Chandler and Monica, that was the cuddly dream couple in the six-pack of Friends. While Ross and Rachel caused chaos, confusion and tears season after season, Mr. and Mrs. Chanandler Bong formed the rock in the dramatic sitcom surf. But things could have turned out differently, as a guest actress on the series recently revealed.
Chandler was supposed to cheat on Monica in season 5
On October 29th it was announced that Matthew Perry died at the age of 54. Since then, colleagues have remembered working with the actor. One of them is Lisa Cash. The actress spoke to TMZ about the background to her appearance in Friends.
It refers to happiness in Las Vegas – Part 1, the first half of the Season 5 finale. The friends travel to the gambling den to visit Joey (Matt LeBlanc). Chandler (Matthew Perry) is jealous of Monica (Courteney Cox) when he finds out she met her ex Richard (Tom Selleck) for lunch. So far, so harmless.
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Friends
However, Lisa Cash revealed what we didn’t see in the episode: in the first draft of the script Chandler has a one-night stand with a hotel employee. Lisa Cash was cast in this role. This is how she describes her planned appearance:
Originally in our script, Chandler goes to the hotel room, orders room service and I bring it up to him as the hotel clerk. We start to talk, laugh and understand each other, and In the end, Chandler cheats on Monica with my character.
Why Matthew Perry advocated for a Friends script change
However, that doesn’t happen in the series. And fans of Chandler and Monica have Matthew Perry’s intervention to thank for that. Lisa Cash on this
We had rehearsed everything… The day before we shot in front of a live audience, I was told that Perry had gone to the writers and said, the audience would [Chandler] never forgive him for cheating on Monica. He was probably right! That might have changed the course of the series and his character.
Perry got his way and so the little jealousy over Richard remained and the affair was canceled. In fact, it’s hard to imagine the endearing dynamic between Chandler and Monica with such a misstep.
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Lisa Cash in Friends
In any case, Lisa Cash did not play the hotel employee; instead, she was given a small role as a flight attendant. If you want to see for yourself, you can currently stream the two-part finale of Friends Season 5 on Netflix.