In an alternate universe, Friends premiered 30 years ago with Tiffani Thiessen, Leah Remini, Kathy Griffin, Vince Vaughn, Jon Cryer, and Eric McCormack playing the roles of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross, respectively.
Top 10 Unplanned Friends Moments That Made It Into the Show!
These actors and many others played the six lead roles on the NBC sitcom before Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer landed the roles and made Friends a mega hit on television.
In honor of the show's 30th anniversary on September 22, here are 12 actors who were contenders for Friends' overcaffeinated Central Perk gang.
After playing a high school senior on Saved by the Bell, Thiessen played a nearly twenty-something Rachel on Friends. "I was just a little too young. I was a little too young [compared to] the rest of them," she said on the podcast You Up With Nikki Glaser in 2018, according to Entertainment Weekly.
