10 years, 10 seasons, 237 episodes. We have been on the Friends journey for the past 25 years. How did the cast of friends change Hollywood? Who was pregnant but hid it during filming? And finally, who is Ugly Naked Guy? Here are 30 facts about Friends to take with you on your next trivia night…
1. The One With The Many Names…
Six of One. Insomnia Café. Friends Like Us. What’s in a name anyway?
Imagine if this was the name of our beloved Friends. Would it have been as catchy of a name? Would it have even landed a second season, let alone 10? Kauffman says that she and the other producers were not in love with the title Friends, and thought about vetoing it (Hey, what about Veto?!) because it was “too Gen-X.”
2. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross – How Were They Named?
You may wonder how these beloved characters were named. The answer? All My Children.
The show’s creators were a big fan of the show and decided to name Chandler after the Chandler Family, Ross after Ross Chandler, Rachel Green after Janet Green, Monica after Monique, Joey after Joseph Martin, and Phoebe after Phoebe Tyler Wallingford.
All My Children was mentioned on the show once when Gunther reveals to Joey that he was a reoccurring character that was eventually killed off by being buried in an avalanche.
3. The Ones That Could Have Been?
The Friends cast could have looked completely different if the following characters had gotten the role. Some examples include…
Hank Azaria, Phoebe’s love interest who went to Minsk (which is just lovely in the spring, so we’ve been told) auditioned twice to play Joey.
Kathy Griffin and Jane Lynch auditioned for Phoebe. Jon Favreau, who plays Pete the Millionaire, and Jon Cryer auditioned for Chandler. Maggie Wheeler, our beloved Janis, auditioned for Monica (Oh…My...God...).
4. Which Came First? Ross or David?
The first actor that was cast on Friends was David Schwimmer. He actually didn’t even need to audition. That is how sure Kevin Bright, Friends producer, was about Schwimmer’s ability to play our beloved Ross.
Bright had previously worked with David Schwimmer when he had auditioned for a pilot for one of Bright’s shows. Even though nothing came of the show, Schwimmer made a lasting impression on Bright’s mind. When creating Friends, Bright made sure to write in a part specifically for Schwimmer.
5. Two Characters Were Not Originally in Every Episode
Imagine going through 236 episodes of Friends, and not seeing Chandler Bing (that’s Miss Chanandler Bong!) or Phoebe (P and in Phoebe, H as in Hoebe…) in every episode? Well, one of the original concepts for the show, the focus was on the other four major characters, Ross, Rachel, Monica, and Joey.
Phoebe and Chandler would have been “secondary characters,” but Marta Kauffman, one of the creators of the show realized how much humor and substance they added to Friends and wrote them meaningful stories in order to integrate them in with the other characters.
6. Anonymous Before Friends
Today, if you saw, Jennifer Aniston or Lisa Kudrow on the street, you would recognize them right away, and probably have a slight panic attack because they are breathing the same air as you. However, imagine it the pre-Friends era. No one would know them.
One of the directors of the show, James Burrows, took the cast on a trip to Caesar’s in Las Vegas. “This is your last shot at anonymity,” Burrows told the cast. “Once the show comes on the air, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded.” Burrows was completely right.
7. The One Friend Who Didn’t Have Anonymity
Courteney Cox, who plays Monica’s character, was the only one of the six who had made some waves in her career before signing onto the show. She appeared in Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” music video as well as TV commercials.
If you’ve ever watched that music video, the dance moves are very similar to Carlton’s dance from The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. This is no mistake. The dance was inspired by Cox’s moves.
8. Courteney Cox as Rachel
As the most well-known cast member of Friends before the show officially aired, the producers had wanted Courteney Cox to play the role of Rachel. Cox rejected this idea because she wanted to play a stronger female character.
As we all know, this ended up working out perfectly for the show as well as the audience, because Jennifer Aniston wanted the role of Rachel.
It worked out for Cox, as well, who is apparently a neat freak and according to Kauffman, had the neatest dressing room of the six. Much to our dismay, 11 categories of towels were not found in her dressing room.
9. A World Without Smelly Cat?
Lisa Kudrow did not know how to play the guitar. She didn’t even like the guitar. But, she definitely fooled us all with Phoebe’s iconic songs including “Smelly Cat” and “Sticky Shoes.” At one point, Kudrow even asked the producers to switch Phoebe’s choice of instrument from a guitar to bongo drums.
A guitar teacher was brought in to teach her how to play. This was short-lived. Once Kudrow could play a few chords, the lessons stopped, since she thought it wouldn’t be very Phoebe-like to know them all.
10. Live Audience
Did you ever wonder if the laughter in the background of the episodes was real or just another laugh track? Well, all of the episodes were shot in front of a live audience of up to 300 people, which would take sometimes even five hours. The audience would help to test the jokes and different scenarios to see if they would work.
Only a few episodes were not shot in front of an audience, including the episodes with cliffhangers in order to not spoil them for the audience, including “The One With Ross’s Wedding."
11. Monica’s Mishap?
In the pilot episode of Friends, Monica forgets the name of a guy she slept with. In 2019, viewers wouldn’t think twice about this. However, in 1994, the year that the show first aired, the mindset of sex and women was a bit more conservative.
The producers were so nervous about this small plotline, that they conducted a survey with the audience to see if it would change the likability of the character. It thankfully did not. This kind of truth-telling within the characters is what makes Friends relevant even 25 years later.
12. Marcel the Monkey
You may remember Marcel, Ross’s pet monkey, who appeared in Seasons 1 and 2 of Friends. What you may not remember is that Marcel was actually played by two monkeys, a male named Monkey, and a female named Katie.
While cast members like Matt Le Blanc enjoyed being on set with ‘Marcel,’ David Schwimmer wasn’t as much of a fan. He explained that Katie’s trainer made it hard for them to form a bond. Marcel was eventually written out of the show because it was too time-consuming to shoot his scenes.
Today, Katie is still acting and has been on shows like 30 Rock with Tina Fey.
13. Chandler and His…Quality
When first reading the Friends script, Kudrow admitted that she thought Chandler’s character was gay.
She wasn’t alone in her opinion. Many fans speculated this as well. “The One Where Nana Dies Twice,” in Season 1 pokes fun at this theory. Chandler’s coworker tries to set him up with someone, that turns out to be a man. Monica sums it up that he has a “quality,” which is why people could confuse him for being gay.
In 1997, David Crane, co-creator, said to Entertainment Weekly, “No, Chandler isn’t gay. Nor will he be gay.” Case closed on that.
14. Surprise Appearances from Janice
“Oh…my…god, Chandler Bing.” Her voice automatically plays in her head. You can hear it as clear as day. From her crazy outfits to her voluminous hair, Janice’s presence ever since Season 1 is a present to us all. However, the crew kept her appearances secret from the live audience.
Maggie Wheeler explains that they would hide her from everyone until the very last minute. They would even have her hide behind a black screen as to not let the audience see her. That way, their reaction would always be authentic.
15. Even Friends had Some Financial Troubles
Remember the episode that is only shot in one room of Rachel and Monica’s apartment? This episode is “The One Where No One’s Ready” from Season 2.
There are no outside characters, just the six friends we know and love, in one room. Even when Joey and Chandler are getting revenge over one another about Joey taking Chandler’s chair, we do not see them go into their apartments (Could I Be Wearing Any More Clothes?).
The reasoning for such a simple set, yet so iconic episode (which uses a “bottle episode” format) was because the producers needed to save money for the rest of the season.
16. Gunther, “The Man With Hair Brighter Than The Sun”
It took 33 episodes for Gunther’s character to get a name as well as lines! Finally, in Season 2, Gunther’s line, “Yeah,” opened up his character for plot development.
James Michael Tyler, who plays Gunther claims that he got the role because he could work an espresso machine, even though he never got to use the one on set because it was too loud.
He used to be a barista at The Bourgeois Pig in Hollywood. In addition, since his original hair color is brown, and he showed up with bleached hair for shooting (by mistake), he had to bleach it every week for the 10 years that Friends aired.
17. Pregnancies Shown and Not Shown
“I’m having my brother’s babies” was a pretty normal sentence for Phoebe to say throughout Season 4 of Friends.
In actuality, Lisa Kudrow was pregnant with her son in 1997. While skeptical at first, Kudrow went along with the writer's plan to have Phoebe be pregnant as well. Where would we be today without the line, “Chandler’s a girl!”
In Season 10, Cox also got pregnant. However, because it was already established that Chandler and Monica could not have children, the writers hid her pregnancy with camera angles, costumes, baggy clothes, and props.
18. How did Robin Williams and Billy Crystal Land Their Cameo
Williams and Crystal were not written into the Season 3 script of “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion.”
In fact, they didn’t even know they would be a part of the episode until that day. The two actors were in the vicinity shooting the movie Father’s Day, when the writers asked them if they wanted to make a quick cameo.
The entire scene was put together ad-hock, without much preparation. This was no problem for the two comedians, who improvised their entire conversation. Even Joey’s interruption of their conversation was not planned.
19. Caesar’s a Few Years Later
The cast found themselves back at Caesar’s six years later in the Season 5 finale when Joey is shooting a movie, that ultimately fails, in Las Vegas.
We all know this episode well. Joey dresses as a gladiator to make money while the movie is stalled because of its low budget, Monica and Chandler are looking for a sign that they should get married, all while Ross and Rachel become Mrs. Ross and Mr. Rachel at a Vegas Chapel.
Imagine the shock it was for the cast to be back at the same place, just a few years later, having their lives be completely different!
20. The One Where Everyone is an Arquette
Courteney Cox and David Arquette had gotten married just in time for the Season 6 premiere, which means that the opening credits would be changed to say “Courteney Cox Arquette.”
The other cast members decided to get in on this change of name, and had “Arquette” added to their last names as well in order to celebrate the newlyweds.
David Arquette had a cameo on the show in Season 3. He plays Phoebe’s love interest that was stalking her twin sister, Ursula.
21. How Bruce Willis Ended Up on Friends
While working on The Whole Nine Yards in 2000, Perry and Willis made a bet. If the movie opened at number 1 in the box office, Willis, who was already scheduled to make a guest appearance on the show during Season 6, would have to work for free.
Willis lost the bet and in turn, donated the earnings from his three-episode cameo to charity. As Ross’s girlfriend Elizabeth’s father as well as Rachel’s love interest, Willis left us all with the impression that he was a “neat” guy.
22. Rachel and Joey’s Romance
When Joey first develops feelings for Rachel in Season 8, we all thought this storyline would be cut short. It didn’t exactly go with the flow and plus, Ross and Rachel are meant to be together.
David Crane had other plans. He loved that it was so controversial and wrong. However, the actors had a problem with this storyline. Le Blanc admits that it didn’t feel right. People got super defensive about the storyline. At least we all know how it ends now!
23. The One with All the Kisses
All of the cast had to kiss each other at one point or another. We all know Ross and Rachel’s epic kiss after the prom video, Chandler and Monica’s kiss when they got engaged, and even Joey and Phoebe’s kiss when he lands a role where he has to kiss a man.
But, can you guess the two friends who never had to kiss on the show? If you guessed Phoebe and Rachel, you aren’t a true fan. The two shared a kiss in Season 7 when Winona Ryder guess starred as Rachel’s sorority sister. It is Monica and Phoebe who never had to share an on-screen kiss.
24. Rising Stars Who Appeared on Friends
Throughout the 10 seasons, many actors guest-starred on the show. Not all of them were as famous as Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, but they gained traction and subsequently, went on to stardom.
The man sitting next to Rachel on the plan in the finale, Jim Rash, ended up on Community as Dean and later received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Descendants.
Ellen Pompeo, who is now known for her role as Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy played Chandler and Ross’s college love interest.
Anna Faris, who had already been in movies such as Scary Movie while she played the birth mom for Chandler and Monica’s twins, had her career flourished after this appearance. She now stars in the TV Show, Mom.
25. Rule Changes
There were many rules surrounding profanity on network television while Friends aired on the 8pm slot. Crane said that these rules kept changing and it was hard to keep up with them.
For example, in the first three years, the actors were allowed to say ‘penis,’ but then that changed. And then it changed back.
Another issue that the network did not want them showing condom wrappers on screen. Kauffman had to argue with them saying, “What could be more socially responsible than these characters practicing safe sex?”
26. Props on Set
There are many memorable props found on the set of Friends that somehow made their way into our hearts.
The orange couch at Central Perk that the six friends sat on was actually found in the basement of the Warner Brothers studios.
Remember Pat the Dog, the white dog statue that Joey and Chandler have? This was actually a gift given to Aniston on her first day of filming by one of her friends as a good luck present.
The frame around the peephole of Monica and Rachel’s apartment was supposed to have a mirror in it. However, soon after the start of filming, it broke. The producers decided to keep it on the door anyway.
27. Magna Doodle with a Cult Following
You know the drawing board on the back of Chandler and Joey’s front door?
Every time someone closed their front door from the inside of the apartment, you saw it there, front and center. The doodles were constantly changing to reflect the events of the episodes, and fans took notice. Paul Swain, on the electric crew for the set, was put in charge of the Magna Doodle in later seasons.
When Friends came to an end, Matt Le Blanc took it with him. He took the foosball table too…
28. The One Where Ugly Naked Guy is Revealed…12 Years Later
“Ugly Naked Guy lit a bunch of candles!” Where would we be without this faceless character? Ross even gets to meet him in Season 5. Who is this mysterious man? The world was at a loss.
That is, until 2012, when Vanity Fair reporter Todd Van Luling finally figured out who the actor was. His name is Jon Haugen, and even though he did not want to be known as “ugly naked guy,” we would all like to thank him for his services.
29. The One Where They Made History
In 1994, each of the six cast members was making $22,000 per episode. By the second season, the salaries between them began to differ. By 1997, they each asked for an equal $100,000 each per episode. This was the first time that an entire cast worked as a team to achieve their salary expectations.
The New York Times even wrote about the unique teamwork of the six cast members.
They said, “What is unusual is this cast’s effort to use solidarity as leverage.” By the final season of Friends, each cast member made $1 million per episode. The lack of equal pay wage between men and women is something that is still very problematic in Hollywood.
30. No Plans For a Reunion
Even though the majority of the human race would love to see a Friends reunion, it is sadly not in the cards.
The actors and creators are not on board. The six actors are all doing their own things and even Kauffman and Crane said in 2014 that if they made a reunion, there would be too much backlash from it.
On a personal level, Aniston, Cox, and Kudrow remain close friends and even have a group chat together.