10 Actors You Won't Believe Were Nearly Cast In Friends

2. Jane Krakowski - Phoebe

It's hard to picture anybody else other than Lisa Kudrow pulling off Phoebe's strange, spacey hippyness - she somehow managed to make a potentially irritating character into an undeniably loveable one, which was no mean feat. But, as with all of the actors on our list, Kudrow was never considered as the first choice for Phoebe - creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane originally envisioned Jane Krakowski for the role, who you'll know for her roles on Ally McBeal and 30 Rock (you can't forget 30 Rock - she became one of the show's best aspects). It seems odd to think of Krakowski amongst the cast of Friends (people didn't originally take well to her casting in 30 Rock, either, a role which she later nailed) - she has something inherently hardened about her demeanour, and Phoebe, of course, though occasionally frightening, is fairly mellow. We're not sure whether Krakowski ever got to audition for the role, however, but it's interesting to know that it was written with her in mind. Fun fact: before Kudrow was cast in Friends, she was cast as Roz on Fraiser... before being quickly fired and replaced.