Was ‘Shocked’ This ‘Friends’ Quote Wasn’t Cut

Of all the lines that Morgan Fairchild has said on camera, her favorite came on an iconic episode of Friends.

The Emmy nominee, 75, had a recurring role as Chandler Bing’s mother on the sitcom, appearing in five episodes. In “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding: Part 1,” Fairchild’s character, Nora Bing, confronts her ex-husband, a transgender woman played by Kathleen Turner. 

“Aren’t you a little too old to be wearing a dress like that?” Turner’s character asks upon seeing Nora Bing’s tight-fitting outfit. Fairchild’s character quickly retorts: “Don’t you have a little too much penis to wear a dress like that?”

On The Patrick Labyor Sheaux podcast, Fairchild admits she was convinced her quote wouldn’t make it past the cutting room floor. 

“My favorite line of my career, probably,” she said. “I was shocked they left it in.”

The former Falcon Crest star made her first appearance on Friends in 1995 during its debut season. At the time, the sitcom was still trying to gain traction, but it eventually found an audience and was a constant presence atop the ratings. 

“It was always fun working over there. You know, they always gave us great scripts,” the Pee-wee’s Big Adventure actress said. “As you know, a lot of times when you’re the guest star, they don’t give you the good lines. They always give the star the good lines.”

By the time Fairchild portrayed Nora Bing, she was already a soap opera icon and had secured roles in a laundry list of hit shows, such as Happy Days and Mork & Mindy. She took the Friends gig to “reintroduce” herself to a younger generation.

“I remember Cicely Tyson saying to me, ‘You’re too young to be that guy’s mother. You know, you should turn that down,’ ” Fairchild recalled, noting she was 44 when she took the job. 

Then, on her first day on the Friends set, she was introduced, or reintroduced, to her TV son, Matthew Perry.  

“Matthew Perry came running over to me, you know, bounding over like a big puppy dog as he was wont to do,” Fairchild recalled. “He said, ‘Oh, you won’t remember me, but I used to hang out with you on the set of Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest with my dad.’ I said, ‘Who’s your dad?’ He said, Bennett Perry, who had a recurring part on Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest as a sheriff. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, you were that little kid?’ Then I guess I am old enough to be this guy’s mother.”

Fairchild last appeared on Friends in 2001 in the show’s eighth season.