On "Friends", who guest stars as Rachel's screaming date, Tommy?

On Friends, Ben Stiller guest-stars as Rachel’s screaming date, Tommy.

Tommy appears in the sixth-season episode “The One with the Screamer.” Rachel brings him as her date to one of Joey’s plays, partly because Ross is attending and she wants a date of her own. Tommy initially seems perfectly pleasant, but Ross discovers that he erupts into furious screaming whenever something annoys him.

Ross sees Tommy yell at an elderly couple who accidentally sit in Tommy and Ross’s seats. Tommy then turns on Ross after Ross nearly spills coffee on him. The joke is that Tommy repeatedly snaps into frightening rages and then instantly returns to his normal, friendly manner, leaving Rachel unaware of his behavior.

Ben Stiller was already known for comedy through film and television work, but his brief Friends appearance became especially memorable because of Tommy’s exaggerated temper. The episode’s title refers directly to the character’s defining trait, making “the Screamer” a convenient nickname for him.