One Friends Character That Was Totally Saved By The Actor
Believe us, you wouldn’t want to be there for him otherwise.
It's hard to imagine Friends today any other way: we all know the stories of Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe as well as we know ourselves, and there's nothing anyone would want to change.
But it wasn't always supposed to be this way because in the beginning, the producers had different ideas for the main cast.
Rachel Green, for example, was supposed to be played by Courtney Cox instead of Jennifer Aniston. And Monica was never supposed to end up with Chandler.
The biggest difference of all would be Joey, who was not supposed to be a silly and charming romantic actor, constantly looking for jobs and women. In fact, he was supposed to be kind of a jerk.
Supposedly, Matt LeBlanc was the one who stepped up and asked why anyone would want to be friends with someone like the original version of Joey Tribbiani.
Considering that he wasn't even the producers’ first choice for the role, it may have been very difficult to resolve the differences in the creative vision of the character, but Joey definitely benefited from it in the end.
Marta Kauffman and David Crane, co-creators of the show, recalled the times when they thought Monica would end up with Joey, and Joey...well, wouldn't be the same man we've come to love.
Instead of playing what was written in the script in a way that was already suggested to him, Matt LeBlanc decided to put his own spin on Joey, and he became the character we know. Easygoing, fun, and a little childish at times, but one that could definitely be relatable to the viewers and realistic to have a lot of friends around him.
Although the journey to get there with this character may not have been the easiest or most pleasant, it was all worth it. If every character was a little different from what they actually were on screen, there would be a much smaller chance for the sitcom to be as good as it was.
If you are feeling nostalgic and want to rewatch some of your favorite Friends episodes, the show is available to stream on Netflix or MAX.