Quick Links
Nearly two decades since the final episode of Friends aired, Matt LeBlanc is still best known for playing the character Joey Tribbiani on the show.
Joey is described as 'an Italian-American struggling actor who lives in New York City with his roommate and best friend, Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), and hangs out in [the] tight-knit group of his best friends.'
Despite being portrayed as a bit of a dull character, Joey was still one of the most loved on the show. As with anyone else in the story, however, the writers still found a way to give him some very standout, unlikeable moments.
According to IMDb, LeBlanc appeared in all but one of Friends' 236 episodes on NBC, officially making it the longest role he has ever played to date.
The actor also had a unique audition process, and many things had to go just right for him to land the part. Unlike most of his colleagues who had relatively smoother audition processes, LeBlanc nearly missed out on the gig, with Hank Azaria and Vince Vaughn among other stars who were also in the running to play Joey.
Matt LeBlanc Had An Accident Before His 'Friends' Audition
Matt LeBlanc - like anyone else who auditioned for the Friends - specifically had two people to please in order to land the role: creators David Krane and Marta Kaufmann. Having been an actor since the mid-'80s, his audition process started off well enough.
The actor went in for various screen tests and got through them, until he had one final callback left to determine whether he would be the successful candidate. On the night before, however, he went to visit a friend and ended up having an accident that would help him along in the audition the following day.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom, [but] I fell face-first into the toilet, hit my nose on the bottom of the toilet seat, and a huge chunk of meat came off my nose," LeBlanc revealed during the popular Friends reunion episode that aired last year.
"And I’m looking in the mirror, it’s bleeding, and I’m like, 'Oh, my God. I have to go in for the big callback and [there’s] a big ugly scab on my nose,'" he continued.
How Matt LeBlanc Nearly Missed Out On The Role Of Joey
In the 17th episode of Friends' Season 6 - titled The One with Unagi, Joey hired an actor called Carl to pose as his identical twin for a medical research program he wanted to enter. This character was played by Australian actor Louis Mandylor, at the time known for his portrayal of CIA Agent Derek Lloyd in the Canadian drama series, Relic Hunter.
As it turns out, Mandylor might have played a much bigger role in Friends: He auditioned for the part of Joey before the show began, and was apparently, strongly in contention to win it before Matt LeBlanc eventually edged him.
Producer Kevin Bright revisited this story in the Reunion episode. "Matt went right down to the wire, auditioned at the network, at NBC with another actor, and he killed it, and he got the part as Joey," he said.
"But the funny thing about it is the other actor ended up in the show in The One With the Unagi, playing Fake Joey, ironically," Bright added.
Matt LeBlanc Was Broke When He Auditioned For 'Friends'
Kevin Bright also went on to reveal that Matt LeBlanc was essentially broke when he auditioned for Friends. "Matt LeBlanc, if I remember correctly, had like $11 in his pocket when he auditioned," the producer recalled. "Maybe it was $9, but it wasn’t a lot."
Despite facing not having too much experience, LeBlanc was the first actor who really made Bright and the rest of the casting team on the show sit up and take notice.
"[Matt] hadn’t done an awful lot. He’d done another show, but he hadn’t done an awful lot," Bright continued. "We saw a lot of guys who you believed were actors, guys who liked women, but they weren’t funny. Then Matt came in and suddenly on him, the lines felt funny."
On his part, Louis Mandylor would go on to have a decent acting career. He notably played the character Nick Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and its 2016 sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. He has also featured in Charmed, CSI: Miami, Suckers, and The Cursed, among others.