3 Little-Known Facts About Friends, the Legendary Series Starring Jennifer Aniston

© NBC

Some series have left their mark on the history of pop culture. However, the production of a gem is based on a fragile balance that is often unknown to the general public. From casting to script choices, including enmities or moments of grace, the destiny of a creation sometimes reveals real surprises. Here are 3 secrets from filming Friends by David Crane and Marta Kauffman.

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David Schwimmer Didn't Like the Monkey on the Set

Marcel is the name of the monkey adored by fans of the series since season 1. The latter is Ross's pet. During the special episode released in 2021, David Schwimmer rightly confided that he was martyred by this primate:

What inevitably began to happen was that we all had timed choreographies and they were disrupted because the monkey had not done his job properly. We then had to reset and start over because the monkey hadn't done his job properly.

A nasty side reinforced by the fact that Marcel took a malicious pleasure in throwing food and even live insects at him.

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Matthew Perry almost got fired

The late actor suffered from significant addiction issues. He revealed in 2019 that the show’s producers were struggling to deal with his alcohol and drug addiction issues. So much so that they considered parting ways with him at one point.

They felt that participating in Friends contributed to the actor’s unhappiness, while the visibility of his problems could harm the show’s image. But after thinking twice, they ultimately opted to keep him in the cast. It is true that it is difficult to imagine this fiction without Chandler, as he is so emblematic.

Friends relied on the reactions of the public

During filming, the production team carefully observed the reactions of the audience present. It often happened that lines were rewritten if the audience didn't laugh. Sometimes, the actors would offer several versions of the same joke to gauge the effect on the audience. This caused some recordings to drag on. When the sessions lasted until 2am, the audience was often replaced by an audience deemed “fresher”.

That's all for this week. Are you one of the die-hard fans of this series ? Feel free to share your memories with us in the comments. If you liked the article, you can always find the previous part of this section here.

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