When Turner was unavailable for shooting, the sitcom looked to the cast’s family for assistance.

Morgan Fairchild reveals this actress was Kathleen Turner’s stand-in on *Friends *(exclusive)

When Turner was unavailable for shooting, the sitcom looked to the cast’s family for assistance.

By Rance Collins

September 5, 2026 8:30 a.m. ET

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Morgan Fairchild; Alexis Arquette; Kathleen Turner. Credit:

Sebastian Artz/Getty; Ray Mickshaw/WireImage; RJ Capak/WireImage

- Kathleen Turner and Morgan Fairchild played Chandler Bing’s (Matthew Perry) parents on *Friends*.

- Fairchild tells EW the pair got along well, though Turner wasn’t available for every day of shooting the two-part season 7 finale.

- Alexis Arquette, sister of David Arquette and then-sister-in-law of Courteney Cox, stepped in as Turner’s stand-in.

Sometimes *Friends* would turn to family for help — just ask Morgan Fairchild.

In an exclusive interview with **, the veteran actress looks back on playing Nora Tyler Bing, the successful novelist and dramatic mother to Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), in the two-part *Friends* season 7 finale, “The One With Chandler and Monica’s Wedding.”

As Fairchild recalls, there were scheduling difficulties with Kathleen Turner, who played Nora’s drag queen ex-husband and Chandler’s dad, Charles Bing. Turner had appeared in the previous episode, “The One With Chandler’s Dad,” marking her debut on the hit show. Fairchild had shown up twice before, in seasons 1 and 5.

Alexis Arquette in 2012.

Amanda Edwards/WireImage

“I think they thought Kathleen and I would be divas and weird together, but we weren’t at all,” Fairchild says. “We had great fun. I love Kathleen, obviously a great talent, but also very funny and just a terrific human being.”

Fairchild then reveals, “People don’t know this, obviously because they never saw it, but we were shooting two different episodes, and Kathleen was not available to do the rehearsal dinner the week we actually shot it.”

This led to one of the cast members’ relatives stepping in.

“We actually shot it with Alexis Arquette, David Arquette’s sister, and Courteney Cox’s at that time sister-in-law,” Fairchild explains.

Cox of course played high-strung Monica on *Friends*, and off screen she was married to David Arquette from 1999 to 2014.

Morgan Fairchild and Kathleen Turner on ‘Friends’.

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Prior to standing in for Turner in the finale, Alexis Arquette made a brief appearance as a waiter in “The One With Chandler’s Dad” and had a small speaking part as a customer in the season 6 episode “The One With Rachel’s Sister.”

A transgender actress and activist, Alexis began performing at an early age, with screen credits including *Pulp Fiction*, *The Wedding Singer*, *Bride of Chucky*, and *She’s All That*. A 2007 documentary, *Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother*, chronicled her journey.

She died in 2016, at 47. Today the Alexis Project, named in Arquette’s honor, “is dedicated to integrating mental and physical health care for LGBTQ+ patients.”

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Looking back on the *Friends* season 7 finale, Fairchild describes a family affair in more ways than one, noting that she also helped keep an eye on Turner’s daughter, the singer Rachel Ann Weiss.

“When it came time to shoot the wedding scene, [Turner] said, ‘Oh, Morgan, my daughter’s a big fan of the show. Would you mind if she’s like an extra and sat with us at the wedding?’” Fairchild recalls. “So that’s really Kathleen’s daughter sitting with us at the wedding as a flower girl. So we had a great time. I loved working with her. I kind of hoped they’d have us come back and do some more… with the different parents and stuff that they brought in over the years. Because we had a great time working together.”

Fairchild gives more insight into her storied career, as well as her thoughts on current events, life, and pop culture, on her podcast *2 Bitches From Texas*, which is cohosted by her sister Cathryn Hartt. Episodes can be found on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and all the usual podcast sites.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”