Busy Philipps Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary of Freaks and Geeks: 'Grateful That This Was My First Job in Hollywood'
Busy Philipps is throwing it back in honor of Freaks and Geeks’ 20th anniversary.
On Thursday, the actress, who played Kim Kelly on the short-lived NBC teen drama, shared a series of eight photos from the show on Instagram to celebrate two decades since it first aired.
“Well. This is a big week for me in terms of TV show history, I guess. 20(TWENTY?!) years ago TODAY FREAKS AND GEEKS premiered on NBC,” wrote Philipps, who celebrated the anniversary of another series of hers, Cougar Town, on Tuesday.
“It feels like a million years ago and also two years ago,” the actress, 40, added. “I’ve always remained humbled and grateful that this was my first job in Hollywood. And really, I think it’s as great today as it was 20 years ago and that really says something, I think. I love Kim Kelly with all my heart and I’m so glad I got to be her for a while and then also forever.”
Before crediting writer Gabe Sachs for taking the photos, Philipps wrote, “Here are some of my favorite pictures. Except for this first one,” referring to the NBC promo photo which includes the full cast.
20 Years Later, Where Is the Cast of Freaks & Geeks Now?
The photo features Philipps, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Samm Levine, Martin Starr, John Francis Daley, Becky Ann Baker, and Joe Flaherty.
Freaks and Geeks ran for 18 episodes on NBC between 1999 and 2000 until it was canceled.
While the show launched her career, Philipps recalled less than fond memories while working with James Franco, 41, in her memoir This Will Only Hurt a Little, which was released last October.
Philipps claimed in the book that Franco, whom she describes as a “f— bully,” didn’t treat her with the same level of respect that he reserved for Cardellini and all of his male costars.
Illustrating one example where the actor was especially difficult to work with, she recalled their experience shooting the “We’ve Got Spirit” episode.
After shooting one scene where Philipps said she called out Franco for stepping on one of her lines, the pair — who played a couple — had to shoot a scene where Philipps was supposed to hit Franco in the chest.
However, instead of responding with a line of dialogue, Philipps claimed that instead her costar “grabbed both my arms and screamed in my face, ‘DON’T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!’ “
She wrote that he proceeded to throw her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her.
The next day, Philipps said Franco apologized to her after executive producer Judd Apatow made him watch a video of what happened.
She said Franco went on to apologize, claiming that he had a negative reaction to watching his character being treated poorly. According to Philipps, that was the extent of Franco’s punishment for the incident.
Franco’s rep did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment in October 2018.
Philipps previously discussed the incident during a 2016 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, describing it as “really brutal.”
“James Franco and I really didn’t get along when we were on Freaks and Geeks,” she said. “We were 19, and we really, really disliked each other — it’s well-documented. He shoved me to the ground once. It was really brutal.”
However, the actress said that the pair had put the past behind them.
“We’ve since made amends,” she said. “We’re friends now and we really like each other now as adults, but as kids we did not get along.”
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