Last week, we had to say goodbye to Friends star Matthew Perry. Now it has been revealed how the late actor prevented a momentous change to his Chandler character
Chandler and Monica were the cuddly dream couple in the six-pack Friends. While Ross and Rachel caused chaos, confusion and tears season after season, Mr. and Mrs. Chanandler Bong were the rock in the dramatic sitcom surf. But things could have turned out differently, as a guest actress on the show recently revealed.
Chandler was supposed to cheat on Monica in season 5
On October 29, it was announced that Matthew Perry had died at the age of 54. Since then, colleagues have been reminiscing about working with the actor. One of them is Lisa Cash. The actress spoke toTMZabout the background to her appearance in Friends.
This isLuck inLas Vegas – Part 1, the first half finale of Season 5.In it, the friends travel to the gambling den to visit Joey (Matt LeBlanc). Chandler (Matthew Perry) is jealous of Monica (Courteney Cox) when he finds out she met her ex Richard (Tom Selleck) for lunch. So far, so harmless
(Friends)
Lisa Cash did, however, reveal what we didn’t get to see in the episode: In the first draft of the scriptChandler has a one-night stand with a hotel employee.Lisa Cash was cast for this role.This is how she describes her planned appearance:
Why Matthew Perry advocated a change to the Friends script
However, that doesn’t happen in the series. And fans of Chandler and Monica have Matthew Perry to thank for that. Lisa Cash on this:
We had rehearsed everything … The day before we shot in front of a live audience, I was told that Perry had gone to the writers and said,the audience would never forgive [Chandler] for cheating on Monica.He was probably right! That might have changed the course of the show and his character.
Perry got his way and so the little jealousy over Richard remained, the affair was dropped. In fact, the endearing dynamic between Chandler and Monica is hard to imagine with such a misstep.
- More about the actor:In his book, Matthew Perry explains what he really wants to be remembered for
(Lisa Cash in Friends)
Lisa Cash didn’t play the hotel employee, but was given a small role as a flight attendant instead. If you want to see for yourself, you can currently stream the two-part finale of Friends season 5 on Netflix.
