How the actors were chosen

   HOW THE MAIN ACTORS WERE CHOSEN

The auditions for the main roles took place at New York and Los Angeles. The initial idea was to be only four friends on the series: Monica, Rachel, Ross and Joey. Phoebe and Chandler were just secondary characters. But, when the series started they became fixed characters.

     All actors auditioned for the characters, but David Schwimmer. The writers developed the role of Ross for David Schwimmer; thus, he was the first actor chosen. The producers wanted Courteney Cox to portray Rachel; however, she refused and asked to portray  Monica. The actress Janeane Garofalo almost portrayed Monica. Kathy Griffin and Jane Lynch auditioned to interpret Phoebe. Chandler almost was interpreted by Jon Favreau and Jon Cryer. Rachel would be interpreted by Tea Leoni. The writers did not want Matt LeBlanc to interpret Joey.

At last, the actors Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were chosen based on their tests.