Friends/Cast and crew
From Pop-Cult Guides
|
| Characters | Episodes | Cast and crew | Broadcasting | Awards | DVD releases | Music scores | Joey |
[edit] Cast members
[edit] Primary characters
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Rachel Green | Jennifer Aniston |
| Monica Geller | Courteney Cox Arquette |
| Phoebe Buffay | Lisa Kudrow |
| Joey Tribbiani | Matt LeBlanc |
| Chandler Bing | Matthew Perry |
| Ross Geller | David Schwimmer[1] |
[edit] Secondary characters
- Further information: List of recurring characters in Friends, List of significant others of Friends, and List of guest stars on Friends
| Role | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| Jack Geller | Elliott Gould |
| Judy Geller | Christina Pickles |
| Gunther | James Michael Tyler |
| Janice | Maggie Wheeler |
| Dr Richard Burke | Tom Selleck |
| Mike Hannigan | Paul Rudd |
Cox was originally approached for the role of Rachel, but convinced the producers that her personality was more suited for the character of Monica, which is the role producers first pitched to Jennifer Aniston, whom they had originally wanted to play Monica, but Aniston also felt she was better suited for Rachel.[citation needed]
Behind the scenes, the show was known for its unusually cohesive and unified cast. The six main actors made deliberate and conscious efforts, from early on, to keep the show's ensemble format and to not allow any one of them to dominate. This included requesting that all actors on the show be nominated either for the same category of award (mostly "Supporting Actor") or not at all, and entering collective instead of individual salary negotiations.[2] The actors became such close friends that one guest star, Tom Selleck, reported sometimes feeling left out.
The character of Ursula (Phoebe's twin sister) first appeared in the sitcom Mad About You as a waitress. Kudrow played Ursula on both Mad About You and Friends. The shows creators did not originally intend for Phoebe to have a twin, but they added the character to explain why Kudrow was appearing on two different shows on the same network, at one time as a part of the same Thursday night line-up.
