Secrets You Never Knew About The Cast Of Friends

For 10 mega-hit seasons, Chandler, Phoebe, Monica, Joey, Ross, and Rachel were there for viewers each Thursday night, forging television history in the process. Nearly two decades after the final episode aired, "Friends" has managed to pull off the rare feat of not only maintaining its popularity but actually increasing it, bringing in new viewers from late-night reruns and streaming. Netflix, in fact, paid a staggering $100 million back in 2018 just to hang onto streaming rights for one more year (via The New York Times).

Now that those still-popular episodes have moved to a new home at HBO Max, the long-awaited, COVID-delayed "Friends" reunion is finally arriving, with James Corden hosting a chat with series stars: Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, and Matthew Perry (via Variety). Given the show's popularity, it's not surprising that the hugely anticipated "Friends Reunion Special" has been hyped with all the hoopla of a royal wedding. 

In the decade-plus since the series finale, each member of the cast has gone on to further acclaim. But despite how much viewers may think they know about the actors behind the Central Perk Six, there's much to be learned, so read on to discover the secrets you never knew about the cast of "Friends."

While Matthew Perry was starring on NBC's "Friends," few people realized that he shared a very close relationship with a big star in the network's news division: Keith Morrison, longtime purveyor of murder and mayhem as host of NBC's "Dateline." 

Morrison's wife, Suzanne Perry, is the actor's mom, the product of her first marriage. When she and Morrison wed in 1981, the Canadian journalist became the future "Friends" star's stepfather. In an interview with People, Morrison gushed about his stepson being "remarkable" since he was a youngster. "He's one of those people who always is the center of the room for a reason and it was so as a kid," Morrison told the magazine. "On the hockey team, I used to take him off to his hockey games on Saturday mornings. It was like Matthew and the hockey team. He was the one who scored all the goals. He was the guy." 

Morrison added that Perry was also a gifted tennis player, as well as "an intense, talented, focused character." To top it all off, Morrison also praised Perry for being smart from the very beginning.

It's not uncommon for actors who appear on a long-running hit TV series to make off with a memento from the set as a keepsake, and Matt LeBlanc was not immune to that temptation. During a 2019 appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," LeBlanc was asked if he took anything from the set. "I took from the show, it's funny, I took a f**k ton of cash," joked LeBlanc before revealing what he'd actually stolen: the ball from the foosball table in the apartment Joey shared with Chandler. "I have it in my toolbox somewhere," he admitted. "Why it's in my toolbox, I don't know."

LeBlanc also walked off with another memento. "You know the Magna Doodle that was on the back of the apartment door? I clipped that in the end. I couldn't fit the couch in my car," he joked. He no longer has the Magna Doodle, however; he revealed that he gifted it to the "Friends" crew member who wrote the notes that appeared on the device, and changed in each episode. "I stole it and gave it to him, so he's got it," LeBlanc added.

During the 10 seasons that "Friends" ruled the ratings on NBC, Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle was the envy of millions of women; according to ABC News, "the Rachel" wound up becoming "one of the most imitated hairstyles of all time." Aniston, however, remained incredulous. "It's one of those things that I think is hysterical, that me of all people, who grew up with the worst hair, is known for that," she revealed.

Ironically, while Aniston's "Friends"-era 'do was hugely popular with the public, she herself was not a fan of the look, created for her by hairstylist Chris McMillan. "I love Chris, and he's the bane of my existence at the same time because he started that damn Rachel, which was not my best look," Aniston told Allure back in 2011. "How do I say this? I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."

According to Aniston, however, she's learned a trick or two from McMillan along the way. "[McMillan] thinks I'm a closet hairdresser," she added. "I'll take the hair-dryer right out of his hands. He'll kill me for saying this, but I've surpassed him in that department: I'm faster with the blow-dryer."

Jennifer Aniston had the opportunity to join the cast of "Saturday Night Live" — but turned it down. As she discussed on "The Howard Stern Show," "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels was keen to cast her. However, at the time Aniston saw herself as a serious actress; she agreed with host Howard Stern's assessment that when she was studying acting at New York's Tisch School of the Arts, she was "a little bit" insulted when an instructor told her she was funny, and should consider comedy. 

Aniston passed on "SNL," she told Stern, because she felt that the environment wouldn't suit her. "I remember showing up and [Adam] Sandler was there, and [David] Spade was there, and I had known them already," she said, explaining she'd met them through somebody she'd worked with on a previous television show. 

Admitting she has "no memory of how it happened," Aniston had a meeting with Michaels. "And I was such a young twit," she recalled, telling Michaels that "the women need to be treated better" on the show, "because it was such a boy's club." Looking back, she admitted, "You're just not the brightest when you're in your early 20s."

Most celebrities are loath to discuss surgical nips or tucks they've received. Lisa Kudrow, however, was refreshingly candid when she told the Saturday Evening Post about getting a nose job at 16. "That was life altering," admitted the "Friends" star. "I went from, in my mind, hideous, to not hideous. I did it the summer before going to a new high school. So there were plenty of people who wouldn't know how hideous I looked before."

Looking back at her younger years, Kudrow credits two people for her successful acting career: "Saturday Night Live" alum Jon Lovitz and late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien. Lovitz, Kudrow explained, "sent me to The Groundlings," citing her experience in the legendary Los Angeles improv troupe. "That was his recommendation," she recalled. "That was the single best direction I ever got. It was an important suggestion ... I learned the most at The Groundlings."

As for O'Brien, Kudrow met him at her very first Groundlings improv class. "He was so impressive that he saved me from quitting the whole notion of acting," she revealed, admitting she had a preconceived notion that "actors were egocentric people with bad judgment."

While most of the "Friends" cast were more or less unknowns when they were cast, Courteney Cox already had a high-profile (albeit short-lived) TV series under her belt, "Misfits of Science," cancelled after its first season. 

Prior to that, Cox experienced a certain degree of instant fame after appearing in Bruce Springsteen's 1984 music video for "Dancing in the Dark." In the video, the Boss is performing in front of an audience, with Cox positioned in the front row. Near the video's end, Springsteen extends his hand to Cox and pulls her onstage, the two closing out the video as they dance together. According to the Star Tribune, in Springsteen's autobiography "Born to Run," he revealed he thought Cox was just a random fan; it wasn't until later that director Brian DePalma told him she'd been hired at a casting call in New York, and he'd flown her out to the video shoot in Minnesota.

Speaking with People, Cox revealed she wasn't particularly proud of her onstage moves with the rock legend. "That was not good dancing on my part," she admitted.

While "Friends" has remained as popular as ever since ending in 2004, the world in which it continues to exist has changed considerably. While the show received accolades during its 10-season run, in the years that followed it's been hit with criticism over its lack of diversity. In 2020, "Friends" co-creator Marta Kaufman admitted she wasn't proud of that particular aspect of the show, stating she "would have made very different decisions" (via Deadline). 

David Schwimmer, however, couldn't help but notice the show's diversity problem while it was on the air, and did what he could to add some color to a show that centered on six white people. As Schwimmer told The Guardian, "I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part."