Hollywood A-list actor turned down for role of Joey in Friends as he ‘didn’t fit the group’
FRIENDS casting director Ellie Kanner has revealed which Hollywood A-List actor was turned down for the role of Joey.
Although it may now be difficult to imagine anybody else in the memorable roles of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross, the series almost looked very different.
In an interview with HuffPost, Ellie revealed that it was no easy feat casting the six central characters for the hit sitcom, as it required getting the balance of personalities just right.
She also revealed that one of the many actors to audition for the role of Joey was Hollywood star Vince Vaughn.
The casting director remembered the Four Christmases actor as “handsome and tall” and a “good actor” who fit the part of Joey well. However, she said he didn’t fit in with the group the way Matt LeBlanc ultimately did.
“It’s just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together,” she said of the complex casting process.
Vince had yet to have a breakthrough role when he auditioned for the part of Joey and was still an up-and-coming actor. “That would have been a little different,” the casting director added.
It seems Vince’s role in Friends was never meant to be, but he did work with star Jennifer Aniston later in his career and the pair co-starred in the film The Break-Up together.
In terms of casting, traditional sitcom characteristics, such as age and attractiveness, were considered, along with whether they could pass as New Yorkers.
More “charactery” actors and actresses were auditioned as well, but “Friends” obviously “ended up with a mostly beautiful cast.”
“But you know the bottom line was they had to be funny. That was always the most important aspect of it,” Ellie explained.
From the “very first casting session,” Lisa Kudrow was brought in as a “no brainer” for Phoebe Buffay because of her background in improv and role on Mad About You.
Likewise, casting David Schwimmer as Ross was an easy decision for the team as he’d previously worked with the sitcom’s creators and executive producers Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright.
Next to join the cast was Courteney Cox, who originally auditioned for the role of Rachel Green. She actually ended up asking to audition for the role of Monica Geller instead.
Although apprehensive, it worked out for the best as it’s hard to imagine Courteney not playing Monica or Rachel being played by anyone other than Jennifer Aniston.
“We were just blown away. We were like, ‘Oh sh**! I guess she’s got to be Monica,’” Ellie recalled after seeing Courteney’s second audition.
Friends facts and figures
Dig into the facts behind the iconic 90s sitcom starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and the late Matthew Perry.
- Friends debuted on September 22, 1994. It ran for a decade, airing ten seasons and a whopping 236 episodes.
- The emotional finale, which aired on May 26, 2004, was watched live by 52.5 million viewers in America, making it one of the most-watched TV finales of all time.
- Friends also won a ton of awards over the years including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, 6 Primetime Emmys, 2 SAG Awards, and 12 People’s Choice Awards.
- It was set in New York but filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in L.A.
- Friends almost had a number of different titles – sitcom creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman considered monikers like Friends Like Us, Insomnia Café, and Six of One before finally settling on Friends.
- The show’s iconic theme song was also meant to be different – Friends’ original theme song was Shiny Happy People by R.E.M. which was used for the unaired pilot episode, Friends Like Us. It was eventually changed to I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts.
- David and Marta originally planned for the show’s main couple to be Monica and Joey, but they weren’t romantically compatible unlike Monica and Chandler who had natural chemistry.
- The cast of Friends made a pact not to date or hook up – there really was no Ross and Rachel off-screen. “We didn’t want to jeopardise any of the great relationships and friendships we had established. It was kind of an unspoken rule,” David revealed.
- The cast always stuck together though, even negotiating their salaries increases as a group. When they started out their each earned $22,500 per episode but that steadily increased to $1,000,000 per episode by the finale season.
And, thankfully, Jennifer’s role on CBS show Muddling Through came to an end just in time for her to sign onto Friends as her iron-clad contract meant the role of Rachel almost had to be recast.
The late Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc were the last two in the group to be cast – but their auditions pulled all the pieces into place.
“That one person like Matthew Perry or Matt LeBlanc come in and they just do a little something different and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, that’s it!’” Ellie said.