Schwimmer had given up on TV when he asked to audition for Ross. While the role of Ross had been written for Schwimmer, his agent told producers Marta Kauffman, Kevin Bright, and David Crane that he wouldn't be interested. "[We] tried to get David, [but] David had quit television. He had a miserable experience doing another show. He moved back to Chicago to just do theatre," Crane explained. "We had to beg him and beseech him."
Louis Mandylor almost got the role of Joey over LeBlanc. The casting of Joey "went down to the wire" between LeBlanc and Mandylor. "But the funny thing about it is the other actor ended up in the show in 'The One With Unagi.' Playing Fake Joey, ironically," Bright shared.
Rachel was the hardest part to cast. Cox was originally in the running for the role, but persuaded producers that she was more of a Monica. It was important to get the casting right because, in the wrong hands, people would hate Rachel. Aniston almost wasn't cast because of her role on Muddling Through, which was still on the air at the time. She even begged execs of Muddling Through to release her from the show.