15 Not-So-Funny Secrets About Friends

Friends totally deserves the award for the funniest TV show of all time. Watching our six faves navigate life in New York City for ten years brought us laughs that we've yet to see with any other sitcom, and that we still think about a decade on, when we need cheering up. But behind-the-scenes, was the Friends set the happy wonderland we all thought it was? The revelation of a few little-known secrets make us realize that although the giggles weren't restricted to camera time, there were definitely a few less pleasant things that went on for the cast. Nothing is perfect, after all! The six main actors and actresses were often dealing with their own personal issues that in some way or another, related to the show that changed our lives, and were harboring a few secrets of their own that have since been uncovered.

15 The Cast Didn't Like The Theme Song

Words can hardly describe how much joy that theme song by The Rembrandts gave us. Even today, you can still catch any millennial muttering, “I'll be there for you.” That fountain scene was iconic, right? Well, the cast themselves didn't seem to think so! In what feels like the ultimate betrayal for Friends fans, Jennifer Aniston later revealed that she and her cast mates weren't too keen on the theme. “No one was really a big fan of that theme song,” she said, also revealing that they hated shooting the fountain scene. “We felt it was a little… I don't know. Dancing in a pond? A fountain felt sort of odd. We did it because we were told to.” Geez, it was hard enough hearing that the scene wasn't actually filmed in Central Park, but just a Los Angeles studio backlot at one in the morning. Talk about crushing all our dreams!

14 David Schwimmer Held An Intervention For Jennifer Aniston

Everyone ships Ross and Rachel. They're each other's lobsters, and we all died when Rachel dated Joey, when Ross dated Emily, when they took their infamous break, and all the other crap the writers put us through. So it really hits close to home when we hear that things might not have been so rosy between David Schwimmer and Jen in real life! Reportedly, Jen and the other two girls were constantly late to set and David and the other actors were getting sick of always waiting for them. We suppose that is fair enough! But David took it to another level and actually staged an intervention to put a stop to it. "The boys did an intervention with me about my tardiness," she told US Weekly. "David did it. Very kindly. The day my alarm didn't ring." Is it just us or is that a very Ross thing to do?

13 Matt LeBlanc Got In Trouble For Drinking And Driving

Joey Tribbiani was the least intelligent of all the friends, and it just made us love him more. He was a bit cheeky, but he wasn't one for breaking the law. It seems that in real life, Matt LeBlanc has made a few mistakes of his own, which were worse than anything Joey did! While he was still a young actor, Matt made the mistake of getting behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol, and ended up being arrested. He told the story in an interview, breaking the hearts of Joey Tribbiani fans everywhere. “Twice, I think. When I was young and stupid. I wasn't driving fast, just crooked. The press never got hold of the mugshots. I was lucky.” Everybody does make mistakes, and it seems like Matt has learned his lesson, so we won't hold it against him. The world has clearly forgiven him, considering his involvement in hosting the TV show Top Gear.

12 Phoebe's Mother Reincarnated As A Cat Came From Real Life

Remember the time that Phoebe thought that her dead mother had reincarnated into a cat? Sure, it was a bit bizarre, but that was Phoebe for you. We didn't really think too much into it, since the girl had done even crazier things in the past! As it turns out, though, the idea seems to have been influenced by real life feelings. According to a number of online reports, the concept was pitched by co-creator Marta Kauffman, and normally, something like that would have been rejected by producers. However, nobody felt like they could shoot the idea down seeing as Marta's mother had passed away not long beforehand. It's been suggested that the idea wasn't just a fantastical concept, but actually reflected real feelings that were going on at the time. In any case, like most things in the show, the storyline ended up working fine. Even if it was a little odd!

11 After 9/11, Parts Of An Episode Had To Be Reshot

In September of 2001, millions of Americans tuned in to Friends to take their minds off the horror that had been inflicted onto the country on 9/11. A few weeks after the disaster, the season eight episode “The One Where Rachel Tells Ross” was due to air, but included a totally inappropriate scene, and had to be re-shot. In this ep, Monica and Chandler head away on their honeymoon and end up trying really hard to get upgraded to first class. Originally, though, the episode included Chandler joking with airline staff and having a few funny moments going through security. You can still watch the deleted footage on YouTube, and in true Friends style, it is hilarious. But considering the state of the world during the time it was to air, you can see why they had to re-shoot. The subject was much too sensitive and would have caused problems for the show.

10 David Schwimmer Struggled With The Show's Success

Although starring on a show as phenomenal as Friends seems like a dream to many of us, at times it was something of a nightmare to David Schwimmer. The six were the biggest TV stars in the world, and recognizable no matter where they went. That's got to be pretty overwhelming, especially when you were relatively unknown before signing up to the show. It affected a lot of things for David, including his relationships. “It was pretty jarring and it messed with my relationship to other people… ” he told The Hollywood Reporter. The fame even distracted him from acting! “As an actor… my job was to observe life and to observe other people, so I used to walk around with my head up, really engaged and watching people,” he said. “The effect of celebrity was the absolute opposite: it made me want to hide under a baseball cap and not be seen.”

9 Rachel Had A Shaky Relationship With Her Mom, And So Did Jennifer

It's a fair call that none of the six friends had great relationships with their parents. Phoebe's mother took her own life, Monica's totally favored Ross (who was a mama's boy), and Chandler had a plethora of unresolved issues dating back to his childhood. Rachel's relationship with her mom was arguably better than that of the other friends, but the pair still had issues. We saw that Rachel's mom was a tough cookie, and the two weren't close since they hardly ever saw each other. In real life, this strain reflected Jen's relationship with her own mother. The actress has revealed that while she was growing up, her mom, the late Nancy Dow, was incredibly hard on her, and always made her feel less than beautiful. The two weren't on speaking terms when Nancy published a book revealing intimate details on her daughter. Thankfully, they found some closure before Nancy's death in 2016.

8 Lisa Kudrow Was The Only Cast Member Made To Audition Twice

It's common knowledge that Jennifer was the last actress to be cast on the show, but not many people know that Lisa Kudrow was the only cast member who actually had to audition twice to win the part of Phoebe Buffay. The worst part of it is that Lisa only just found out that she didn't impress as much on the first audition as the others did! She revealed the process she went through on the NBC James Burrows tribute, but very awkwardly, her cast mates couldn't relate! In her defense, she was up against some pretty tough competition for the role, including talents like Jane Lynch. Although finding this out would have been a bit of a blow to Lisa, it all worked out in the end. She obviously impressed the producers anyway, since she was asked back. And to be honest, we couldn't think of Phoebe Buffay in any other way!

7 David Schwimmer Was A Worse Neighbor Than Ross

In “The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey”, Ross moves into his new apartment but makes a terrible first impression on his neighbors. They ask him to contribute $100 for the handyman's retirement fund, but he refuses since he doesn't even know the guy. That's probably fair enough, but then he crashes their party anyway, ruins the surprise, and eats the cake. In typical Ross fashion, he takes it too far, and his neighbors hate him instantly! As it turns out, David Schwimmer was equally disliked by his neighbors when he bought a townhouse in East Village. The property dated back to 1852, but David tore it down and in its place built a mansion with six floors. Locals weren't pleased that the historic building was removed, and weren't shy about letting David know. Some even spray painted graffiti on the new house which read “Ross Is Not Cool”. Yikes.

6 Phoebe And Chandler Were Lucky To Be Main Characters

We hate thinking of the possibility that the show could have been any different to how it was, because it was just perfect. The mere thought of having that taken away is just upsetting! However, if things had worked out differently, we might never have had the Phoebe and Chandler that we have today. Originally, Phoebe and Chandler were only meant to support the main characters of Rachel, Monica, Ross, and Joey. This means that they might not have appeared in all episodes, and certainly a Monica-Chandler romance was out of the question. Isn't that terrible?! No favoritism, but Chandler MAKES that show. Thankfully, the ensemble cast pretty much shared the limelight, although some stories were more central than others. The producers actually ended up keeping a tally of everyone's lines, to make sure all the cast members got an equal amount of dialogue and jokes, and nobody clearly outshined anybody else.

5 Jennifer Aniston Almost Didn't Return For The Final Season

Speaking of the show almost turning out differently, the tenth season in particular was almost very different thanks to Jennifer Aniston wanting to leave early. Jen was the most famous of the six by around 2003, thanks to her high-profile relationship with husband Brad Pitt, and her appearance in Blockbuster hits like The Good Girl and Bruce Almighty. Many believe that she is the reason the show ended before its time, but as fans, we should be grateful that we even got that last season out of her! In a 2004 interview, she told Matt Lauer that she was thinking about leaving. “I had a couple issues that I was dealing with,” she said. “I wanted it to end when people still loved us and we were on a high. And then I was also feeling like, 'How much more of Rachel do I have in me?'” We owe whoever convinced her to stay big time!

4 Courtney Cox Had Trouble Getting Pregnant In Real Life

One of the biggest storylines revolved around Monica and Chandler not being able to conceive a baby. It was hard to watch Monica go through this, considering it was clear from the day we met her that her goal in life was to be a wife and a mom. She just had that natural maternal instinct, and would have done anything to have kids of her own! The whole thing became even sadder when it was revealed that during those years, Courtney Cox had trouble conceiving in real life. It would have been very difficult to deal with the same issues on set as she was dealing with at home, and we can't even imagine how she did it. In the scene where Rachel has Emma, Courtney herself had recently suffered a miscarriage. Despite the challenges, Courtney ended up having baby Coco, and Monica and Chandler adopted twins Jack and Erica. Happy endings everywhere!

3 David Schwimmer Doesn't Want A Reunion

There could be a reason that we don't have that Friends reunion that we all long for so desperately! There have been petitions for a reunion to be filmed, and any time any of the original cast members are even spotted together, fans basically froth at the mouth. So if it's what we all want, why hasn't it been done? Courtney had this to say: “Let it go! We're not doing it! It's just not going to happen. We've gotten about 80 percent there, but there's always one person who flakes at the end. I'm not going to name names, but it may not be Schwimmer.” If she's telling the truth, that means that David Schwimmer is the one stopping us from getting our reunion! He may have his reasons, but we're still heartbroken, by the fact we're not getting one, and by the fact that he doesn't want one.

2 Not All The Cast Remained Great Friends

In a perfect world, the six cast members are all best friends in real life and hang out every day like they did on the show. In this realistic and highly unsavory world, that isn't the case. While some of the cast members appear to be really tight, like Jen and Courtney, it seems that they aren't all on great terms. Case in point? In 2015, Jennifer married Justin Theroux at a secret wedding, and while she invited Lisa Kudrow and Courtney Cox, she didn't invite any of the male cast members. Matt LeBlanc had some kind words for her, though: “I think they're a great couple. I think she's happy. And that's all I care about is that Jen's happy. If she wanted me there, I would have been there.” We could cry! Matthew Perry said, “It was a surprise to me as well. They're a lovely couple, and I'm happy for them.”

1 Matthew Perry Struggled With Addiction During Filming

It's pretty clear that while that show made us happy, not all of the cast members themselves look back at that time fondly. In 1997, while the show was well underway, Matthew Perry went to rehab for addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. His issues resurfaced in 2001, and he returned. Though he wasn't affected during filming, it did take its toll. “I was never high at work. I was painfully hungover. Then eventually things got so bad I couldn't hide it and everybody knew.” In the interview, Matthew also reminded us that things aren't always the way they appear. “From an outsider's perspective, it would seem like I had it all. It was actually a very lonely time for me because I was suffering from alcoholism." We respect Matthew and the rest of the cast for continuing to film and make us laugh when areas of their own lives were falling apart. What legends!