When Gable auditioned for the role, she played Estelle quite plainly and was encouraged to "go away and do something with her". She returned to the audition room wearing a "fat suit" and eating a sandwich from a delicatessen, which she stubbed out a cigarette on. The performance was used in the deleted scene of "The One with the Butt". Her age is never given but Gable believed that she was in her 80s. In 2004, "The Seattle Times" ranked Estelle as the sixth-best guest character of the series. Gable also plays the nurse who delivers Ben in "The One with the Birth".