Behind-the-scenes secrets of Friends: everything you didn’t know about Friends

Friends of Yours may have ended in 2004, but the obsession has continued to this day.

Fans have declared themselves completely impressed with the lives of these six characters, and the lack of new episodes hasn’t stopped the craze.

Even to this day, there are fans old and new who appreciate the comedy and plot of the sitcom that shaped the ’90s.

So, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts about Friends that you most likely didn’t know.

Jennifer Aniston might not have played Rachel

Without a doubt, Jennifer Aniston’s name will forever be synonymous with that of the Rachel Green character. It’s hard to imagine any other actress portraying the “zany” but naive character.

Initially, however, the casting director had another actress in mind for the role. Believe it or not, Courteney Cox herself was targeted to become Rachel. Perhaps even more surprisingly, it was Cox herself who turned it down. And well she did!

After reading descriptions of all the characters, Cox decided that Monica’s role was the best fit for her. She wanted to portray a “strong” woman on the show and felt Monica was just right. It’s also hard to imagine a universe in which Monica is played by anyone else.

Chandler Bing was created in part by Matthew Perry

If there’s one thing we all remember perfectly about Chandler Bing, it’s his sarcasm and sense of humor. The character’s sharp wit wasn’t just a creation of the writer, actor Matthew Perry wrote many of his own jokes into the show. Apparently, it turns out he’s funny in real life too.

During high school, a teacher allegedly told him that his joking nature wouldn’t help him in life. By the time he landed on the cover of People magazine, Perry had sent a copy to that teacher to prove him wrong when he underestimated him.

The Joey-Rachel couple, an extremely bad idea

Sitcom fans have always had a favorite pair of lovers, and that pair is Rachel and Ross. However, most Friends fans agree that a certain couple should never have existed.

And it wasn’t just viewers who thought so. Apparently, even the actors tried to convince the producers to avoid the brief romance between Rachel and Joey.

“Daddy’s Girl”

We all remember how Rachel was when she first appeared on the show: a spoiled brat and generally kind of “Daddy’s girl”.

As the show progressed through the episodes, we all suddenly found ourselves falling in love with her funny personality and her kind soul.

Still, a part of the spoiled Rachel continued to exist in Aniston, who had a habit of arriving late on set. This habit became so annoying that fellow cast members felt duty bound to intervene.

David Schwimmer himself was rumored to have initiated the intervention.

A love affair between Joey and Phoebe was considered

We’re already familiar with the show’s main couples, but did you know there was a third that could have been included in the storyline?

Phoebe and Joey were never involved in a relationship with each other, despite the fact that this time the actors seemed to be on board with the idea. You have to admit, the two of them would have been pretty good together.

However, the “relationship” never got the “green light,” with the writers believing it would not work out.

Jennifer Aniston had to play along with her ex-boyfriend

You probably remember the storyline between Rachel and Joshua from season four. At first, he was one of her customers at Bloomingdale’s, and after several flirtations, the two ended up together.

The character never returned to Friends after the real-life relationship between the two actors ended in season four.

The actress had reportedly been in a relationship with Tate Donovan, the actor who plays Joshua, for three years. The two broke off their engagement just as he was about to appear on the show.

Lisa Kudrow helped write the song Smelly Cat

One of the most memorable details of the show is the Smelly Cat song. Did you know that Lisa Kudrow herself helped create the famous song?

Since the show’s writers were responsible for creating the lyrics, Kudrow came up with the accompanying melody. This becomes all the more impressive when you learn that the actress didn’t actually know how to play the guitar.

Originally, Kudrow wanted her character to play the bongo. Would Smelly Cat have been as successful without the iconic guitar? We’ll never find out.

My name is Joey

Remember the hilarious scene where Phoebe tries to teach Joey French? Despite her impeccable diction, Joey fails to reproduce some words, makes up new ones and pronounces them with a vague French accent.

In reality, Matt LeBlanc isn’t just an amateur French speaker, he’s actually fluent in the language.

Incidentally, LeBlanc is a French name.

Pheobe gave birth to one child (not three) during filming

Usually when an actress is pregnant during filming, the director and crew choose to use clever angles to hide her belly.

However, there are missed occasions when pregnancy is introduced into the script, as was the case with Lisa Kudrow in season four of Friends, when Phoebe ends up becoming a surrogate mother to her brother’s triplets.

Because Lisa Kudrow was pregnant with only one child, she was “padded” to make it look like she was, in fact, having three.

However, her co-star Courteney Cox didn’t have the same luxury when she was pregnant with her daughter Coco. Because it had already been decided Monica couldn’t have children, Cox’s pregnancy was hidden from the public.

Which famous actors wanted to star in Friends but had no luck

We can’t imagine any other cast bringing these lovable characters to life, but you might be surprised to find out which other famous stars have given up the trouble for roles on Friends.

For example, Lisa Kudrow came out on top, despite actresses Jane Lynch and Kathy Griffin who also wanted to play Phoebe.

The role of Chandler was also wanted by several famous actors. Among them was Jon Cryer, now known for Two and a Half Men. Jon Favreau also tried his luck. Eventually, he was cast as Pete Becker, Monica’s millionaire boyfriend.