TV

Meet the actor who was almost Joey in Friends

Friends could have been very different if this leading actor had been cast as resident playboy Joey Tribbiani.
Joey Tribbiani

Joey Tribbiani

Joey Tribbiani

For women of a certain age, Friends is synonymous with a time when life was simple.

Men with curtains were all the rage, waist coats were fashionable, Donald Trump wasn’t leader of the free world.

And the actors and actresses who played our favourite coffee shop characters became part of our shared experience, as we grew up wondering whether we were zany lie Phoebe, geeky like Ross, or a smooth talker like Joey Tribbiani.

While the role of ‘how you doing?’ Joey went to Matt LeBlanc, another Hollywood star has now revealed that he very nearly landed the part – that would have changed the course of both of their careers.

Vince Vaughn, of Dodgeball, The Break Up, and Anchorman fame, recently told The Huffington Post that he auditioned for the part back in the ’90s.

According to Vince, the casting call asked for someone “handsome and tall” who was also “a good actor,” but ultimately they found LeBlanc a better fit for the role.

Vince Vaughn almost landed the role

Incidentally, Vince’s co-star in ’90s movie Swingers, Jon Favreau, was originally cast in the role of Chandler Bing. And while he didn’t end up playing the part, that Matthew Perry truly made his own, Favreau did appear in the series – as short-wearing, ball-bearing Pete.

Other stars have previously spoken out about the incredible fan base surrounding the show, with supermodel Elle Macpherson, who was famous in her own right long before appearing on Friends, saying she still gets recognised for her character.

“If I’d known how important it was in the US, or how long it would be on TV, I may not have chosen to do it,’ she told TV Week.

“It was a lot of pressure if you look at it in the way that it will be around for 20 or 30 years.”

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