The Truth About Casting 'Friends'
The cast of Friends is everything! While the intricate storytelling techniques used in brilliant episodes such as "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" and even the best Thanksgiving episode made the show what it was, it was the cast that elevated it. While we don't really know if the cast members, such as Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry, are still as close as they were when they shot the show, the chemistry they had during production is palpable.
Of course, the chemistry on the show is also because of the talents of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and David Schwimmer. Thanks to an excellent oral history of the creation of Friends by Vanity Fair, we've learned a lot about what went into the casting of this iconic sitcom. And the truth is... it was FAR more complicated to put these six amazing actors together than it looked.
Casting Monica And Chandler Were The First Pieces Of The Puzzle
Selling the pilot for Friends was everything. And part of selling it meant casting the best actors humanely possible for the roles of Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey. While show creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane had legendary sitcom director Jim Burrows in their corner, they had to make sure they found the right faces to launch their show.
"It was a fascinating casting experience," Marta Kauffman told Vanity Fair. "One of the first actors on our list was Matthew Perry to play Chandler, but he was doing a show called LAX 2194 [a Fox pilot], so he wasn’t available. We brought other people in."
While they were sure that Chandler would be the easiest part to cast, they actually couldn't find anyone who could be quippy, sarcastic, and ultimately likable. The only person who came close was an actor named Craig Bierko... who was actually coached for the role by Matthew Perry himself. But Craig passed on the project.
"Thank God!" former NBC executive Warren Littlefield said of Craig Bierko passing on the project. "There was something Snidely Whiplash about Craig Bierko. He seemed to have a lot of anger underneath, more of a guy you love to hate."
Eventually, Marta and David accepted Matthew in a second position, meaning that he would be cast in the show only if his prior commitment to the Fox pilot fell through... Obviously, that's exactly what happened.
As for Courteney Cox, well, she was originally offered the role of Rachel. But she wanted to play Monica, as well. Of all the cast members, people knew Courteney the most. She had been in the successful "Dancing in the Dark" music video and in a number of other small shows. Hollywood knew that she was going to go somewhere so Marta and David had to have her.
"When we originally wrote the role, we had Janeane Garofalo’s voice in our head," co-creator David Crane said. "Darker and edgier and snarkier, and Courteney brought a whole bunch of other colors to it."
Then Came Joey And Rachel
David Crane and Marta Kauffman decided to bring two actors in for Joey. Both actors were fairly established names in the sitcom world, so they tended to be brought out for various projects. But they were anything but mainstream. But one of those actors was Matt LeBlanc. In fact, Friends was Matt's fourth series... but, by far, his biggest.
Part of how Matt landed the role of Joey was that he went out drinking the night before and fell and hit his nose. So, naturally, he had to explain the story to Marta and David in the audition room the next morning. Matt's re-telling of the story had Marta in stitches and it ultimately won her over.
It also set the tone for a shift in the character...
"Joey was never stupid when we pitched the show," David Crane said. "He wasn’t stupid until we were shooting the pilot, and somebody said, 'Matt plays dumb really well.'"
As for Jennifer Aniston, well, NBC had been trying to get her on a series for ages. After all, she was a big up-and-coming name who hadn't broken into the mainstream yet. NBC was eager to take credit for that. This is why they cast her in a Ferris Buller's Day Off spin-off series that ultimately crashed and burned.
But NBC executive Warren Littlefield, by chance, got the idea to push Jennifer for Friends.
"One night while gassing up my car on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, I ran into Jennifer," Warren explained. "She asked me, 'Will it ever happen for me?' God, I wanted it to. I didn’t care what it would take—this was the role for her."
"Rachel was the part that was hardest to cast," Marta Kauffman claimed. "Jennifer Aniston came in, and she was in a show that was on the air—Muddling Through [on CBS]."
So, they auditioned more actors for the role since Jennifer was already committed to a show... But no one could overthrow the idea of casting Jennifer Aniston as Rachel. So, just like Matthew Perry, they cast her as a second position... This was a very pricey gamble given the fact that CBS seemed eager to make Jennifer work on their dying show.
After a little more pleading and some strategist counter-programming on the part of NBC, they managed to "kill" Jennifer's CBS show. Then she was free to do Friends.
Finally, Phoebe And Ross
According to the Vanity Fair article, Phoebe was the easiest to cast. When Lisa Kudrow walked in the room, she owned the character! Even though she thought she was better suited for Rachel, Marta and David were certain she was ideal for Phoebe.
At the time, Lisa was known for her work on Mad About You, so NBC was well-aware of her. But David Crane's boyfriend, Jeffrey Klarik (who later joined the creative team of Friends) was a writer on Mad About You, so that's how Lisa thinks she got called in for Friends.
Ross was the last piece of the puzzle.
David Schwimmer had auditioned for Marta before, but for another show. And he stayed in their mind ever-since. David also was making a name for himself in the weather world so there was high-demand for him. This is why his agent battled NBC to get him a higher salary when he was cast on Friends.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiroZ1dqb%2B2wMdmmJunpal6pK3SraCnn12bv6qxzZ2qaA%3D%3D