When talking about TV series that took the world by storm, it's hard not to automatically think of Friends, a production that reshaped the future of television and that, nearly 30 years after its premiere, remains relevant and growing its fan base. This show following the lives of a group of friends in Manhattan, New York City was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004, the year in which it ended its run with a 10th and final season.
Throughout its years on the air, Friends proved to be quite a phenomenon, attracting a huge number of viewers and, at the same time, critical acclaim. Among all the accolades the sitcom has received, it has been nominated over 60 times at the Primetime Emmy Awards and 10 times at the Golden Globes. But in addition to that, the show managed to break into popular culture worldwide, imposing lines, hairstyles, and different elements that, to this day, are still strongly associated with it.
Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer are the actors who played the main characters in this show, and as a result, their careers skyrocketed to stardom. So much so that, even though they went on to work on countless projects over the years, people still identify them with their roles on the NBC sitcom, and enjoy every chance they get to see them relive their days on the show.
Nowadays, it is very hard to imagine what the Friends characters would have been like if they had been portrayed by other actors. However, as with almost all TV and film projects, before the six main actors were cast in the show, many, many actors were considered for each and every role. Here are some of the performers who could have starred in Friends.
10 Vince Vaughn as Joey Tribbiani
These days, Vince Vaughn is a world-renowned actor famous for starring in a huge number of productions, such as the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers or the HBO series True Detective. However, back in the 1990s, he was only at the beginning of his career, and like so many other actors in the industry, he opted to take a chance and audition to play Joey Tribbiani, the seductive and goofy character from Friends.
While Vaughn managed to wow with his skills during the audition and certainly nailed the character's look, he ultimately ended up losing out to Matt LeBlanc, who seemed to have been born to play Joey. However, shortly after the premiere of Friends, Vaughn landed the role that made him skyrocket to fame in the 1996 comedy-drama Swingers alongside Jon Favreau.
9 Kathy Griffin as Phoebe Buffay
Sharp comedian and actress Kathy Griffin kicked off her career in the industry by performing stand-up comedy and as part of the improvisational comedy troupe, The Groundlings, and over the years she made a name for herself and consolidated her status as a comedy star with her own specials. However, like many other actresses at the time, Griffin didn't want to miss out on Friends either, and auditioned for the character of Phoebe Buffay, a role that eventually went to Lisa Kudrow.
Still, Griffin went on with her career, working on her own comedy specials and making cameos in several TV series. In 1996, she scored a lead role on another NBC sitcom, Suddenly Susan, which aired for four seasons until 2000.
8 Jon Favreau as Chandler Bing
Just as Vaughn could have played the lovable Joey Tribbiani, his Swingers co-star could have landed the role of his best friend, Chandler Bing. Back then, Jon Favreau was not yet the renowned filmmaker he is today, and he was just taking his first steps in the industry as an actor. However, Favreau's reasons for not starring in Friends are different from Vaughn's, as he was offered the role of Chandler, but ended up rejecting it to focus on other projects.
Thus, he eventually worked as a writer and lead star in Swingers and went on to become an icon in the industry. But, even though he did not accept the offer to play Chandler Bing, the actor did star in Friends as Pete Becker, Monica Geller's millionaire boyfriend.
7 Nancy McKeon as Monica Geller
By the time they opened auditions for Friends, Nancy McKeon was already known for playing Jo Polniaczek on NBC's The Facts of Life, a role she portrayed from the age of 13 to 22. The actress decided to audition for the role of Monica Geller, and, in fact, she became one of the strongest contenders for the role, to the point that she ended up losing it only to Courteney Cox.
After she lost the part, McKeon secured the leading role in the CBS sitcom Can't Hurry Love, which ironically featured a group of girlfriends living in New York City, although this production was not as successful as Friends, and was canceled after only one season on the air.
6 Jami Gertz as Rachel Green
Jami Gertz's case was quite similar to McKeon's: by the time Friends began to be produced, she was already well known for her roles in the show Square Pegs and the films Crossroads and Quicksilver, among many others. Gertz was offered the role of Rachel Green, and just like Favreau, she turned it down to pursue other projects.
Thus, the role landed in Jennifer Aniston's hands, and Gertz went on with her career landing roles in shows like ER, Still Standing, and The Neighbors, the 2012 ABC sitcom she starred in for two seasons. While she mainly focused on television, the actress was also spotted in a few movies, such as 1996's Twister and Keeping Up with the Steins.
5 Mitchell Whitfield as Ross Geller
Mitchell Whitfield's story is quite different from the rest of the actors on this list: he did get a role on Friends, just not the one he was originally aiming for. The actor, who a few years earlier had gained some notoriety for his role as Stan Rothenstein in the comedy film My Cousin Vinny, auditioned for the role of Ross Geller and almost got it, were it not for the last-minute appearance of David Schwimmer who snatched the part. However, Whitfield's performance in the auditions was very impressive, which is why he was finally offered the role of Barry Farber, the orthodontist that Rachel dumped at the altar.
4 Jon Cryer as Chandler Bing
Actor and filmmaker Jon Cryer took his first steps in the industry back in the 1980s, and in 1986, he rose to fame thanks to his role in the teen rom-com Pretty in Pink. His roles in the industry prompted producers to ask him to audition for the role of Chandler Bing. At the time, Cryer happened to be in London working on a stage play, and upon loving the show's script, he auditioned and sent his tape to the network.
Unfortunately, said tape did not reach the network in time to be considered by the executives, so the role went to the brilliant Matthew Perry. For his part, Cryer went on with his career, getting roles in productions that failed to achieve the hoped-for success, until 1998, when he consecrated himself as filmmaker with the movie Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God...Be Back by Five and, a few years later, the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
3 Jane Krakowski as Rachel Green
Jane Krakowski was yet another of the many actresses who auditioned for the role of Rachel Green. At the time, she was breaking into the industry, and was mostly known for her roles on the NBC soap opera Search for Tomorrow and films such as National Lampoon's Vacation and Fatal Attraction.
Krakowski did not make it far during the auditions, but shortly after she was offered a part in Ally McBeal, a show that earned her, her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globe Awards. In 2006, Krakowski landed another role that would become one of the best known of her career, Jenna Maroney in the NBC series 30 Rock.
2 Hank Azaria as Joey Tribbiani
Hank Azaria rose to fame as the voice of several of The Simpsons' most beloved characters during the late-1980s, and when he first heard about Friends, he was thrilled with the project and decided to audition for the role of Joey Tribbiani.
He was so into the sitcom that, even though he was rejected fairly early in the audition process, he asked to audition one more time. Despite being turned down again and excluded from the main cast, Hank ended up appearing in Friends anyway, as he played David, one of Phoebe's boyfriends, in a few episodes of the show.
1 Eric McCormack as Ross Geller
Rounding out this list is Eric McCormack, who at the time was entering the industry with roles in films such as The Lost World and Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. McCormack auditioned to play Ross Geller, and, in fact, he was among the actors that made it the farthest in the casting process along with Mitchell Whitfield before Schwimmer secured the role.
After losing that part, McCormack landed one of the most important jobs in his career: the role of Will Truman on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, which aired for eight seasons up until 2006 and then was brought back in 2017.