-What do you remember about the audition process?Friends: The Reunion · 2021 — Chapter 9 of 25 · 3'06" · B2
The Cast Recalls Their Auditions, Explained: to make a long story short
The cast swap audition stories, and one turns into a disaster: drinks with a friend, a fall into a toilet, a scab on the nose right before the callback. "And I told the truth and got the job," he admits — the messiest story ends in the part.
What happens
The cast look back on how they were hired. One tells of running lines with a friend, going drinking, and waking up to fall face first into a toilet, leaving a scab before the final callback — yet telling the truth still won the part. Another says the creators wrote his role with his voice in mind.
Listen for
to make a long story shortblacked outwith my voice in mindrun lines
00:00 / 03:06Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
to make a long story short
长话短说；简单来说
一位演员正要讲一段很长的糗事，用长话短说一句带过铺垫。
To make a long story short, we missed the flight.
Also in this scene
- blacked out
断片；短暂失去意识
- with my voice in mind
心里想着我的声音来写
- run lines
对台词；排练台词
Everything marked in this scene
41 notes across 52 lines
-I remember I had gone in a bunch of times, and I think it was on the final callback.-I remember I had gone in a bunch of times, and I think it was on the final callback.I had gone -- I had gone with a friend of mine to run lines and he said, you know,I had gone -- I had gone with a friend of mine to run lines and he said, you know,"So the show's about friends and being friends with, you know, just a group of friends?"He goes, "Then we should go out drinking."So to make a long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night at his apartmentSo to make a long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night at his apartmentinfinitive aside
So to make a long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night at his apartmentliaison
So to make a long story short, I woke up in the middle of the night at his apartmentand had to go to the bathroom, and I got up too fast.flap
and had to go to the bathroom, and I got up too fast.And I can't believe I'm telling this,but I kind of blacked out, as you do,but I kind of blacked out, as you do,as-clause
but I kind of blacked out, as you do,elision
but I kind of blacked out, as you do,but I kind of blacked out, as you do,but I kind of blacked out, as you do,and fell face first into the toilet.and a huge, like, chunk of meat came off my nose.And I'm looking in the mirror and it's bleeding.So I have to go in for the big callback.And it's like a big, ugly scab on my nose.And I told the truth and got the job so...And I told the truth and got the job so...-Marta and David made it clear to me, made it known to me-Marta and David made it clear to me, made it known to methat they had written the role of Ross with my voice in mind.liaison
that they had written the role of Ross with my voice in mind.-The important thing is that we dealt with it well.You even reacted to that like Phoebe.That was much more entertaining than my story.-We were having a tough time finding Monica,have a tough time
-We were having a tough time finding Monica,flap
-We were having a tough time finding Monica,and we really saw Courteney as kind of a Rachel at the time.-We met with Courteney Cox, and she explained to us why she didn't think she was a Racheland that she herself was more of a Monica.Courteney brought this incredible joy to the character.The Cast Recalls Their Auditions, explained
What's really going on
The audition stories are funny, but they are also the reunion's way of showing how ordinary the beginning was. One cast member traces the whole accident — the drinks, the bathroom, the gash — down to a single moral: "And I told the truth and got the job." Behind the joke sits a small idea about the show itself, that plainness and honesty were the point. The other story works the same way in reverse: a role was shaped around a specific actor, "with my voice in mind," so the part and the person were never fully separable. What looks like backstage gossip is really the origin story of a group that came together by chance and accident.
Theme
DreamsThe cast recall the auditions and near-misses that led to the roles that changed their lives.
IdentityOne role was written around a particular actor's voice, tying the character to the person from the start.
Listen for
- to make a long story short — liaison
- got up too fast — flap
- blacked out — elision
- with my voice in mind — liaison
And I told the truth and got the job so...The punchline of the toilet story: honesty, not perfection, is what won the part.
Courteney brought this incredible joy to the character.Praise for how Courteney Cox lifted Monica beyond what the creators had planned.
That was much more entertaining than my story.A self-deprecating comparison after a bug scare upstages the audition anecdote.
-The important thing is that we dealt with it well.A mock-serious framing, treating a silly on-set moment as something handled with care.
Questions about this scene
How did one cast member hurt his nose before an audition?
After drinking with a friend, he woke at night, got up too fast, blacked out and fell face first into the toilet, cutting his nose right before the callback.
What did Marta Kauffman ask when she saw his face?
She asked, "What happened to your face?" He told her the truth about the toilet fall, and still ended up getting hired.
Why did David Schwimmer feel the part was written for him?
He says the creators made it clear that they had written the part of Ross with his voice in mind, which made the character feel tailored to him.
What did the creators originally see Courteney Cox as?
They first saw her as a Rachel type, but she explained why she was more of a Monica, and they agreed she was right.
Friends: The Reunion · 25 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 10in the wrong handsCasting the Rest of the Cast
Chapter 1get in the wayThe Cast Returns to the Set
Chapter 2in the bagThe Friends Cast Reunites On Stage
Chapter 3stay in touchThe Cast Reunites at the Fountain
Chapter 4that time in your lifeThe Friends Creators Explain the Premise
Chapter 5pet peeveThe Cast Plays a Friends Quiz
Chapter 6has this magicThe Cast Plays Trivia
Chapter 7at the top of their gameThe Cast Revisits the Jellyfish
Chapter 8down to the wireHow Friends Cast Its Six
Watching · Chapter 9to make a long story shortThe Cast Recalls Their Auditions
Chapter 10in the wrong handsCasting the Rest of the Cast
Chapter 11tail between my legsThe Producer Who Predicted Stardom
Chapter 12a completely different ballgameThe Cast on Sudden Fame
Chapter 13had a big hand inFans on What Friends Meant
Chapter 14got you hookedThe Cast Answers Fan Questions
Chapter 15down-to-earthThe Monkey Kept Ruining Takes
Chapter 16cost a fortuneThe Chair Scene Goes Wrong
Chapter 17put our heads togetherThe Sling Written Into the Show
Chapter 18beat you to itHow Monica and Chandler Became a Couple
Chapter 19take something for a spinThe Cast Reenacts Smelly Cat
Chapter 20buy a word of itThe Couch Pivot Scene
Chapter 21keep straight a faceThe Friends Blooper Reel
Chapter 22calls out to meJanice Returns to the Reunion
Chapter 23two ships passingDavid and Jen's Secret Crush
Chapter 24the long arm of the lawWere Ross and Rachel on a Break?
Chapter 25go to piecesSaying Goodbye to FriendsChapter 9 of 25 · about 62 min to go