20 ‘Friends’ Facts You Probably Didn’t Know Existed

“Friends,” the iconic sitcom that captured hearts worldwide, has left an indelible mark on popular culture. While most fans can recite Ross’s infamous “We were on a break!” line or hum Phoebe’s quirky tunes, there’s a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes facts that even the most dedicated viewers might not be aware of.

#1

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Lisa had a hard time playing Phoebe up to season 3. She eventually went to ask Matt LeBlanc for advice, who reminded her that she was doing great and to take the pressure off.

#2

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Rachel’s iconic yellow dress got so popular, that even years later the show’s designer regularly got requests from fans interested in purchasing the dress.

#3

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Phoebe was originally supposed to end up with David the scientist, but the writers liked Paul Rudd’s Mike so much that they changed who she ended up with.

#4

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After year-long expectations that the ninth season would be the series’ last, NBC agreed to pay $10 million to Warner Bros. for the production of each tenth season episode.

#5

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Winona Ryder’s Friends cameo was met with some backlash. That episode reported one of the lowest viewership numbers the season with only 16.3 million audience members tuning in.

#6

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Matthew Perry assisted his friends and other actors to audition for Chandler, while he was stuck on LAX 2194, before auditioning himself.

#7

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Tom Selleck was terrified to step onto the set of Friends at first. He said he was “scared to death” at the table read seeing how close all the other actors were, but “Courteney helped a lot.”

#8

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Auditions for the lead roles took place in NY and LA. The casting director shortlisted 1,000 actors down to 75. Those who received a callback read again in front of Crane, Kauffman and Bright. Last three/four selected actors for each role had to read for the president of Warner Bros. Television.

#9

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The girls were on strict diets during the show and worked out daily. Sadly, Lisa compared herself a lot to Jennifer and Courteney at the time and has said how “fittings we’re not fun”, as she struggled with body image.

#10

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With her first paycheck from Friends, Jennifer bought a Mercedes that had been on sale for years, but it broke down after 2 drives.

#11

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Rachel’s name appears in 28 episode titles, the most of any of the friends, while Monica’s name appears in 8 titles, which is the least.

#12

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Matthew Perry devoted his life to helping others get sober, including Hank Azaria, who played David on the show. He turned his former Malibu mansion into a sober living center, which ran until 2015.

#13

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There’s a reason why Friends didn’t address 9/11. The writers thought it’s not a topical show and didn’t want to do ‘a very special episode’ of Friends where they’re all distressed about what happened, and trying to deal with it.

#14

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To create Joey’s iconic look wearing Chandler’s clothes, they took pieces from his wardrobe and cut them so they were flapped and looked like they were layered. All secured with Velcro at the back.

#15

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Jennifer Aniston was the only main cast member who did not try the infamous Thanksgiving trifle, which was actually made of bananas and whipped cream.

#16

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David Schwimmer asked James Burrows to mentor him during the first season and was very eager to learn.

#17

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The cast made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate; they entered themselves in the same categories for awards & asked to appear together on magazine covers.

#18

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Matt and Jen stayed on set for hours after filming the finale and were the last ones to leave (Jan 23rd, 2004).

#19

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Matthew and Courteney were actually distant cousins whose relatives were married in England nearly 500 years ago. According to a family tree, they were 11th cousins

#20

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The six friends never got back together in one room since 2004, except for once at a dinner party at Courteney’s house in Oct 2019.