Top 20 Dark Truths About Friends

#20: Jennifer Aniston Hated the Rachel Haircut

If you were a woman in the mid 90s, theres a good chance that, at some point, you went into your local hair salon and asked for the Rachel haircut. And dont worry, you werent alone - women everywhere were doing it. Eleven million in Britain alone admitted to giving the do a try. But how did the woman who started it all feel about the look? Well, when Aniston first got the cut she loved it. But those feelings changed pretty quickly when I was totally left with this frizzy mop on my head, because I had no idea how to do what [my stylist] did. As she described it, maintaining the look was a high maintenance escapade involving a blowdryer and multiple brushes.

#19: Marcel the Menace

A particularly polarizing element in Season 1 of Friends was Rosss pet capuchin Marcel. Whether you found his hijinks cute or cloying, there weren't many laughs on the set. Marcels actress Katie was a terror, whose disobedience and aggression often delayed shooting. Ironically, her relationship with David Schwimmer was especially contentious. In a 1995 interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said that he wished the monkey were dead. He must be a great actor to have sold Rosss heartbreak when Marcel is sent to a zoo. That this wasn't just a response to audience backlash may spoil the nostalgia of Marcel defenders. But after Katie passed away in 2020, her trainer condemned Schwimmer for his additional snide remarks during the HBO Max reunion special.

#18: Typecasting

While some of the extremely talented lead actors on Friends would be personally overwhelmed by superstardom, they all opened up about typecasting. Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry were clearly stagnated by roles that tried to replicate Monica and Chandlers personalities. David Schwimmer, with his focus on being a serious artist, turned down many promising side projects because the characters were too much like Ross. And then there's Jennifer Aniston, who has worked hard to shake her status as a rom-com darling. While typecasting is a common side effect of success in action, it seemed particularly hard on the Friends cast. Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlancs meta resurgences with The Comeback and Episodes further imply the consequences of artists reluctance to bend to brands.

#17: Compromised Representation

Friends was remarkably tasteful in its characterization of Rosss ex-wife Carol and her wife Susan. But the loving couple was often the butt of jokes that reduced them to their sexuality. This was a common tactic to make LGBTQIA+ representation less confrontational in 90s TV. But in 2025, actress Jane Sibbett told People magazine that she was barely allowed to touch Jessica Hecht. The producers also shot down her suggestion that Carol and Susan kiss to seal their wedding. Furthermore, co-creator Marta Kauffman had earlier expressed regret for mocking and misgendering Chandlers trans-woman father, played by Kathleen Turner. While you always have to take the good with the bad when pushing boundaries, it turns out the shows own crew could have pushed further.

#16: The Writers

Its no secret that a hit shows writing staff often work overwhelming hours with unfair pay. In her 2023 memoir End Credits, Patty Lin revealed just how intense the process was with Friends. She admitted to concerns that she was hired in 2000 largely in accordance with NBCs new diversity program. Then came the 12-hour shifts and conflicts with the cast. While it's natural for actors to become protective of long-term roles, our beloved stars had grown cynical and reluctant to praise the writers efforts. It was even suggested that theyd deliberately bomb at table reads if they wanted better material. The pressures from this and other jobs ultimately prompted Lin to retire from TV writing at age 38. Friends was just especially high-pressure.

#15: The Friends Case

The writing staff was altogether a leading source of tension in the usually tight-knit culture of Friends. History has largely forgotten the 2002 legal allegations of discrimination and harassment against Bright Kaufman Crane Productions. The most compelling case came from Amaani Lyle, a writing assistant who claimed that her bosses frequently engaged in lewd banter and illustrations during meetings. There was supposedly even disturbing talk of the lead actresses and a storyline about Joey committing sexual assault. Lyles lawsuit moved forward just before the series finale in 2004, only to be dismissed two years later on the grounds that indirect and infrequent offensive comments did not constitute harassment. The co-called Friends case did not dispute that this crass work environment existed.

#14: A Reshot Storyline

The Season 8 premiere ends with a text tribute to the people of New York City. This acknowledged the 9/11 terrorist attacks that occurred just two weeks earlier. Viewers were split over the lack of subsequent acknowledgement on a show known for both its New York identity and escapism. But a deleted scene from a UK edition DVD revealed that The One Where Rachel Tells did respond. The original Chandler and Monica subplot revolved around them being detained at the airport because Chandler jokes about a bomb. The episode was quickly reshot with an alternate storyline about Monica's jealousy of another couple on their honeymoon. As hilarious as the final product is, it's chilling to think that it was necessitated by a national tragedy.

#13: The Joey-Rachel Affair

Arguably the most controversial development on Friends was Joeys feelings for Rachel while she was pregnant with Rosss child. Their romantic arc ultimately runs for three seasons. It was embraced for its nuance by some and hated by others including the cast. In a 2012 retrospective for Vanity Fair, Matt LeBlanc revealed that he immediately dismissed the storyline as a violation of Joeys characterization and the Ross-Rachel arc. His also disgruntled castmates formed a united front to talk showrunner David Crane out of this idea. Still, he proceeded in the interest of complicating the characters in contrast with Chandler and Monicas successful relationship growth. Whether the drama itself was successful for certain viewers, even the actors felt that Kaufman's executive decision didn't work.

#12: Guest Stars Did Not Feel Like Guests

Its not even very comforting to know that the lead actors on Friends really were friends. In fact, they were so close that some supporting actors later admitted to feeling isolated. Never mind the guest stars. Lauren Tom and Kathleen Turner are among those who complained about difficulties in playing off of their castmates due to behind-the-scenes snubbing. Even Tom Selleck, one of Monicas key love interests, thought that the leads were too excessively cliquey. Kristin Davis and others found this pressure compounded by a rowdy live studio audience. Their hype had to have been supported by the palpable chemistry of the core cast. But its hard for even the biggest stars to stay professional in that kind of environment.

#11: Stephen Park

Friends has long faced controversy for its depiction of a Manhattan precariously lacking in racial and cultural diversity. (xref) Stephen Park says this was felt behind the scenes. One of his two episodes also featured legendary character actor James Hong, whom a crew member only referred to by an insensitive term for Asian people. Park was so outraged that in 1997, he wrote an open letter criticizing Hollywoods disregard for Asian actors and culture. It was credited with having an impact, but was quickly forgotten. That is, until Park affirmed in a 2025 Pod Meets World interview that the Friends set didn't feel particularly welcoming. This in turn affirms skepticism that the sitcom really is for everyone.

#10: Jennifer Aniston Almost Quit Before the Final Season

The question of when to end a television show isnt always an easy one. Sure, sometimes the network makes the decision for you. But when the show is a hit, deciding when to call it quits can often come down to the actors themselves. With Friends, that decision was reportedly almost made by Jennifer Aniston after Season 9. Aniston didnt know if there were any more stories worth telling. And as she admitted to Matt Lauer in 2004, I wanted it to end when people still loved us and we were on a high. Who knows if they wouldve done a tenth season without Rachel, but were glad we never had to find out.

#9: Andre Agassi Was Extremely Jealous When Brooke Shields Guest-Starred

In January of 1996, tennis player Andre Agassi smashed all of his trophies and ripped up the walls in the room where he kept them in his house. Why did he do that? Was it because of a bad call on the court? Nope. It was because Brooke Shields licked Matt LeBlancs finger. Shields had scored a guest role on the Season 2 The One After the Superbowl episode of Friends. In said episode, she goes on a date with Joey and licks his hand. Agassi and Shields were dating at the time, and according to Agassi, hand-licking (even scripted hand-licking) was over the line. Seeing it sent him into a rage and he took that anger out on his tennis trophies.

#8: Matt LeBlancs On-Set Injury

Remember the episode where Joey injures his arm falling off his bed? No, that wasnt how Matt LeBlanc hurt himself. However, it was how the writers incorporated his injury into the show. The actual injury took place during the filming of the prior episode, The One Where No Ones Ready. In that episode, Joey and Chandler are fighting over who gets to sit in the comfy chair, and at one point, they both go for the seat at the same time. In one take, LeBlancs dive didnt go as planned, and he ended up dislocating his shoulder, leading to the sling that Joey is wearing in the next episode.

#7: Lisa Kudrow Was Sued by Her Ex-Manager

In 2007, three years after Friends ended its run on NBC, Lisa Kudrow fired her manager Scott Howard. In 2008, Howard sued Kudrow claiming that he was owed a 5% commission of her residuals from Friends and all other work he negotiated for her prior to his termination. One thing that made this all more difficult to determine was the fact that Kudrow and Howard had an oral - rather than written - agreement about it. However, while Kudrow won the initial summary judgment, a California appeals court reversed the ruling in 2014 and ordered Kudrow to pay Howard $1.6 million and a football phone (okay, they didnt say anything about a football phone - but the money part is accurate).

#6: The Network Didnt Love the Casts Negotiation Tactics

Each of the six main cast members were paid $22,500 per episode in the first season. However, come the second season, each of the friends was paid a different amount ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 per episode. Well, that wasnt going to work going forward. The group saw themselves as a true ensemble cast with no one more important than the others, and beginning with Season 3, they decided to negotiate their salary as a group. The network preferred to do it separately, but the gang held their ground. From that moment forward, they were all paid the same - which in Seasons 9 and 10, was $1 million per episode. Series co-creator Marta Kauffman called that number Kinda ridiculous.

#5: Fame Wasnt What David Schwimmer Expected

Friends was such a huge hit from the moment it premiered that it didnt just bring fame to its stars; it brought a mega-level of fame that is hard to understand. For David Schwimmer, it was just as hard to deal with. So much so that it didnt just affect him, but his relationships with other people as well. As he told the Hollywood Reporters podcast Awards Chatter back in 2016, It was pretty jarring and it [...] took years, I think, for me to adjust to [it] and become comfortable. He was also an actor who, as part of his craft, liked to be anonymous and observe people out in the world. Well, he sure couldnt do that anymore either.

#4: Lisa Kudrows Mental Health

To fans, she was the beautiful, funny, smarter-than-you-think Phoebe. But when Lisa Kudrow would see herself on television, all she saw was a mountain of a girl. Kudrow discussed her body issues on Marc Marons WTF podcast and revealed that trying to stay skinny took a physical toll on her body, telling Maron when I was too thin, I was sick all the time. Unfortunately, this societal pressure to be of a certain body type is one that many women deal with - and being rich and famous obviously doesnt make it any easier.

#3: Matt LeBlanc Retreated from the Fame

David Schwimmer wasnt the only one who found it hard to deal with the fame. Matt LeBlanc also struggled with it all, and eventually, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, needed to walk away for a while. After Friends ended and after Joey was canceled, LeBlanc barely left his house and basically told his agent to Please lose my number for a few years. Theres a pretty amazing silver lining in this dark cloud though, as LeBlanc used that time away to focus his attention on his new daughter Marina who had been diagnosed with cortical dysplasia. She has since outgrown the condition, and LeBlanc has called that time they spent together the best thing Ive ever done.

#2: Monicas Fertility Issues

In 2003, Courteney Cox and then-husband David Arquette announced that they had been trying to have a baby. The expectation was that Monica and Chandler would simultaneously get pregnant to resolve their love story in the last season of Friends. Instead, Cox was diagnosed with antibodies that attack fetuses, and suffered seven miscarriages. The show then dealt with the on-screen couple adopting twins after learning that they cannot conceive. Audiences found this storyline rushed, but topically valuable. While it's never been confirmed that this was a response to Coxs struggles, it was certainly an emotional challenge for the actress. She finally gave birth to Coco Arquette in 2004.

#1: Matthew Perry

Chandler Bings actor first announced his substance use disorder in 2000. Mathew Perry had been misusing alcohol since his teens, and later developed unhealthy fixations on pharmaceuticals and narcotics. He first achieved drug free status a year after revealing his condition, which grew worse with each recurrence of substance use. He eventually started showing up to the Friends set intoxicated, and experiencing visible weight fluctuations. After the show, his career was devastated by medical issues and treatments that cost him millions. Finally, in 2023, Perry drowned while misusing illegally overprescribed ketamine. The loss of an artist who brought so much joy is considered one of the great tragedies of an industry. Of course, the precursor was always a harsh reality of one of TVs most beloved sitcoms.

What are some other Friends facts that may be hard for fans to accept? Hang out in the comments.