The Hilarious Reason Bruce Willis Agreed to Appear on 'Friends'

Friends saw its fair share of A-list cameos over the years, with many pals and partners of the main cast members dropping in for a hilarious episode or two. But it turns out that veteran action star Bruce Willis had a different motivation for his brief appearance on the beloved sitcom.

CBR reports that Willis and Chandler Bing actor Matthew Perry co-stared in the 2000 film, The Whole Nine Yards. While filming, Willis had reservations about how well the movie would do in box offices, while Perry was convinced it would make it to the top of the charts. They decided to make a little wager: if the movie succeeded, the Diehard actor would have to be on Friends…for free.

It turns out that Perry was right about their little comedy. The movie lead the box office in its first three weeks of release. Willis subsequently appeared in three episodes in the sixth season of the Emmy-winning show as Paul Stevens, the hard-nose father of Ross’ (David Schwimmer) young girlfriend and former student at NYU, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). Though Paul hates Ross, he ends up falling for Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and has to play nice in order to continue dating her.

The Pulp Fiction star held up his end of the bargain, donating all the money he made for the episodes to The American Foundation for AIDS Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, The Rape Treatment Center, and UCLA Unicamp for underprivileged children.

I guess Willis really is “a neat guy.” And the best part? He won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2000 for the part.