Remember when Rachel and Joey got together in Friends and everyone was like ‘what the hell is going on and why is this happening ?’ Well, it turns out Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc were firmly in agreement with the general consensus. LeBlanc reportedly told producers it was out of character for Joey, and he was very ‘uncomfortable’ with the storyline.
According to Dr. Simone Knox, who has co-authored a book about the sitcom, producers were concerned when LeBlanc expressed concerns about how realistic the storyline was. Explaining a conversation she had with executive producer Kevin S. Bright, she said LeBlanc told Bright, ‘Joey wouldn’t do that’.
‘He told us when they first started floating the idea of a storyline involving Joey developing feelings for Rachel that Matt LeBlanc was very uncomfortable with this,’ Knox told the Daily Express. ‘He said these actors were so invested in their characterisations, and Matt LeBlanc’s objection was: “Joey wouldn’t do that.”’
‘Joey is many things: He’s a womaniser; he is into his food; but he’s also a very loyal friend,’ she continued. ‘So Joey would never go for Rachel because that would be devastating for Ross. But in this case they went for it because, I guess, they thought they would get some interesting storylines.’
And according to previous reports, Aniston too took issue with the character arc. According to Kelsey Miller, author of I’ll Be There for You: The One About Friends, Aniston insisted the relationship had to be purely physical – not love.
‘It had to be a crush, and it had to be more funny than emotional, otherwise, this arc would go from risky to unwatchable,’ Miller wrote in the book.
So apparently, we weren’t the only ones weirded out by the whole thing. Guess that explains why the episode where they find it too strange to have sex is so great - clearly none of the actors actually had to act very much that day.
Read More: The cast of Friends, then and now...
The cast of Friends: Before and after
1 of 10Chandler Bing | Matthew Perry
After his role as funny-guy Chandler Bing came to an end, Matthew Perry went on to star in a host of A-list films, including a main part alongside Zac Efron in 17 Again. Sadly for Friends fans, he shut down a friends reunion in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2017 . He said, "I have this recurring nightmare—I'm not kidding about this. When I'm asleep, I have this nightmare that we do Friends again and nobody cares. We do a whole series, we come back, and nobody cares about it. So if anybody asks me, I'm gonna say no. The thing is: we ended on such a high. We can't beat it. Why would we go and do it again?"
2 of 10Phoebe Buffay | Lisa Kudrow
Following her 10 year stint on Friends, Lisa starred in a host of movies - including Easy A, alongside Emma Stone. In February 2019, fans went wild when Lisa reunited with former co-star Courtney Cox on Ellen DeGeneres' chat show.
3 of 10Joey Tribbiani | Matt LeBlanc
Matt swapped acting for presenting when he replaced Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond on Top Gear in 2016. But after two years on the show, Matt was replaced by Comedian Paddy McGuinness and former cricket player Freddie Flintoff.
4 of 10Rachel Green | Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has gone on to star in multiple A-list films - and doesn't look a day older than her debut in Friends. The actress was even rumoured to have patched things up with ex Brad Pitt, when he was invited to her 50th birthday party in February 2019.
5 of 10Ross Geller | David Schwimmer
Ross - or rather, David - most recently appeared on our screens in series one of American Crime Story - which presented a dramatised version of the OJ Simpson trial. David played OJ's attorney and old friend, Robert Kardashian - Kim Kardashian's late father.
6 of 10Richard Burke | Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck played Monica's older boyfriend, Dr. Richard Burke in Friends, but he's best known for playing Frank Reagan in CBS's police drama, Blue Bloods.
7 of 10Janice Hosenstein | Maggie Wheeler
Janice was best known for her annoying - yet strangely loveable - laugh in Friends. The actress who played Chandler's girlfriend finally revealed the inspiration behind her laugh over a decade after the sitcom ended. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she said Woody the Woodpecker gave her inspiration. She revealed, 'There was a character called Arnold Horshack and he used to laugh and he would say [laughs]. Then I grew up watching Flipper which was a fantastic show about a dolphin, and I was in love with that dolphin and of course the dolphin sounds like a dolphin... so I sort of say she's a combination of Arnold Horshack and Flipper and Woody the Woodpecker."
8 of 10Ben Geller | Cole Sprouse
YES, that is Ben. YES, we are as shocked as you are. After playing Ben as a teeny weeny tot on Friends, Cole took on a main role with his twin brother, Dylan Sprouse in Disney's children's series, The Suite Life. Now, Cole can be seen in Riverdale. The actor has clearly done well for himself - and has accumulated an impressive 24 million Instagram followers.
9 of 10Gunther | James Michael Tyler
Ah, Gunther. The fictional character may have never won over his biggest crush, Rachel Green, but actor James Taylor certainly won over viewer's hearts with his acting and top notch barista skills. In an interview for Digital Spy, he revealed that he got the job in the first place because he could work a coffee machine. He said, "I honestly always thought my Masters in fine arts would get me further in the acting world than knowing how to work an espresso machine! That was a happy accident and I'm very, very grateful to have had that skill."
10 of 10Emily Waltham | Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale recently starred in BBC three's drama, Cuckoo. But the actress isn't afraid to settle down in front of some lighter tv in her spare time. She told Radio Times, "Well, most reality TV is drivel. I'll tell you what I do really like: First Dates. It's positive TV – they treat people nicely, you come out of it actually liking them. There's hope for humanity in First Dates!"