He couldn't ruin their first meeting.
in wednesday's episode “Watch what happens live,” James McAvoy, 45, has revealed an embarrassing incident from his youth, when he met his celebrity crush Jennifer Aniston.
The Scottish actor, who was promoting his new thriller “Speak No Evil” (which is now in theaters), told the story of how he met the “Friends” star at a Hollywood party early in his career.
“I did meet him, and it wasn't great,” McAvoy told host Andy Cohen.
“Not because he's not great,” he said.
“When I was really young, I was about 22 in L.A., I was at a party, and I met Lucy Liu. And Lucy Liu was really nice to me and she said, 'Come meet my friends,'” the “X-Men: First Class” star explained.
He recalled how the “Charlie's Angels” star took McAvoy up to a group of people, which included Aniston.
“I parked right next to Jennifer Aniston,” McAvoy said. “And as soon as (Liu) said, 'Hey, guys, meet my new friend James,' instead of saying that, she got pulled over by a guy she went to high school with. She drove off and I was just left standing with all these people saying, 'Hey, what's up, I'm new in town.'”
McAvoy said he then turned to Aniston and said, “So you're Jennifer Aniston and you're in 'Friends.'”
“It was tough. But she was sweet,” the “Atonement star” confessed.
McAvoy isn't alone. Fellow “Friends” star David Schwimmer has also confessed to having a crush on Aniston at one point, and her late co-star Matthew Perry said the same.
“In the first season, I had a huge crush on Jen,” Schwimmer revealed during the “Friends: The Reunion” special Maximum In May 2021.
“At some point, we were both very attracted to each other – but it was like two ships passing (in the night) because one of us was always in a relationship.”
In his 2022 memoir, released a year before his death in October 2023 at age 54, Perry wrote, “I was instantly impressed by her (how could I not be?) and I liked her. And I sensed she was curious, too — maybe this was going to be something.”
He recalled that he had asked her out even before “Friends” but was rebuffed.
Then again, their attraction continued even after filming.
“Long before we started making 'Friends' I realized I still had a massive crush on Jennifer Aniston,” he wrote.
“Our hellos and goodbyes became awkward. And then I would ask myself, 'How long can I look at him? Is three seconds too long?'”
Perry added, “But how can you not have a crush on Jennifer Aniston, you know? But at one point I thought, 'Okay, that's enough.'”
