Friends star Cosimo Fusco unrecognisable years after stint as steamy Italian Paolo

Cosimo Fusco played Rachel Green’s Italian boyfriend Paolo in Friends – but these days he looks dramatically different his sitcom character.

Paolo appeared in the very first season of the hit American sitcom which aired on NBC in 1994 – nearly three decades ago.

When Jennifer Aniston’s character Rachel swooned over the handsome Italian, Ross Gellar was left fuming as he had a major crush on Rachel.

However, Rachel’s romance with the Italian was short-lived, and she dumped him soon after he tried it on with quirky Phoebe Buffay when she was giving him a massage.

Paolo, who could barely speak any English in the series, later appeared in season two where he had a one night stand with Rachel as she tried to get over Ross.

These days, 59-year-old Cosimo has snipped off Paolo’s long locks, and he’s now sporting some grey hairs – but he still looks handsome as a silver fox.

Cosimo’s chiseled facial features are still very much in-tact, as is his thick curly hair.

The actor previously spoke out about his Friends character – admitting he had a problem with the way the show depicted Italian men.

However, he said he came to an agreement with the show creators.

He told The Guardian: “There was one scene where I was getting a massage and I had to be this greasy guy who was touching Phoebe’s a**.

“I had a problem with how it portrayed me, as if guys from Italy are like that.

“What they wanted me to do was quite disrespectful. But I remember we were able to find a compromise, so I felt comfortable.

Fusco also explained that he was asked to improvise his lines in Italian, and was told not to speak any English.

He revealed: “I was asked to improvise, and I was a little bit skeptical because my English wasn’t as good as it is now, let’s face it.

“But I was told not to speak any English: ‘Just say whatever you want in Italian’. I made up most of the Italian spoken by Paolo. When I stand by Jennifer, I say, ‘Look at the moon. Look at the stars.”

He recently appeared in a Spanish horror series for HBO Europe called 30 Coins.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk