Friends: What it Was Like Before the Show Got Famous

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt Leblanc, Lisa Kudrow on "Friends." Photo by Warner Bros TV/Bright/Kauffman/Crane Pro/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock (5886065p)

In case you haven’t already read it, The Guardian posted a fantastic “inside story” of Friends yesterday (February 6). 25 years on from the show’s debut, fans are still referencing inside jokes from the show and a whole new generation of watchers have fallen in love with the gang too.

To celebrate the show’s success, The Guardian shared some quotes from the cast and crew speaking of their involvement with the show.

Mitchell Whitfield (Barry Farber): “I was brought in to audition for Ross and Chandler. I went back multiple times, and then they realised Ross was the role for me. I got down to the very end, and was testing for the show. At the last minute, they said: “We’re bringing in one more guy to read.” That guy turned out to be David Schwimmer.”

Christina Pickles (Judy Geller): At the beginning of Friends, Matt LeBlanc was anxious. Every time he did something, he would look for approval to the director, the producers or the writers if they were around. There would be a look of: “Am I doing this right?” He ended up being amazing. He was so perfect as Joey. He slowly built that character into a wonderful, real person.”

Cosimo Fusco (Paolo): “When I taped my first episode, no one had seen it on TV yet. While we were filming, they announced the show had been commissioned for 12 episodes. Jennifer Aniston basically cried in my lap because nothing like that had ever happened to her before.”

Vincent Ventresca (Fun Bobby): “I was so young and full of myself, and I’d just done a pilot for Fox’s new medical show. I thought I was the coolest person in the world. I was at home, and my agent said: “Hey, do you want to go and audition for this new show?” It was a really small part, so, of course, I’m whining like a little actor. But something inside me told me, just do it. So I went in and cried in front of Marta Kauffman, and she was like: “Great!”

Friends is back on Netflix so if you can’t remember who some of these characters are, you can refresh yourself now.