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

6. Janeane Garofalo - Monica

Although you could certainly argue that changing any members of the final cast would have given the show a completely different edge, here's the one that really, really would've changed proceedings - arguably for the worse. Yes, it was Courtney Cox who eventually found herself cast as the perky, clean-obsessed Monica Geller, but she wasn't originally what the creators were looking for. "When we originally wrote the role, we had Janeane Garofalo's voice in our head," said main man David Crane. "Darker and edgier and snarkier." So you can instantly picture the sort of character that Monica was supposed to be when you imagine Janeane Garofalo in the role, right? And having an edgier and snarkier Monica certainly would have brought an added dynamic to the table, as none of Friends really fit that description. Still, we can't help but feel as though having Garofalo in the mix would've meant the entire show could've found itself bogged down in a kind of mean-spiritedness. And we all love Friends 'cause it's warm and comforting, don't we? Yes, that's why we love it.