As if Friends didn't get enough mileage out of “We were on a break,” apparently there was talk of Chandler cheating on Monica until Matthew Perry pointed out that it was a terrible idea.
In the aftermath of the his tragic passing, coworkers and friends have been sharing their experiences with the late actor, including Lisa Cash, who appeared briefly in the Friends season-five episode “The One in Vegas, Part 1.” Cash has a line as the flight attendant who talks to Ross and Rachel, but, she told TMZ, the episode almost went in a very different direction.
“I came in as a guest star and I was super excited,” Cash said. “The scene was Chandler and Monica were arguing in Vegas about having lunch with Richard. Initially in our script, Chandler goes up to the hotel room, orders room service, and I bring it up [to him] as a hotel worker. We end up talking and laughing and connecting and Chandler ends up cheating on Monica with my character.”
“We had rehearsed it and everything,” she continued. “The day before we were shooting in front of a live audience, I was told that Perry went to the writers and said the audience would never forgive [Chandler] for cheating on Monica. He was probably right! That would’ve changed possibly the course of the show and his character.”
Given that the two-part episode ends with Chandler and Monica deciding to get married (they don't go through with it because they run into a very drunk Ross and Rachel at the chapel), it's hard to see how the cheating storyline could have made it to “the day before” the shoot, but it's easy to believe Cash's description of Perry: “He was so likable and welcoming and just made me feel at ease. I had so much fun. It was so much fun doing the scene with him and it was easy.” Sounds about right.
Also, it's not unheard-of for actors to insist that their characters would or wouldn't do something. Matt Le Blanc was famously against Joey hooking up with Rachel (a fight he lost), and John Krasinski nixed a Jim-cheats-on-Pam plot on The Office. This is correct! Give us our perfect TV relationships! We need them!
This article was originally published on GLAMOUR US.
