Friends debuted almost three decades ago in 1994, and the show is best known for its incredible ensemble cast — but many famous actors auditioned for Friends and nearly replaced the now-beloved lineup. The NBC sitcom launched the careers of six up-and-coming actors, and after 236 episodes, it is unfathomable that anyone aside from Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston could have portrayed the gang of friends. However, the show would have looked drastically different if the show's co-creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, had gone in a different direction with any of the main Friends cast members.

https://screenrant.com/friends-actors-who-were-almost-cast/