Matt LeBlanc was walking down the street when a kid who was about 13 or 14 recognized him and blurted out, eyes wide: “Oh my God, you’re Joey’s dad!”.
The actor was 51 when he told the story on Live with Kelly and Ryan. He had played Joey Tribbiani for ten years, from 1994 to 2004, and now a teenager had, unwittingly, promoted him to the father of his own character. His response was instinctive and just one word: “Get out!”. And then it hit him: that, he admitted with a laugh, was exactly what an old man would say.
The anecdote came up while he was talking about something that still seems incredible to him: every year, a new generation discovers Friends. Some viewers weren’t even born when the first episode aired, and today they see Joey as a classic from their parents’ generation.
Time always gives you a heads-up, and sometimes it does so right in the middle of the street, courtesy of a 13-year-old fan. What would you have said to him?
