It is hard to think of anyone else portraying and embodying the characters on Friends that we have come to love. However, there were several characters who almost had completely different actors portraying them. The character of Chandler was almost taken by Craig Bierko. In an interview with NBC's Executive VP of Prime-Time Programming, they said, "We kind of talked Craig Bierko out of being in Friends. Ultimately, he made his own decision, sort of. He took another pilot where he could be the lead and the only star."
THE ACTORS WHO WERE ALMOST CAST
Chandler wasn't the only character that was almost someone completely different. The character of Monica would have been the biggest change when NBC almost cast Nancy McKeon. They wanted Monica to have an attitude and be the mean one of the group. However, when Courtney Cox got the role she made it her own character by developing her into the Monica we now know. Interestingly enough, David Schwimmer was the only cast member who didn't have someone else almost take his role. However, this may be partly because the role was written specifically for him. Kathy Griffin almost filled the shoes of Phoebe, which would've made the character pretty different as well.
THE HUDDLE TO HYPE UP FILMING
WAS CHANDLER GAY?
The idea of Chandler not being with Monica seems pretty farfetched, however many people speculated and still speculate that Chandler may play for the other team. There are many small things that fans have picked up over the years, mainly when Chandler is with his best friend Joey. The director of information for GLAAD, Loren Javier, spoke on this conspiracy theory of sorts and had this to say, "Sure, there are all the little clues, the little in-jokes about his sexuality. And since the coming-out process is often a long one, it wouldn’t be insane for Chandler to realize he’s gay. Many gay people see Friends as the kind of show something like that could happen on.” A few other notable people spoke about Chandler's sexuality. Executive producer David Crane opened up and said that Chandler isn't gay and never has been. He also disregarded the idea of Chandler being bi-sexual saying, "It's not like he has a choice, he either is or isn't." Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe, also believed the character of Chandler was gay after reading the first few scripts. Perhaps Chandler is still hiding something all these years later.
THE ORIGINAL IDEAS WERE WAY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE KNOW
JENNIFER ANISTON WASN'T A HUGE FAN OF HER 90'S HAIRCUT
Friends invented several of the most popular trends that were in the 90's. A lot of fashion trends came from the show and more importantly hairstyles. One of the most famous hairstyles to come out of the show, was from the character Rachel. The producers gave the character Rachel short hair that went to her shoulders, complete with a mix of blond highlights in it. With Friends exploding in popularity, there is no denying that "The Rachel" was becoming one of the biggest and most popular hairstyles of the 90s. Despite beginning to show its age, the iconic hairstyle still remains very popular. However, one particular person wasn't such a huge fan of it, with that being Jennifer Aniston, the one who originally made it so popular. In an interview in 2011, she spoke about the haircut and her distaste for it. She had this to say, "Looking back — honestly, even during that time — I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed Chris attached to my hip. Left to my own devices, I am not skilled with a hairbrush and blow dryer." Luckily she no longer has to worry about maintaining that hairstyle, even though she still has to see it most places she goes.
THE RE-CAST FOR CAROL
FRIENDS WAS NEVER ACTUALLY FILMED IN NEW YORK
Despite Friends taking place in New York City, not once was the show ever filmed there. Instead, the entirety of the show was filmed in Burbank, California. The show eventually became such an icon, that their Burbank stage (stage 42) was renamed to the 'Friends Stage". Okay, but you're probably wondering, did they film in Las Vegas when the show took place there in season 5? Nope, it still took place on Stage 24 in Burbank, California. Surely they had to have filmed off location when the show was taken to London in season 4, right? Well, that's the only exception, as the show took the characters and their actors to London to film part of a season. The creators said that due to a large fanbase in London, they wanted to represent them in a way. The creators also spoke about how they would rather film in the studio than on location, simply because of the live studio audience. The creators said, "We find that taking the show out of the studio makes it less funny, even when we shoot on the lot outside. The live audience is such an integral part of the show."
THE 10TH SEASON ALMOST NEVER HAPPENED
THE JOEY + MONICA STORYLINE
Now that we know how many changes Friends has seen over the years, there are several more secrets that didn't come out until after the show ended that may come as a surprise to many fans. When a show starts to gain traction, the writing team can come up with some strange things. It is a trial and error system. Most shows will try different concepts and see what finally sticks. One of the storylines for Friends that never made it out of the writing room was a Joey and Monica storyline. However, it was supposed to be more than just friends. The writers were actually planning for the couple to have a huge love story that would last several seasons. The reason for this, is that the two characters were the most willing to be with one another. However, as the character of Monica grew through Courtney Cox, so did the writing for the show. Much like in reality, the development of Monica showed creators that she should fall for Chandler instead of Joey. The creators first spoke on realizing Monica's full potential after the first Thanksgiving episode where she showed her true colors. I think we can all agree that we're pretty lucky that the Monica and Joey storyline never made it out of the writing room, as the show could have ended up completely different.
EVERYONE IN THE CAST HATED THE JOEY + RACHEL STORYLINE
PRICE FOR EACH ACTOR PER EPISODE
A show like Friends only comes around once in a long time. Therefore when the show starts to get momentum it starts bringing in large amounts of revenue. This means that the actors are getting paid large amounts of money per episode. One of the biggest controversies to happen during the airing and producing of Friends, was the fact of equal pay. Before season three different actors were getting different amounts of pay ranging from $20,000 to $40,000. This didn't fly with the Friends cast because they all felt that each character made the show what it was, so they should all be paid equally for contributing to the show. The equal pay agreement eventually went through, which was unheard of for a network working with its actors directly. That just goes to show how much of a powerhouse Friends actually was. The contract was definitely worth it for the actors to risk their jobs, because by the later seasons the actors were earning up to a million dollars per episode. This is much better than their measly $20,000 per episode during its early seasons. This paved the way for several companies to demand equal pay for its actors, but none quite had the impact like Friends.
THE SEINFELD INFLUENCE
MONICA AND PHEOBE WERE ACTUALLY PREGNANT
Friends was known to use their actor's real life ailments within the show, such as using pregnancies and injuries to the shows advantage. The writers would write small or large subplots for whatever the actor was dealing with. During Lisa Kudrow's pregnancy, they wrote a subplot about Phoebe being a surrogate for her brother. However, they ran into a problem when Courtney Cox became pregnant during a storyline where Monica (Courtney Cox's character) couldn't get pregnant. Therefore they were careful at hiding Courtney Cox's pregnancy during the filming of those seasons. During a filming of an episode, we see Joey jumping up and down on a bed, eventually falling off and injuring his shoulder. Little did Matt LeBlanc know, when he fell he had actually injured his shoulder. He spoke about this irony and said, "I remember, as Joey jumping on the bed. Yeah, but get this... the audience was full of Diet Coke contest winners flown in from all over the country, and I did two scenes, popped my shoulder, and they had to cancel it. So they all got flown home and then flown back for another week. So it cost Coca-Cola a lot more than they anticipated. What are you going to do?"
THE LIVE AUDIENCE NEVER KNEW WHEN JANICE WOULD SHOW UP
MONICA AND CHANDLER'S STORYLINE ALMOST HAPPENED WAY EARLIER
Many fans would agree that the best thing to happen to Friends was the addition of the Chandler and Monica love storyline. The two characters fit perfectly together and the two actors had crazy good charisma. The idea for grouping Chandler and Monica together came around very early on in the life of Friends. After discovering that the two had great charisma when they worked together during Seasons 1 and 2, it was obvious to the writers that they wanted them to be together. One of the show's creators had this to say about the grouping, "I just feel like at this point it would feel a little desperate. We had gotten excited about the stories we could tell, but once she said that, we were all shamed and ran away. It became clear it was too early to explore something like that There was a little bit of relationship ennui among us writers. We’d already done a lot of drama between Ross and Rachel. And nobody wanted it to become the ‘Get Together and Break-Up’ show." The decision early on to group Chandler and Monica together made it easier for the writers to develop and grow the characters. Overall, it was probably a good thing that they didn't try to force Monica and Chandler to be a thing too early on because it wouldn't have felt as natural.
MATT LEBLANC (JOEY) DIDN'T LIKE THE SCRIPT
MATTHEW PERRY FORGOT FILMING AT LEAST THREE SEASONS
Matthew Perry may have been the one who changed the most physically throughout the series. This wasn't done on purpose, but instead was due to a number of reasons in Perry's personal life. It is common knowledge that Matthew Perry had a problem with substance abuse for at least three years during the filming of Friends. After some time had passed after Friends ended, Matthew Perry opened up and discussed the fact that he didn't remember being on the show from season 3 to season 6. Matthew Perry openly spoke about his addiction later after the show ended, he said, "I had a big problem with and I couldn’t stop. Eventually, things got so bad that I couldn’t hide it, and then everybody knew....I’m a pretty private person, but I was on a TV show that 30 million people were watching, so people knew. It was so public what was happening to me.” Since getting clean, Matthew Perry has remained sober ever since, and has even turned his mansion into a place to help people become sober. Surprisingly besides physical appearance, Matthew Perry's addiction didn't have a huge impact on the filming of Friends.
MATT LEBLANC ONLY HAD $11 BEFORE BECOMING JOEY ON FRIENDS
MOST JOKES WERE IMPROVISED
The filming for a Friends episode wasn't like many other shows or sitcoms. Filming took almost double the time of a typical film day, lasting up to six hours. This was because the writers were trying to better write the scripts for landing jokes and seeing scenes happen in front of their eyes. Matt LeBlanc had something to say about this style of shooting when he said, "On show night we'll do the first pass of a scene, and if something doesn't pop really great, they'll all huddle together and they really rack their brains and take as much time as it takes to come up with something that scores better or that makes more sense or that's clearer or drives the story better. You know what I mean? They're tireless. And they're great. And they're passionate about what they do, and it makes our jobs, the actors', incredibly easier." This is risky for writers and producers to do because last-minute changes could ruin the flow of the episodes for any storylines that they're working on. This is why most jokes were written last minute to better flow the scenes and connect them together. An integral part of filming Friends, or any sitcom for that matter, is to connect laugh tracks to make scenes flow as best as they can.
The cast didn't want Rachel and Joey to get together any more than you did.
The cast of six was originally meant to be four.
In the early stages, Friends was going to focus on Monica, Rachel, Ross and Joey, with Phoebe and Chandler conceived only as supporting characters.
There were a few titles before they settled on 'Friends'
Having been turned down twice for the role of Joey, Hank Azaria ended up playing Phoebe's scientist boyfriend David.
The one who she should really have ended up with instead of Mike.
Before the show had been cast, Monica and Joey were intended to be the central couple.
The real address of the Friends' apartment, as used in the exterior shots, is 90 Bedford Street in Manhattan's West Village.
If you visit today, you'll find an adorable restaurant called The Little Owl and lots of apartments you can't afford.
Remember that guy who accidentally threw a condom into Phoebe's guitar case and then ran back to get it?
Phoebe was originally conceived as a goth girl.
That version of the role was offered to Janeane Garofalo, who passed.
A subplot involving Monica and Chandler being interrogated by airport security was pulled at the last minute.
The refrigerators in both apartments really worked.
Fittingly, Monica's was always well stocked with drinks for the cast and crew, while Joey's was generally empty.
THE CAST COULD HAVE GONE IN SO MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
Could you imagine Monic Gellar being played by Nancy Mckeon instead of Courtney Cox?
Or Jon Favreau as Chandler? Don't get me wrong I love Jon Favreau as much as the next but there is no chance I'd swap out Matthew Perry.
ROSS WAS WRITTEN FOR DAVID SCHWIMMER
While some of the roles were open and auditioned for, the newly divorced, slightly neurotic, paleontologist Ross was the first to be cast because it was written for David Schwimmer specifically. Executive producer Kevin Bright had worked with David before and used his voice to develop the character.
THEY SHOT IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE
LISA KUDROW WAS NOT INTO PHOEBE’S GUITAR PLAYING
Lisa Kudrow had to learn how to play the guitar to take on the role of Phoebe, but she didn’t like it and suggested that Phoebe play the bongos instead. She eventually decided that Phoebe would only know a few chords anyway so she found a happy medium.
LISA KUDROW THOUGHT CHANDLER WAS GAY
THE CHARACTER URSULA STARTED ON MAD ABOUT YOU
The character Phoebe was created as a twin sister for a reason, because when Lisa Kudrow was cast on Friends she already had a role playing Ursula, the airheaded waitress on Mad About You. The producers encouraged her to do both shows and fixed her recognizability by deciding that the characters would be identical sisters.
BRUCE WILLIS DIDN’T GET PAID FOR HIS ROLE ON THE SHOW BECAUSE OF A LOST BET
THE OPENING SEQUENCE WAS NOT SHOT IN NEW YORK
This might not be a total shocker, but despite how much the fountain in the opening credits looks like the Pulitzer Fountain in Central Park, the shoot actually took place on the Warner Brother’s lot in Burbank.
THE APARTMENT NUMBER CHANGED DURING THE SERIES
COURTENEY COX’S PREGNANCY WAS NOT WRITTEN INTO THE SHOW
Lisa Kudrow’s real life pregnancy was written into the show as her character being a surrogate to her brother’s triplets, but Courteney’s was not. It was already established that Monica and Chandler could not have children naturally, so they hid the pregnancy with costumes and props. In real life, the actress and her then-husband David Arquette had difficulty conceiving. Courtney had to film the episode where Rachel gives birth to Emma shortly after suffering a miscarriage.
THE CAST TOOK A GROUP TRIP BEFORE THE SHOW AIRED
THE CAST WOULD HUDDLE BEFORE SHOOTING EVERY EPISODE
The cast of Friends became friends in real life, and they had the habit of huddling before shooting every episode. David Schwimmer has discussed how emotional he got doing it for the finale. “I started to lose it in this ritual that we had before the show, which is just a group hug, kind of get in a little circle, right before we come out. And that was the moment I was dreading for a long time because I knew that moment of just looking at everyone in their eyes, and saying ‘Have a good show,’ and knowing that was the last time we were going to be able to be in our little circle.”
JENNIFER ANISTON ALMOST LEFT BEFORE THE LAST SEASON
THE CAST WAS THE FIRST TO NEGOTIATE A SALARY AS A GROUP
It’s not uncommon for different actors to pull different wages on a TV show, but the cast of Friends wasn’t having that. They reportedly all started out making around $22,000 per episode but this started to deviate by the second season. In 1997 they all refused to work until they were paid an equal $100,000 per episode each, and by the final season, they were each earning $1 million per episode.
EVERYONE’S AN ARQUETTE
A BIT ABOUT GUNTHER
Everybody’s favorite lovesick barista was nameless until half way through season two. The actor who played him, James Michael Tyler, started out as an extra and apparently got the job as he was the only one who knew how to work the espresso machine. It wasn’t until episode 33 that Gunther had a line in the script, which was “yeah,” and he ended up appearing in 152 episodes.
The Friends have pretty much all kissed each other.
A PARTING MEMENTO
After the finale wrapped, every member of the cast was given a chunk of the sidewalk outside the Central Perk coffee shop as a souvenir from the set.