Did you know that Jennifer Aniston almost abandoned the role of Rachel Green after 5 episodes?Or that the writers wanted to put Monica with Joey (and not with Chandler)?Or that Lisa Kudrow was really pregnant on the set of the series?Here are 10 secrets that will show you the cult series Friends differently.

Jennifer Aniston almost left after 5 episodes

If it is impossible today for Friends fans to imagine another actor/trice in the shoes of the six protagonists, Jennifer Aniston was not sure to be able to fully devote himself to the role of Rachel Green whenShe joined the cast.

Indeed, the actress was already committed to another series, Muddling Through, and had even shot several episodes.Thus, if the latter had been ordered by her CBS broadcaster, Jennifer Aniston would have been forced to abandon Friends in the middle of season 1.

"Our fear was that we were turning 4 or 5 episodes and that CBS, just to annoy NBC (the chain that broadcasts Friends, editor's note), commands Muddling Through, following what we should have changed and return the first fiveEpisodes ”recalls David Crane, co-creator of Friends, during an interview with The Wrap.Finally Muddling Through was canceled after 10 episodes, so everything is good that ends well in a way.

Matt Leblanc was broke before playing in the series

Friends not only propelled her actors to the rank of planetary superstars, but she also made them some of the best paid actors in the history of the series.However, before winning a role in the legendary sitcom, Matt Leblanc struggled to reach both ends.A bit like his character of Joey Tribbiani in Friends, he struggled financially.

He confided in this subject on the set of the Conan show in 2019: "You know when you say to yourself, 'I still have a little money on my account, I can hold on to the next job'… I think I had $ 11 left ”.

The Chandler-Monica couple almost did not exist ...

After Ross and Rachel, another couple in the gang of friends was born: Monica and Chandler.And yet their love story was not necessarily planned at the start.If this idea was trotting in the heads of the writers since season 3 of Friends, it only materialized until the very end of season 4.

As a reminder, the two best friends spend the night together in London, during the Ross wedding trip with Emily."The idea was that, if the series continues to entertain for years, it cannot only rest on the romantic relationship between Ross and Rachel," said executive producer Scott Silveri at the American site Vulture.

Nevertheless, the writers have gone smoothly, not knowing if it would be a simple adventure without a future or a real love story.Finally, in front of the fans' craze for Monica and Chandler together, they made a flagship couple in the same way as Ross and Rachel.

… For the benefit of the Joey-Monica couple

Incredible but true: it was initially planned that Monica will go out with Joey.While questioned during the American show The Today Show in 2017, the co-creator of the series David Crane, who almost gave him another title, said that the starting plan was to put Monica and Joeytogether.

"When we were conceiving the series, we thought that Monica and Joey could go out together and then, when we cast them, we thought that it would not do it because we could put a face on a name from a nameHe explains, adding that Monica had to be "harder" originally.

Lisa Kudrow's pregnancy has been integrated into the series

In 1997, Lisa Kudrow fell pregnant.Rather than hiding her pregnancy as they did with Courteney Cox afterwards, Friends' screenwriters chose to incorporate him into the series.But the character of Phoebe being single at that time, they then fell back on his brother.

He who was in a couple and crazy crazy of his partner, asks Phoebe to be their surrogate mother.The young woman accepts and gives birth to, at the start of season 5, the triplets of Frank and Alice.

Bruce Willis played in the series after losing a bet

In 10 seasons, Friends welcomed guests, each more prestigious than the others, from Julia Roberts to Brad Pitt via Bruce Willis, whose French lining recently left us.The latter lends his features to Paul, Elizabeth's father who is none other than Ross' student friend in season 6 of the series.

But did you know that the appearance of Bruce Willis in Friends was simply linked to a bet?While they were both playing the film My neighbor the killer in 2000, Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis bet on the success of the feature film in the cinema.The interpreter of Chandler de Friends was convinced that he would reach first place in the box office, unlike Bruce Willis.Result of the races: my neighbor the killer remained n ° 1 at the box office several weeks in a row, and Bruce Willis then had to make an appearance in Friends.

An episode was rewritten after September 11, 2001

The attacks of September 11, 2001 had an impact on the production of series and films, as was the case for Friends.Episode 3 of season 8, which was broadcast on October 11, 2001 on American television, was rewritten due to passages deemed sensitive following events.

In this episode, Monica and Chandler go on a honeymoon and have the misfortune to arrive always after another couple of newlyweds, who then take advantage of all the advantages in their place.But the intrigue should have been different: in a cut scene but found on the net, Chandler is joking about the bombs as a result of which he and Monica undergo an interrogation.

And as if that was not enough, later in the episode, it is Monica's turn to shout when she is on the phone with Joey and to speak of an explosion.The couple are again arrested and taken to the interrogation room.

A season 10 without Jennifer Aniston?

What if Jennifer Aniston had left Friends before the end?This departure would undoubtedly have much annoyed fans of the series.And yet, the actress hesitated not to come back for season 10, as she revealed during the program Farewell to Friends broadcast in 2004 on the American channel NBC.

"I had some problems to settle," said Jennifer Aniston, most certainly referring to his separation from actor Brad Pitt.She continues: "I wanted the series to end when people still loved us and we were at the top.And then I also wondered how much I still had Rachel in me. "In the end, Jennifer Aniston agreed to participate in the 10th and last season of Friends, to the delight of viewers.

Why the titles of the episodes all start with "the one who….»»

Fans addicted to Friends are not without knowing that the titles of the episodes all start with "the one who…."(Or" The One ... "in the original version).And if this has become one of the signatures in the series, it was a choice that was made for practical reasons originally.

During an interview for the Today Show in 2017, the co-creator David Crane explained: "We worked on enough series where people spent a lot of time finding intelligent and catchy titles.So I said to myself that when we talked about an episode, we always said, ‘Oh, well it’s the one with the thing…’.So let's do that.And then it stayed.It was easier and people remembered. "

Matthew Perry forgot 3 seasons in the series because of his alcohol and drug problems

The legendary interpreter of Chandler Bing revealed, during an interview for the BBC Radio 2 in 2016, not remembering a part of the series.While asked about the Friends episode he likes the least, Matthew Perry replied: "I think the answer is ... I don't remember three whole seasons.So none of these ... it's somewhere between the seasons 3 and 6 ... I was a little west.This is linked to the fact that the actor has experienced addiction and drug addiction problems when he played in Friends.

The Friends series is available in full on Netflix.