The world tuned in to watch the much-anticipated on Thursday, where the cast from the iconic sitcom – Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – reunited for the first time in 17 years on-screen.
During the one-hour 45-minute special, the cast reminisced on their 10 years on the show together, sharing quite a few tears as the nostalgia set in.
While many fans would have assumed they know everything about the show, there were a few revelations made by the cast which left our jaws dropping.
Ross and Rachel had feelings for each other in real life
That’s right the romance between Ross and Rachel, played by Schwimmer and Aniston, could have been a real-life thing, had the timing been right.
“The first season I had a major crush on Jen,” Schwimmer revealed in the reunion. “And I think we both, at some point, were crushing hard on each other but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that.”
Meanwhile, Aniston admitted the pair had joked about sharing their first kiss on-screen, which sure enough occurred.
“I remember saying at one point to David, ‘It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is gonna be on national television!’” she said. “Sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop.
“So, we just channelled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel.”
Monica wrote her lines on the table
Having to remember so many lines from scripts must be a difficult task for actors, luckily Cox who played Monica in the hit series had a secret hack to combat this. One of the first things LeBlanc revealed when he first came onto the set was how Cox used to have her lines written on the dining room table in the purple apartment.
Jennifer Aniston nearly didn’t appear on
When the show’s creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane were discussing the casting of the six main characters, it was revealed Rachel was the last one to be cast and there was a big caveat with moving forward with Aniston.
At the time, the actress had already signed contracts to appear on another show, . Friends and NBC executives decided to move ahead with Aniston despite the risk that if the previous show took off they would have to recast and reshoot the first few episodes.
Luckily, Mudding Through never took off and was cancelled after just nine episodes. Funnily enough, the producer of the show told Aniston that wouldn’t make her a star, but his show would – how wrong he was.
Matthew Perry’s struggle with anxiety
Perry, who played Chandler on the hit sitcom, opened up about his experience with anxiety on the show which stemmed from seeking audience approval.
“To me, I felt like I was going to die if they didn’t laugh,” he admitted. “And it’s not healthy, for sure.”
He also revealed he would “freak out” if he didn’t get the laughs he was hoping for.
“I would sometimes say a line and they wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and just, like, go into convulsions,” He said. “If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get, I would freak out.”
Even his castmates were surprised by the revelation. Kudrow, who played Phoebe on the show, said, “You didn’t tell us that. I don’t remember you ever saying that.”
How Matt LeBlanc really injured himself
You’ll recall in season three, Joey is seen with an arm in his sling. In the show, a part is written into the sitcom in the episode, , where Joey takes a tumble after bouncing on his bed. However, the actor actually dislocated his shoulder whilst filming the previous episode .
During this episode, the cast are all getting ready for an evening out to support Ross at the museum. Joey and Chandler are fighting over the chair in the living room of Rachel and Monica’s apartment. One part involved LeBlanc diving into the armchair which is when he dislocated his shoulder.
Filming for this episode had to come to a halt and was finished once LeBlanc had recovered from his injury.
If you haven’t managed to yet watch it’s streaming now in the Middle East on OSN.
