Top 10 Actors That Were Almost Cast in Friends
#10: Leah Remini Monica
Remini made it to the final rounds of auditions for the role of “Monica.” And while she might have been feeling good about her chances, that all changed as she walked out of her final audition and passed an actor walking in. That actor was Courtney Cox and, according to Remini, as she passed Courtney she knew that Cox was going to be Monica. And she was right, of course! Fun fact: Cox had initially been offered the role of Rachel but asked to audition for Monica instead. Leah, as fans will remember, did appear in one episode in season one. And a few years later she was cast in “The King of Queens,” which wasn't quite the mega-hit “Friends” was, but was still a big success.
#9: Craig Bierko Chandler
It’s almost impossible to imagine anyone besides Mathew Perry as Chandler delivering all those jokes, jokes, jokes, jokes. But it almost didn’t happen. The thing is that, although Perry was the producers’ first choice, he was connected to a pilot for another show, and they weren’t sure he was going to be able to get out of the deal and do “Friends.” One of the executives' other choices was Craig Bierko, who Perry actually helped train for the part. But in the end, Perry was able to get out of that pilot contract, and the part of Chandler was his. And “Friends” fans couldn’t “BE” any happier about it. And Craig got to, among other things, date Carrie Bradshaw.
#8: Elizabeth Berkley Rachel
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Did you know that two former “Saved By the Bell” cast members auditioned for the role of Rachel? Tiffani Thiessen auditioned, but was too young for the part (she turned 20 year the show premiered, whereas Aniston turned 25 in 1994). Then there was Berkley. She very much wanted the part but she just wasn’t quite the right fit, and didn’t make it through the audition process. However, the next year she would star in the critically-panned but now cult classic, “Showgirls.” Which, at least for a little while, got more press than Rachel’s hairdo.
#7: Mitchell Whitfield Ross
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In show biz, sometimes you just have to role with the punches! Because actors can end up succeeding, even if not in the way they’d originally hoped for. And that’s what happened to Mitchell Whitfield, who was well on his way to being cast as Ross . . . until David Schwimmer snagged the gig almost at the last minute. Now that’s tough to swallow. But all was not lost, as Whitfield clearly made a great impression, and the producers were keen to get him on the show — and involved with Rachel — anyway. And they did, with Whitfield appearing in numerous episodes as Barry Farber, the orthodontist who Rachel ends up abandoning at the altar. Better Mr. Potato Head than no role at all!
#6: Janeane Garofalo Monica
Courtney Cox was so good as Monica you would think the part was written for her. But as it turns out, it was actually written for Janeane Garofalo. One of the show’s creators, David Crane, has said that they had Garofalo’s voice in their head when they originally were writing the role of Monica, i.e. darker, edgier and snarkier. Maybe they had just seen “Reality Bites.” However, while that was their initial idea, after seeing Cox audition, they decided to go a different way, feeling that Courtney’s Monica would be more audience-friendly.
#5: Jon Cryer Chandler
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In “Pretty in Pink,” Duckie’s love for his hot best friend is never realized. Had he gotten the role of Chandler, he could have finally ended up with the beautiful best friend. But his chances got lost in the mail. As the story goes, Jon was working in the UK at the time and got a call from executive producer Marta Kauffman, who said that she wanted him to audition for the role of Chandler Bing. So, Cryer met with the London casting director and filmed his audition. But according to Jon, the package with the tape in it got held up at customs and never got to producers in time.
#4: Ellen DeGeneres Phoebe
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The mythology surrounding this one is that DeGeneres was the producers’ first choice to play Phoebe Buffay, but that Ellen turned it down. However, in recent years a competing narrative has come out claiming that that just isn’t true. And it looks like that might be right. First off, DeGeneres’ sitcom “Ellen” premiered in March of 1994 - 6 months before “Friends.” Considering the individual shows’ creation and casting timelines, this might have been possible, but seems unlikely that Ellen could have been considered. But perhaps the most impressive evidence came in an interview Ellen did with Howard Stern in 2015, in which she said she never turned down the role and was never even up for it.
#3: Jane Krakowski Rachel
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Jane has said that she, “like almost every actor in the world, auditioned for Friends.” But she has also said that the process didn’t get very far, and she didn’t even get a call back. While it might have sucked at the time, it meant that she was available to star in “Ally McBeal” just a few years later. And a few years after that show ended she landed on “30 Rock,” one of the most critically acclaimed shows of this century. She followed that with another great show, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” So all good!
#2: Jon Favreau Chandler
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In 1996 “Swingers” was released, starring two then relatively-unknown actors, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. It made over $4 million dollars at the box office and has continued to grow in popularity over the years. But imagine if the film had starred one of the actors from the mega-hit, cultural phenomenon “Friends” that had premiered on NBC just a year and a half earlier! Well, it could have been, had Favreau accepted the role of Chandler that was offered to him. But he turned it down. Although, like Chandler, Jon also got to kiss Courtney Cox, when he played Monica's millionaire boyfriend Pete for a 6-episode arc in season three. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Vince Vaughn, Joey Imagine “Swingers” With TWO Stars From “Friends” Téa Leoni, Rachel Ended Up Doing “The Naked Truth” Instead Kathy Griffin, Phoebe This Role Would Have Gotten Kathy on the A-List Nancy McKeon, Monica Auditioned Strong, But Just Didn’t Get Cast
#1: Eric McCormack Ross
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Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when McCormack was just getting started in the business, he was mostly getting roles in dramas and TV movies. He decided he needed to start, as he put it, “pulling at this other sort of funnier, lighter side.” So, he began auditioning for everything he could find, which included “Friends.” Needless to say, he didn’t get the part. But a few years later he did join Ross and the gang on Thursday night’s Must-See-TV lineup, after he was cast as Will in “Will & Grace.” We can’t imagine anyone else as Ross or anyone else as Will, so everything worked out the way it was meant to.
