In the wake of Matthew Perry‘s tragic passing on Saturday (Oct. 28), many have expressed their love of his portrayal of Chandler Bing. However, the Friends star almost didn’t take the role we all know him best for.
Speaking to Seth Meyers on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2015, the late actor explained that in 1994, when the hit NBC sitcom was shot, he “was off the market because [he] had taken a job on a pilot called LAX 2194 that was about baggage handlers at the LA airport in the year 2194,” per Insider.
“So I was wearing a futuristic shirt,” he revealed. “And little people played the aliens in which I had to sort out the aliens’ luggage, and that was basically the show.”
He then recalled receiving the script for Friends — which at the time was called Friends Like Us — that he thought was “hilarious and great.”
“And there was this part that was perfect for me and it was making me crazy that I couldn’t go up for it because of the baggage handlers show,” he added. “I was losing my mind.”
However, the ultimate early downfall of LAX 2194 worked out in Perry’s favor.
“Somebody at Fox at the time said, ‘We’ve seen this, it’s the worst thing we’ve ever seen in our lives. He is available. You can hire him for your little show called Friends Like Us that then became Friends,’” he shared.
This story was also shared in Max‘s Friends: The Reunion by Friends co-creator David Crane.
“Someone from Warner Bros. was actually at the taping of 2194, and thought, ‘This show is never going,’” Crane said in the 2021 reunion special. “Put him in Friends. We’ll be OK.”
Watch Perry’s interview with Meyers above.
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