Almost 20 years after Friends finished most fans know the series inside out, but if it weren’t for Matthew Perry, one storyline could have gone very, very differently.
As one of the six main cast members, Perry obviously had some pull in the series as he made the character of Chandler his own.
The actor, who passed away on 28 October, carved out Chandler’s comedic style with his jokes and delivery – but it wasn’t a funny plot line that Perry found issue with in season five.
Instead, it was a storyline relating to his character’s relationship with Monica, played by Courteney Cox.
I’m sure fans of the show will be very familiar with the episodes where the gang go to Vegas – it’s where Ross ends up in his third marriage, after all.
But what fans might not know is that after getting into a fight with Monica, Chandler was apparently supposed to cheat on his beloved, high-maintenance girlfriend.
That’s right – that plotline could have been the end of Mondler as we know them!
The revelation comes from actor Lisa Cash, who appeared on Friends as an extra in 1999.
She ended up acting as a flight attendant, but was originally supposed to appear as a member of staff in the hotel where Monica and Chandler were staying.
In an interview with TMZ, Cash explained: “The scene was Monica and Chandler were arguing in Vegas about Monica having lunch with Richard.
“Initially in our script, Chandler goes up to the hotel room, orders room service and I bring it up as a hotel worker.”
Cash went on to explain that while delivering the food, her character was supposed to end up ‘talking and laughing and connecting’ with Chandler.
As one thing led to another, “Chandler ends up cheating on Monica with my character,” she said.
Given how surprised Chandler was to end up in bed with Monica in the first place, it’s hard to imagine him ever throwing away his chance, and it’s definitely not something fans would have enjoyed watching.
So, according to Cash, Perry decided to take a stand.
“We had rehearsed it and everything, and then the day before we were shooting in front of a live audience, I was told that [Perry] went to the writers and said ‘the audience will never forgive him for cheating on Monica’,” she recalled.
“He was probably right. That would have changed, possibly, the course of the show.”
Though many fans would agree that Perry made the right call, Cash admitted that having the chance to star in a scene with him could have been a ‘game changer’ for her.
Still, she said it was ‘great’ to be able to work with Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer in the plane scene, and it was ‘really fun’ to be able to work with Perry – even if it didn’t make it to TV.
